Italian Cultural Heritage School Reports Growth, Free Training for 65,000+

The Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali (FSBAC), Italy's public and free training institution for cultural heritage professionals, has expanded from 19 employees in 2020 to 75 today, with 33 dedicated to PNRR projects. President Vincenzo Trione and Director Alessandra Vittorini report that over 65,000 people have participated in its activities, including 40,000 registered on its e-learning platform with 500+ courses. The school, founded in 2016 and operational since 2018, operates without a permanent faculty, instead selecting experts per program. Its budget is €6 million, over 70% spent on institutional activities. Key achievements include the first Corso-concorso for 63 technical managers of the Ministry of Culture, the Dicolab digital training project (€20 million, targeting 30,000 certifications by 2025, already 60% achieved), and international collaborations with ICCROM, IILA, and the European Commission. The school has published 20 volumes and 64 reports. Average age of cultural workers dropped from 51 to 46 years; those with academic degrees rose from 76% to 81%. Trione and Vittorini emphasize the need for transversal skills and better alignment between university output (80,000 humanities graduates yearly) and labor market absorption (30,000). The school is hosted at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma and plans to strengthen its role in continuous training for Ministry staff and bridge academia and employment.