First info day with AFOL Metropolitana in Milan.
Article 1 of our Constitution reminds us that “Italy is a democratic Republic founded on labour.” So, what happens when it is lost? This question accompanied me last Friday, December 6, waking up with a mixture of a sense of responsibility and inadequacy. An important task awaited us. We had to meet the citizens convened by AFOL Metropolitana, a special publicly-owned training and job orientation company, owned by the Metropolitan City of Milan and 71 Municipalities, at at the Employment Centre on Via Strozzi in Milan.
It wasn't just a meeting, but an opportunity to introduce ourselves and present the free projects we provide to citizens, thanks to the collaboration with various public and private partners. These projects are designed to help people develop fundamental skills, digital skills, but also soft ones - the so-called life skills – that are essential to face the modern job market. Work is not just a means to earn a living. It is an integral part of our identity. It defines us and gives us a purpose. Losing one’s job is like losing a piece of our identity. One may risk feeling lost, without a role, without a sense of belonging. So, it is necessary to mobilize every resource and every drop of energy to find oneself and our place in the world. This is another important element of our work: not just training but trying to provide people with confidence in themselves and their ability to start over. This is what we try to do with our coaches and partners, through programmes such as Smile, Digital Village, LinkedIn – Skills for the Recovery, SWAT, and Dig4All.
It was with these thoughts that I entered the Employment Centre together with my colleagues Miriam and Sofia and our Coach Sonia Gentile, an occupational psychologist, HR Manager, coach, and career mentor. The place is a crossroads of contrasting emotions: the end of a journey and a sense of uncertainty, on the one hand; hope and a chance to start over, on the other. After being introduced by representatives of AFOL Metropolitana, it was our turn. Talking to an audience looking for answers, for just a few minutes, about nearly 25 years of work by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS was not easy.
What is our goal? What do we try to do every day? The answer was in front of us because, perhaps, deep down, our mission is simple in its complexity: to change and improve people's lives, using digital as a tool for empowerment, but not stopping at that. Our work reaches beyond mere technology, it touches people, their stories, tries to identify their needs and find solutions, especially through technology. We are committed to offering not only technical skills, but to accompanying everyone in the process of discovering or rediscovering themselves and their potential.
The meeting continued, together with our Coach Sonia, who provided a concrete demonstration of what they our free courses offer: training sessions led by professionals who are not only technical experts, but also facilitators with relational and human skills. It is thanks to them that people not only learn, but also feel welcome and supported throughout a journey of personal and, above all, professional growth.
This first Info day was not just an opportunity to provide information, but also one to build a bridge to the future. For many, perhaps, it was the first step towards a new direction, made of skills and hope. For us, it was the confirmation that working for and with people is the greatest driver of change. Where to (re)start, then? By listening to us, listening to people's needs and requirements to create opportunities that satisfy them and are truly useful. And our future beneficiaries by listening and then seizing the opportunities. Every step, every skill acquired, every move forward together represents a new possibility to start again. Work is much more than a right. It is dignity, hope, and future.
By Elisabetta Gramatica, Project Officer
