The first training center for upholsterers is born in Udine

In mid-September the first center for the training of upholsterers will be inaugurated in Udine, the result of the synergy between the Cluster Legno Arredo consortium Casa FVG and the companies Friulian Moroso, Calligaris, Tonon, Crassevig, La Cividina, Gervasoni1882, Frag.

"We must restore craftsmanship, the ability to do, we must return to coaching and teaching", enthuses about this initiative Roberto Moroso , at the helm of the family business together with his sister Patrizia.

"In recent years, the lack of personnel has emerged for all the manufacturing sectors, in particular in our territory there is a lack of specialized upholstery figures, who are able to sew, upholster or baste an upholstered product", explains Matteo Tonon, president of the Cluster.

"In the Friuli district there is no stable course of upholstery, an important phase of the supply chain which in our sector represents 30 percent of the added value of a product. Thus, together with a group of 10 brands, we have created a permanent private training center in a facility in Udine that has been completely redeveloped, with the best upholstery and sewing machines".

There are no entry requirements, there are no age limits, "it is a center designed for young people, for those who have unfortunately lost their jobs and want to get back into the game, for those who want to retrain, but also for employees of companies who want to further specialize or diversify their skills ".

Retired workers will teach, "but also the upholsterers responsible for companies still in business. A center outside the brands, but shared by several brands and the consortium, is also suitable for experimentation, addressing the challenges of materials, their recyclability and separation, the use of less impacting bio glues, activities that normally take place outside the production lines in the research and development departments that not all companies they have, and therefore the center becomes a place where it is possible to innovate, all together".

Adopt a school by Altagamma Foundation

Back, in the second edition, “Adopt a school” by Altagamma Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, an initiative aimed at bridging the world of education and industry, offering students the opportunity to work in the company.

Among the 17 brands that have joined the project since the beginning is Giorgetti, which collaborates with the Istituto CFP Giuseppe Terragni di Meda to promote the training of technical-professional talents and contribute to the development of young people.

"The Giorgetti Group considers the training investment in the new generations to be fundamental", declares Giovanni del Vecchio, CEO of the Giorgetti Group . "By virtue of the high level of craftsmanship of the production, it is essential guarantee a constant and adequate turnover, especially in the category of artisans whose irreplaceable work is perfectly combined with the most advanced technological machinery ".

Giorgetti, who has always believed in the value of training as a tool for people's growth and development and as a vehicle for transmitting and preserving the wealth of skills developed in 124 years of history, thus continues the collaboration with the Giuseppe Terragni Institute, which has already begun. in recent years through the involvement of students in school / work alternation projects within the Group's production sites .

To support "Adopt a school" there is also Poltrona Frau, colaborating with ' Ipsia Renzo Frau di Sarnano : on the occasion of the 2021-22 academic year, in the space of three weeks, the students tackled the key issues of the production, from the definition of the briefing to the creation of prototypes up to the creation of a collection of objects with a low environmental impact.

In the 2022/23 academic year, "Adopt a school" will see the participation of 10 new Altagamma companies that will join the current 17.

CFP Giuseppe Terragni of Meda

It is one of the most historic institutes. We are talking about the Giuseppe Terragni professional training center in Meda, born in 1868 as a drawing school, and only later became a professional training center in the Lombardy region.

The institute offers courses for cabinet makers, wood carvers, furniture decorators, fabric upholsterers, furniture designers, furniture and antique wood restorers, multimedia graphic designers, fashion operators and tailoring, tourist entertainers, sports and free time.

Artwood Academy - ITS Rosario Messina Foundation

Artwood Academy, the new name of the LegnoArredo Training Center of Lentate sul Seveso, was born from the collaboration between FederlegnoArredo, Aslam and the ITS Rosario Foundation Messina.

The mission is to offer a training proposal in the supply chain, from education after the eighth grade up to post-diploma advanced training, with the aim of bringing young people closer to the professionalism of furniture wood and responding to the employment needs of the territory.

Within a recently built structure, equipped with all the equipment and professional machinery, Artwood Academy offers two courses from the eighth grade up to graduation, and three post-diploma advanced training courses that involve about 250 students every year.

In particular, for post-diploma courses, from the year 2022-2023 there is no longer an age limit to enroll, and the unemployment constraint has also lapsed.

The courses will start in October, only for the ITS courses (biennial) it will be necessary to take a selection test on 13 September to which it is necessary to register by 9 September.

The venue also houses the permanent collection of SaloneSatellite, a space that tells the energy, visions and perspectives of young people who have animated the past editions of the event.

At school (free of charge) with the Cologni Foundation for artistic crafts

The Cologni Foundation of artistic crafts, a private non-profit institution, founded in Milan in 1995 by the will of Franco Cologni to support high craftsmanship, carries on A school, a job. Paths of excellence, a project launched in 2012, which has already 'put in the shop' more than 275 young artisans graduated from the best schools of arts and crafts in Italy.

Also for the 2022/23 edition, throughout Italy, twenty-five young aspiring artisans will be able to take advantage of a four-week mini master for free in Milan, and then access a six-month internship in the workshop of an expert master or in a company with an artisan vocation.

Schools can send students' applications by accessing the website www.unascuolaunlavoro.it, from 5 to 30 September 2022.

In Cantù, the Enaip campus

A campus in Cantù, in the heart of the Cantù district of wood and furniture. It is Enaip Lombardia, born in 1951, a training center that activates internships every year in about 1500 Lombard companies for over 2,300 students. The campus consists of three poles: the Enaip School, the Enaip Factory and the adjacent Lodge intended as a guesthouse.

The courses begin in the period September-October, following a training model based on learning by doing: theoretical lessons are accompanied by practical activities in laboratory and internship experiences organized in companies in the sector such as Poliform, Riva 1920, Lema, Porro, Minotti, Boffi, just to name a few.

The campus can be accessed after middle school and after graduation, but there are also adult courses where no qualification is required.

In the Ceccotti Collezioni workshop

At Ceccotti Collezioni, in Cascina, in the province of Pisa, the students are joined by the most experienced teachers: "Between May and June we invite the fourth and fifth students of the artistic high school Russoli di Pisa and Cascina", says Franco Ceccotti, at the helm of the family business.

"After having visited the site and presented the production phases, together with the professors and students, we identify some steps in the process in which the students can undertake their training.

Before the school closes, the month-long school-work alternation program is started, during which the children are not exposed to risks and therefore cannot use the machines, but concentrate on bonding, packaging and support activities and, from the beginning, each young person has the assignment of a tutor, a department manager, who supervises all activities".

After this first month of school-work alternation, at the end of high school, the school signals who is interested in continuing with Ceccotti: "We move on to the 6-month internship, with a contract paid for by half of the region Tuscany, and half our responsibility.

After the internship, the company decides whether or not to continue with the young person, and if so, offers him a 2-year apprenticeship contract. It is in these two years that the senior workers work alongside the juniors, to pass on the profession even more in detail".

The craftsman-designer in the chair at the IED in Cagliari

At Ied of Cagliari, Vittorio Bruno, the designer-craftsman founder of Bam Design (Bottega Artigiana Metalli), teaches Modeling , a course in which he alternates theoretical moments, telling his personal experience as a designer who relates to the world of contemporary craftsmanship, up to practical activities, in which he creates lamps, vases, containers and tables together with the students.

A course that includes practical demonstrations of welding, grinding, cutting and deformation of the various materials, an opportunity ( unmissable) to learn the trade following the teachings of Vittorio Bruno, who runs, together with his brother and father, the workshop of Nuoro, a reality of blacksmiths for four generations, contaminating it with experiments and collaborations between craftsmanship, design, art and fashion.

Companies supporting young people

Among the design realities to support and support young people is Cassina, which collaborates with local schools, such as the aforementioned CFP Terragni di Meda and the Artwood Academy of Lentate sul Seveso, with school-work and vocational training internships, company visits, company testimonials and presentations at schools; in some cases, the collaboration also leads to the hiring of students in production departments or in research and development laboratories.

Cassina also participated in 2019 in the The professions of design project, sponsored by the municipality of Meda, to create a training supply chain, a meeting point between supply and demand for work; The business has been suspended due to the pandemic, but the company is considering reactivating it soon.

Among the other realities that promote the generational passage of knowledge there is Flexform, which contributes to the training of upholsterers and carpenters through a close relationship with schools, in particular with the professional institute CFP Giuseppe Terragni in Meda, through training and orientation meetings.

Ipsia Renzo Frau from Sarnano

In Sarnano, in the province of Macerata, the reference point for those who want to learn to design and make is the Ipsia Renzo Frau, in particular the design section furniture productions and interior supplies of the San Ginesio office.

Here we study the management of industrial processes and production cycles, 3D graphic modeling, virtual and augmented reality, design for industry and crafts, in laboratories with practical activities but also during experiences in realities such as Lube and Armchair Frau, just to name a few.

At the end of the 3rd year, the regional qualification of wood and furniture operator is obtained, with the following specializations: interior designers, designers, 3d modelers, operators of machines for industrial and artisanal production of wooden artefacts, furniture restorers, upholsterers and model makers. Registrations expire at the end of January.