Italy Establishes Permanent Table for Cultural Workers' Protection

Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini has signed a decree establishing a permanent working group (Tavolo permanente) for professionals in museums, archives, and libraries. The table aims to address the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural sector, which has seen cinemas and theaters closed and museums only recently reopening in low-risk regions. The initiative follows an appeal by Confcultura, an association of private museum service operators, which last year urged Prime Minister Conte for joint action to revive the sector. The permanent table will be chaired by the Director General of Museums and include union representatives, sector associations, the Director General of Archives, and the Director General of Libraries and Copyright. It will examine emergency-related issues and propose measures for worker protection and sector recovery, operating without additional public funding. Franceschini also announced plans for 250 new specialist hires in the 2021 triennial plan, including librarians, archivists, art historians, architects, and paleontologists. This follows the recruitment of 1,000 technical officials between 2017-2018 through a special competition. The August Decree further enables a new training course for recruiting managers with technical expertise in cultural heritage protection, modeled on the successful Pompeii experience.