Encouraging universities to build synergies and form Pacts with enterprises, public or private research bodies and institutions, public administrations and public companies to implement specific projects aimed at training new professionals in sectors where there is a shortage of skilled workers compared to the demand for them, with special reference to STEM subjects.
This is the main objective of the “Patti territoriali dell’alta formazione delle imprese” (Territorial pacts for higher education in enterprises) as provided for by Decree-Law no. 50 of 17 May 2022 containing urgent measures on national energy policies, business productivity and investment attraction, as well as on social policies and the Ukrainian crisis”.
The measure is designed to promote interdisciplinarity within study courses as well as the training of new and highly skilled professionals able to meet the needs of the world of work and the national production chains, and to improve and expand the courses offered by universities,also by integrating the courses with related research, development and innovation activities.
State funding of these initiatives involves a total budget of 290 million euro, of which 20 million for 2022 and 90 million for each of the following three years until 2025. The allocation of these funds will be implemented by a Prime Minister Decree.
“This new instrument is part of the policies we are putting in place to encourage the creation of programmes that are more in line with the needs of the local market and that focus on the training of a governing class aimed at integrating business and public administration,” commented the Minister of University and Research, Maria Cristina Messa. “The territorial Pacts are intended to facilitate dialogue between universities and local contexts as much as possible, in order to reduce the asymmetries in the higher education systems of the different Italian regions and the related mobility for study and work.”
Projects may also include initiatives to support the transition of graduates into the world of work and their continuing education and to promote technology transfer, especially to small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, projects may be submitted by universities based in the regions whose parameters are worse than the national average in terms of number of graduates in the resident population of the regions covered by the Pact, the employment rate of graduates three years after graduation, the number of graduates in a region other than their region of residence out of the total number of graduates resident in the region covered by the Pact.
