Official visit by the Digital Republic Fund to the Innovation Gym
Like beavers, even the most effective systems do not arise from a top-down project, but from patient, locally rooted work capable of transforming the environment over time. Their dams are not mere barriers: they are living infrastructures that retain, redistribute and regenerate. They create new ecosystems, promote biodiversity, improve water quality and make the local area more resilient.
In the same way, education can become a transformative force when it ceases to be merely the transmission of content and becomes the shared construction of contexts, connections and opportunities. This is the idea underpinning the DIGA project: not an isolated intervention, but an educational infrastructure capable of linking schools, universities and local areas, generating new spaces for learning and guidance.
Yesterday, Thursday 26 March, Francesco Santoro and Maria Chiara Petrassi, who are responsible for institutional activities and communications respectively for the Digital Republic Fund, visited the Innovation Gym at the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, whilst the “Waiting for RomeCup” workshops were taking place. The participants were Year 13 students from classes D and F of the Teresa Gullace Gallotta High School in Rome.
The workshops form part of the DIGA project, selected and supported by the Digital Republic Fund Social Enterprise (Polaris call for proposals), aimed at secondary school students in Rome, Milan, Turin and Padua. The programme aims to create an innovative learning and guidance ecosystem for students that connects the local area, schools and universities, to enhance STEM skills and raise awareness of the opportunities they offer through a diverse and structured educational programme, including personal development tools. The thematic focus areas align with the specialisations of the partner departments, encompassing both hard and soft sciences as well as cross-disciplinary skills: holistic sustainability and robotics in Rome, sustainability and innovation in Turin, life sciences in Padua, and AI in Milan. The project involved the following secondary schools: Convitto Nazionale Torino, Avogadro in Turin, Primo Levi in Bollate (Milan), Vittorio Veneto in Milan, Severi in Milan, Nievo in Padua, Fermi in Padua, Gaetano De Santis in Rome, and Gullace in Rome, in collaboration with the four universities: the University of Milan (Department of Computer Science), the University of Padua (Department of Information Engineering), Roma Tre University (Department of Civil, Computer and Aeronautical Engineering), and the University of Turin (Interdepartmental Centre).
Cecilia Borzese, DIGA’s project manager, was interviewed by Maria Chiara Petrassi. One of the questions concerned DIGA’s design choices, in particular the workshop-based approach offered to students: “The training experience, in Rome as in the other regions involved, focuses on a ‘learning by doing’ approach, which is still relatively uncommon in the day-to-day running of many schools, which are often more geared towards the theoretical transmission of content. This type of experience has significant guidance value: it helps young people discover interests, aptitudes and skills that are often difficult to bring to the fore in more traditional settings.
At the same time, it enables the development of fundamental transferable skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration, which are increasingly in demand in the world of work,” commented Cecilia.
“Involving four different regions and four universities is a key element of the project, as it allows us to build an educational and guidance programme that is truly rooted in local contexts. This means starting from the specific needs of schools and communities, highlighting the social, cultural and educational characteristics of each region. The involvement of universities also makes the experience more tangible and meaningful for students and teachers: the academic offering becomes visible, accessible and directly linked to the school curriculum, facilitating more informed and realistic career guidance,” she concluded.
