2000. Informagiovani europei e competenze dell'operatore

ERYICA STUDY SESSION FOR YOUTH INFORMATION TRAINERS European Youth Centre, Budapest ! 8-15 October 2000 Organised in co-operation with the Youth and Sport Directorate of the Council of Europe

WORKING-PAPER

EXISTING TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND TRAINING NEEDS IN THE YOUTH INFORMATION FIELD IN VARIOUS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Reports prepared by Study Session participants

ITALY Report prepared by Giovanni CAMPAGNOLI

Youth Information Training in Italy In Italy there are today around 700 youth information centres (“Informagiovani”); they were around 600 in 1996. There is no National Co-ordination of youth information at the present time (there was one between 1987 and 1995), but it is probable that it will be re-activated at the National Youth Information Conference in October 2000. There are regional co-ordination systems in Piemonte and Puglia, as well as two co-ordinations at the provincial level. The Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta Co-ordination is based on an agreement between the Turin Municipality (which provides the secretariat and leadership) and 40 municipalities in the region. Its aim is to promote the distribution of information produced by the CIDG-Turin (Youth Information and Documentation Centre), to organise information meetings and training programmes, to co-ordinate the activities of the local centres, and to keep in touch with the Regional Government and with several national projects co-ordinated by the Social Affairs Ministry in Rome, which has some youth-related functions (there being no Youth Ministry in Italy). The Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta Co-ordination is an ERYICA Affiliated Organisation.

In September 2000, in agreement with the Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta Co-ordination I conducted a quick survey of the youth information centres in Italy on the issues of training activities and training needs. This paper presents the results of that survey.

Information Area A: Existing Training Activities a) Levels of training • • • •

for beginners (persons who have been working in a centre for less than a year) for experienced people (who have been working in youth information for over three years) to improve the management of information for persons replacing other staff who have left the centre.

Characteristics of Courses organised by the Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta Co-ordination Hours per day Attendance certificate provided Gives a regional professional qualification Official sponsors of the Course Organisation that provides the training Contribution from European Social Fund Financed on basis of regional Youth Law Training is given during working hours Attendance at the training is compulsory Training is given according to individual need Number of persons on each Course Organisation of Course Participation is free of charge Type of participants

A) for beginners

B) for experienced workers

6 days, 8 hours per day Yes No - Piemonte Region - Turin Municipality ORSO Co-operative No Yes Yes Only if the trainee wants a qualification Yes 30-35 1 day during 6 weeks Yes

8 days, 8 hours p/day Yes

youth information workers

youth information workers

No - Piemonte Region - Turin Municipality ORSO Co-operative No Yes Yes Only if the trainee wants a qualification No 30-35 1 day during 8 weeks Yes

ITALY

(continued)

In addition to the training courses, the Piemonte and Valle d’Aosta Youth Information Co-ordination offers a series of information meetings for all youth information workers employed by the 40 or so Councils which belong to the Co-ordination. b) List of typical training courses Training Course Topics Employment Participation Situation of young people Youth policies Youth mobility and exchanges Legislation relating to youth issues Use of computers (PC, Internet) Creation and management of Web-sites Use of data-banks Foreign languages Cataloguing and searching for information Producing information Interviewing and communication Receiving young people & filtering their enquiries Youth information and other local youth services Quality criteria for youth information Evaluation of youth information centres Working on a project basis National data classification system Guidance and counselling Running youth activities (“animation”)

• •

Yes Yes Yes

B) for experienced workers Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No

Yes

No

A) for beginners

Yes No Yes No No No Yes No Yes No

No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes

No No No Yes No

No

In addition to the above: Course about how to use the “Spring” Data-bank (3 days) Course about how to use documentation (3 days).

For all youth information workers, both beginners and experienced, a Course of three days is organised at the beginning of the autumn, which is devoted to the editorial methodology to be used in producing “local information leaflets”, which can enrich and be integrated into the existing regional leaflets.

ITALY

(continued)

The annual training programme of the Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta Co-ordination includes a course for beginners, a course for experienced workers and a course on improving the management of information. In 2001, there will be a course on how to evaluate the quality of information (limited to four centres). An experimental training project on the same subject will be organised in the autumn of 2000, aimed at 4 different types of youth information structures: A. Regional agency Turin B. Provincial agency Alba C. Youth information centre To be determined D. Youth information point To be determined • •

A few associations of Co-operatives organise training courses for youth information workers working in their own centres In the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, a course of 400 hours is organised “Management of a Youth Information Centre” for persons with a diploma or a degree who are looking for their first job.

c) Educational Qualifications In general, the people who work in the youth information field have a diploma or a degree.

No particular professional qualifications are requested.

Information Area B: Training Needs Training Course Topics Employment Participation Situation of young people Youth policies Youth mobility and exchanges Legislation Use of computers (PC, Internet) Creation and managing of Web-sites Use of data-banks Foreign languages Cataloguing and searching for information Producing information Interviewing and communication Receiving young people & filtering their enquiries Youth information as part of local youth services Quality criteria for youth information Evaluation of youth information centres Working on a project basis National classification system Guidance and counselling Running youth activities (“animation”)

No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes

ITALY

(continued)

The number of persons in Italy who could benefit from basic training can be calculated on the following basis: a certain number of workers from each of the 700 youth information centres.

Training activities foreseen in 2000 - 2001include the following: • • • • •

Training for beginners Training for experienced workers Course about how to use the “Spring” data-bank (3 days) Course about how to use documentation (3 days) Experimental course on the management of quality issues in youth information.