Lifelong learning

Focus on lifelong learning programmes for up and reskilling employees at all levels

Updating education and training

Make sure education and training is always up-to-date on the latest technological developments required by the industry. This will also help education and training providers to better understand industry needs in terms of skills and competences and integrate new technologies in curricula

Dual system

To give students practical, updated and hands-on knowledge and experience, leverage on dual systems: these combine apprenticeships in companies with education at a vocational school

Career Development

To encourage the retention of staff, try to make career and development pathways available and visible for employees, so that they can have a clearer view about how their future career development could look like

ITALY | Lucca Paper Educational District – Master Degree “Technology and production of paper and cardboard”

Lucca paper district plays a strategic role in the Italian national industry, with more than 100 companies and a strong connection with the territory, and with a strong commitment to the educational world.
During the last decades, thanks to the dedication, engagement and cooperation between the industrial sector, university, high technical institutes and Confindustria Toscana Nord – the local branch of the National Industry Association – they have been able to build an extraordinary technical education system. The general purpose is to train young people transmitting them technical knowledge and to attract and retain skilled young workers in the pulp and paper industry.
By building a structed educational system, that is organized through different levels, they work with the aim of transferring and increasing the professional skills and expertise of the young people, in order to help them obtaining high level competences that are valuable for the paper industry. These educational initiatives are part of a complex system, starting from the guidance seminars organized in the middle school, to technical high school courses specifically designed on pulp and paper industry needs, to the higher level of university education.

Brief description of the best practice:
Pisa University and FLAFR (Lucca Foundation of higher education and research) are the first Institutions to start a Master Degree in Italy thanks to their experience with the successful seventeen previous editions of the Master “Paper and Cardboard”.
Master Degree in “Technology and production of paper and cardboard” is a two year University course and it is articulated in different managing and engineering classes, all taught in English for national and international students by academic professors and professional managers.
The course is characterized by its innovative didactic structure, where university professors and industrial managers’ skills complement each other with the aim to provide a rigorous academic preparation, which can be immediately spent in the business world. The course arises from the needs expressed by the representatives of the paper and corrugated cardboard sectors with the aim to attract young skilled people. It is also obvious how specialized training can only be performed with a strong synergy among University, business world and territory.
The participation to the Master Degree is also a tool to retain young workers, giving them the possibility to attend to an advanced University course that allows to increase their technical capabilities.

Key stakeholders:
– Pulp and paper companies as main actor in defining and establishing the technical knowledge essential to the sector
– Universities as primary player in the transmission of the knowledge to the young students

Specific Benefits:
Master degree in “Technology and production of paper and cardboard” arises from the important Paper and Cardboard Industry, which needs engineers well educated in its specific subjects. Graduates in “Technology and Production of Paper and Cardboard” will have the chance to continue their studies in higher education as well as to pursue careers in the paper and paperboard industry, public and private research institutions and other industrial enterprises where the knowledge of processes, materials and the enabling technologies for Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy are specifically relevant.

Conditions for success:
– Companies involvement in terms of technical human resources, essential for structuring a specialist training program, and availability for carrying out workshops, lectures, internships, tutoring
– Strong relationship between University and companies
– Continuous updating of teaching modules
– Strong promotional activities to sponsor the initiative

ITALY | Lucca Paper Educational District – Post graduate specialization course „Paper19“

Lucca paper district plays a strategic role in the Italian national industry, with more than 100 companies and a strict connection with the territory, that is fulfilled also with a strong commitment to the educational world.
During the last decades, thanks to the dedication, engagement and cooperation between the industrial sector, university, high technical institutes and Confindustria Toscana Nord – the local branch of the National Industry Association – they have been able to build an extraordinary technical education system. The general purpose is to train young people transmitting them technical knowledge and to attract and retain skilled young workers in the pulp and paper industry.
By building a structed educational system, that is organized through different levels, they work with the aim of transferring and increasing the professional skills and expertise of the young people, in order to help them obtaining high level competences that are valuable for the paper industry. These educational initiatives are part of a complex system, starting from the guidance seminars organized in the middle school, to technical high school courses specifically designed on pulp and paper industry needs, to the higher level of university education.

Brief description of the best practice:
Paper19 is a two-year post graduate specialization course developed to train young graduate technicians and qualify them as SUPERIOR TECHNICIANS FOR PRODUCTION IN THE PAPER SECTOR. The course consists of 2000 hours of training: 1200 hours take place in classrooms/laboratories, while an 800 hours internship is organized in the companies.
This specialization has been realized thanks to the ITS PRIME Foundation, that requested the total funding of the initiative to the regional government.
ITS Prime, cooperating with Formetica and the associated companies of the paper and paper converting supply chain, structured the two-year course in coordination with Assocarta, Celsius, Lucense and Start, a professional technical center in which all the technical institutes of the territory participate (Polo Fermi-Giorgi, ISIS of the Lucca plain, ISI Garfagnana, IIS Galilei in Viareggio, Marchi-Forti Institute in Pescia).
This specialization course is characterized by the top quality of the training delivered, as well as a high percentage of placement at the end of the course (over 90%).

Key stakeholders:
– Teachers
– Pulp and Paper companies
– Students (graduates, aged between 18 and 29)

Specific Benefits:
– For teachers: most of them are first of all employees of the Paper companies, so providing the students with a practical and theoretical training perfectly aligned with the business requisitions. This is a way to carry out an initial training very specific to potential future workers.
– For companies: they are the main beneficiaries of highly qualified human resources who have been trained on specific content that are based upon their needs.
– For students: through these courses, graduated students reach a theoretical and practical education in a very short time, thus allowing them to know the companies located in the territory and tohave a live experience during the internship.

Conditions for success:
– Companies involvement in terms of technical human resources, essential for structuring a specialist training program, and availability for carrying out workshops, lectures, internships, tutoring;
– Strong local promotional activities to sponsor the initiatives

ITALY | Lucart academy

The Lucart academy is an in-house training programme designed to support the development of potential employees within the organisation and to ensure a process of sharing and continuity of company know-how. It is a training project developed over the course of a whole year, alternating lessons with internal and external teachers, with a final project work for each participant. The 2020/2021 edition featured Lucart process engineers.

Key Stakeholders:
– managers (Operations, R&D, Engineering,HR)
– Attendees
– Internal teachers

Specific Benefits:
– Sharing of expertise
– Talent development
– Valorisation and retention of key workers
– Distinction from competitors

Conditions of success:
– Teacher’s preparation
– Sponsorship of company managements
– Synergy between functions

GERMANY | Build up an apprenticeship envoy concept

At WEPA Germany, one of the key aims is to train committed apprentices in presentation techniques so that they can present the company and what their apprenticeship is about at career information fairs, training fairs and in schools. Train apprenticeship envoys to work with them as a team at trade fairs, in schools and on apprenticeship days to increase the visibility of and the focus on the profession of a paper technologist.

Key stakeholders:
– Company
– Apprentices

Specific Benefits:
Address target groups directly and promote both, the internal commitment of apprentices and the external commitment of future apprentices.

Conditions for success:
– Finding the right applicants for the right apprenticeships
– Finding committed apprentices who are happy to spread the messagea and actively use training envoys in the company

GERMANY | Diverse onboarding

WEPA Germany creates a diverse onboarding through, among other things, an open house and a detailed apprentice induction week at the start of the apprenticeship. This consists of bringing different apprentices together in a group, so they are getting to know each other and start creating a community; furthermore, the apprentices are accompanied throuhgout the entire training period, with the aim of offering them employment in the company and ensuring a good transition from the apprenticeship to the following job – in the third year of training, they are slowly taken on the shift distribution.

Key stakeholders:
Company

Specific Benefits:
– Good introduction to the world of work and thus encourage commitment
– Introduce individual topics to directly meet new people within the company and build a network

Conditions for success:
There needs to be a targeted onboarding of apprentices.