To continue and further consolidate a system that has enabled the institutions involved to reach important training targets over the last three years.
It is with this objective in mind that this morning, at its headquarters in Livorno the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority, together with representatives from Tuscany Regional Administration, Maremma and Tyrrhenian Chamber of Commerce and Tuscany Maritime Directorate signed the renewed ‘ForMare Toscana’ Memorandum Of Understanding. The MOU was first introduced in 2019 to set up a network of training alliances in Tuscany for promoting and guiding the training of “sea workers”, i.e. in the port, maritime, logistics and nautical sector. Particular attention was given to secondary schools, especially those specializing in maritime subjects, and, more generally, the university world and companies in the maritime, port and logistics cluster.
Many results have been achieved over the last few years. The ‘Marereport‘ PCTO program, aimed at showcasing maritime professions , and the ‘Local pact for vocational training and job placement in the Livorno area’, signed by the Port Network Authority and Livorno Municipality, are just some of the initiatives developed under the MOU to ensure a better alignment between local needs and regional policies on training and job placement issues.
Tuscany Regional Councilor for Training and Labour, Alessandra Nardini, expressed her satisfaction with the agreement being renewed: “Training is crucial to ensure development and quality employment, all the more so in this current scenario characterized by the challenges of green and digital transition. We have to improve our efforts to overcome the so-called mismatch, the mismatch between labour supply and demand, by training profiles and providing skills that respond to the needs arising in the economic-productive context. To do this, we have to work in close synergy with social partners, local administrations, and all the stakeholders in the area.”
“It is fundamental,” the councilor continues, “to offer training that adheres to the vocations and needs of specific local areas. This is why we are promoting local training agreements, as a direct result of the experience in the Livorno area. ForMARE is part of this commitment, focusing its attention on a strategic sector like the blue economy, and setting up strategic training alliances with the signatories and stakeholders involved. The aim is to set up a training network for maritime, nautical, port and logistics professions. We want to strengthen our commitment to the coastal area because we know that Tuscany will only thrive if everything develops at the same rate, and this area has enormous potential that we want to optimize to the best of our ability to overcome the crisis.”
“The collaboration we renewed today undoubtedly represents an innovative way to fully exploit the wealth of quality and excellence in the logistics, port, and maritime industry, and the blue economy in general,” said Port Network Authority managing director, Matteo Paroli, on the sidelines of the signing.
“Over the last few years, the Port Authority, with the training sector, has been carrying out initiatives and projects to support youth employment in a port maritime sector that in Livorno, Piombino, and the Elban ports directly employs 9,735 people and provides an added value of 887 million euro. ‘ForMare Toscana’ is a perfect example of a win-win strategy applied in the training field, which I hope will bear a lot of fruit,’ he concluded.
According to the Tuscany Maritime Director, Rear Admiral Gaetano Angora, “the agreement we renewed today marks the consolidation of a process that began in 2019 and which continues to represent, for a strategic sector such as the blue economy, an important systemic tool for developing the port, maritime and logistics cluster”. “Training in fact,” adds Rear Admiral Angora, “represents an indispensable pillar of a renewed professionalization of the entire maritime sector and not only. It must be looked at ever more carefully and innovatively in the light of the rapid technological evolution and the increasing amount of equipment and tools now being used in ports. The Maritime Authority, in proudly performing the multifaceted tasks entrusted to it by the State, has always played an active role in training personnel in the sector, deeply convinced that HR training represents the true driving force behind the port cluster’s economic growth.”
“’The Maremma and Tyrrhenian Chamber of Commerce,” its President Riccardo Breda stressed, “endorses the renewal of the ForMare MOU with particular satisfaction. Our organization has always worked towards building a solid network of cooperation between institutions to promote economic development. The dialogue between the education, training and business sectors represents one of the institutional purposes all Chambers of Commerce have. We actively contribute to this through a dense programme of initiatives. Finally, the blue economy is a crucial sector for the economic growth of the Livorno and Grosseto areas. We continue to promote it, considering it vital for development.”
Translation by Giles Foster
