Network Project – Youth, Skills, Jobs

The 12 Hubs serve as both physical spaces for open, free-sharing environments, designed to highlight local strengths and provide tangible growth opportunities, and virtual spaces accessible online from anywhere in Italy. With the support of tutors and expert consultants, the Hubs assist young people in person or remotely with training, job searching, starting a business, and organizing internships both in Italy and abroad. All orientation and training activities offered by the Hubs are free of charge.

Objectives:

The project aims to build a bridge between young people, educational institutions, universities, and the business world. It supports young people in their transition from education to employment, facilitates their entry into the workforce, and helps them develop business ideas while accessing incentives provided by Italian regulations for creating and growing productive activities. Additionally, it promotes and supports training experiences by offering 6-month internships in Italy or abroad.

Duration of the Initiative:

Ongoing initiative.

Positive Impact (Indicators and Outputs of the Initiative):

The first five Hubs that opened are located in Nuoro, Verona, Salerno, Novara, and Brindisi. Additional Hubs will soon be established in Palermo and L’Aquila. A dedicated website has been launched, providing young people with access to information about available opportunities and allowing them to register for orientation and training programs. In the near future, they will also be able to apply for internships both in Italy and abroad. Since 2023, approximately 19,000 young people have participated in 2,031 initiatives.

Preparation Phase:

The “RETE” project engages young people aged 16 to 35 in training and career guidance programs to facilitate their entry into the business world. The project ensures the active involvement of various public and private actors, particularly businesses, in designing interventions aligned with the needs of a constantly evolving labor market while also addressing the specific needs of businesses located in different areas, such as local authorities, schools, universities, third-sector organizations, businesses, incubators, and development accelerators.

Each HUB has a leading partner (a public entity such as a Municipality, Chamber of Commerce – CCIAA, University, etc.), which offers the physical space where activities are conducted in collaboration with the Department, involving local businesses and other public and private entities. A dedicated website has been created through which young people can not only access information about available opportunities but also register for orientation and training courses and, soon, apply for internships in Italy and abroad (https://rete.giovani2030.it/).

The project also promotes and supports training experiences for young people by offering 6-month internships in Italy or abroad. The Department will finance 1,000 internships, with a contribution of €10,000 for each internship. A call for companies willing to host young interns for six months was launched in October, and 721 Italian companies applied, offering additional internship experiences in Italy and France. Of these, 615 companies decided to further contribute to the internship costs by co-financing a total of approximately €870,000, which will be added to the contribution provided by the Department.

Starting in February, interested young people will be able to apply for internships through an open call. Applications will be carefully evaluated to select the most suitable profiles.

The project was launched in 2022 during the European Year of Youth, with funding planned through 2026.

Implementation Phase:

Since 2023, approximately 19,000 young people have been involved in 2,031 initiatives carried out both in the HUBs and throughout the national territory, with activities organized in schools, universities, and online. Specifically:

• Training initiatives: 9,649 participants.

• Career guidance and one-to-one meetings: 2,237 participants.

• Animation initiatives: 6,463 participants.

Additionally, since June 2024, 309 young people have registered on the online platform for skills assessment, with 87 having completed the course.
From February to July 2024, 4,700 university students participated in training seminars on entrepreneurial skills and soft skills as part of the “Entrepreneurship Lab,” an initiative for university student teams designed to foster the development of an entrepreneurial culture. The initiative took place across 30 universities, involving 4,700 students. Rome hosted the final event in September, where 16 teams participated. Of these, 5 teams received a cash prize and will continue to be supported by the RETE HUBs to develop their entrepreneurial ideas and participate in an experience tour at an incubator/accelerator within the Invitalia Startup system.

Post-Initiative Phase:

The project is still ongoing, and no final report has been prepared yet. Upon completion, a satisfaction questionnaire will be created, and data will be compiled on the number of internships activated and the number of young people employed following these internships.