Fifteen young people took part in an experimental career guidance program focused on the jobs of the future and shot a documentary to raise awareness of MIND.
Produced as part of the European T-Factor project, promoted by PlusValue, APS La Rotonda di Baranzate, Fondazione Triulza, and Rold, in collaboration with Valore Italia and the University of Milan.
They live a few dozen meters from the perimeter of MIND, the international innovation district that is emerging in the area that hosted Expo Milano 2015, but they had never crossed its gates. From outside, they had seen the imposing new IRCCS Galeazzi – Sant'Ambrogio Hospital rise up, they had heard that Palazzo Italia housed the Human Technopole research center and that the site was filling up with researchers, multinationals, and innovative companies.
They are a group of 15 young people from Baranzate, one of the most multicultural municipalities in the Milan metropolitan area, who are trying to plan their future by bringing together their dreams, personal interests, and even the disadvantages of living in the urban suburbs. Thanks to the European T-Factor project, they have become 'explorers' and privileged ambassadors for MIND: they took part in an orientation course on new technologies (AI and 3D printing), skills and jobs of the future; they met young people from Italy and other countries who work in companies in the district; they visited and interviewed various organisations to understand current and future opportunities; finally, after participating in videomaking workshops, they made a documentary to introduce the Milan Innovation District to other young people and citizens.
The initiative, called Futurabili4Baranzate, was promoted by PlusValue —one of the European partners of the T-Factor project, APS La Rotonda di Baranzate—which involved young participants in the after-school service for high school students, Fondazione Triulza – which organized visits for young people and introductory meetings, and ROLD – a leading company in the field of microcomponents for household appliances, which carried out in MIND and Baranzate
Training sessions on Artificial Intelligence and 3D printing. Valore Italia and the University of Milan collaborated to illustrate to young people the current and future training opportunities offered by MIND: from the Botticino School of Advanced Restoration, to the CIMA Campus of the four ITS already active on the site, to the new University Campus of the Scientific Faculties, which will be built in 2026.
The project was created with the aim of experimenting with collaboration between the organizations based at MIND and the surrounding areas, to make the opportunities, training, and new knowledge developed in the district accessible to all young people, bucking the trend of a narrative that sees the future of young people in the suburbs as "marked" by a lack of opportunities. Thanks to the creation and production of a video reportage on MIND, this group of young people has become active advocates of this model of knowledge transfer. The presentation of the documentary at the headquarters of APS La Rotonda in Baranzate was an opportunity to organize a small event in the neighborhood with the participation of young people, their friends, and project partners.
The feedback from the young people involved and the results of Futurabili4Baranzate confirm to the partners that this type of "mutual" learning and skills transfer program can become a replicable model at MIND, alongside other projects involving the younger generation, such as MIND Education and the Social Innovation Campus. Before the Baranzate program, the Futurabili project was tested in 2023 with university students. Forty-six of them participated in training sessions organized by MIND companies on Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0, Rapid Prototyping, and Advanced Materials. For more information on T-Factor, visit: https://www.t-factor.eu/
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