Futurama and career guidance: tools and skills to build the future

With the start of the new school year, the activities of the **Futurama** project resume. Selected by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for Combating Educational Poverty in Minors and co-financed by Fondazione Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the project is now in its second year of implementation. The initiative aims to promote basic competencies in the STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), encourage active citizenship, and support career guidance, involving students from the Istituto d’Istruzione Secondaria Superiore Sciascia e Bufalino in Erice (TP) and the Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Odierna in Palma di Montechiaro (AG).

Career guidance: a look into the future

Among the key activities of this second year, the career guidance program, led by partner Beehive, is providing students with concrete tools to prepare for the professional world. This journey begins with discovering their own aptitudes and leads to the creation of essential tools for entering the job market.

Students have explored the value of soft skills—fundamental transversal competencies for confidently navigating professional and personal contexts—as well as hard skills, which are technical abilities specific to each professional sector. A turning point was the introduction to the Six Thinking Hats Theory, an innovative method for developing critical and creative thinking, stimulating the ability to analyze situations from different perspectives.

From resume to self-awareness

A crucial moment in the program was the creation of cover letters and resumes: for many students, this was their first opportunity to face the challenge of presenting themselves effectively and authentically. While uncertainties were evident at the beginning, with the support of teachers and trainers, students gained confidence in their abilities, transforming a school exercise into a concrete step toward their professional future.

Teamwork represented another fundamental milestone: learning to collaborate, share ideas, and manage conflicts allowed participants to understand the value of cooperation in the professional world. "I didn’t think it was so important to delegate tasks and trust others," commented one student, highlighting how the experience changed their perception of teamwork.

The Future is now

The second-year activities of Futurama represent a new step in an ambitious journey, looking ahead with the goal of building a more inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-oriented educational system. Through practical experiences and engaging methodologies, students are transforming theory into concrete tools for their future.

Stay tuned to follow the developments of Futurama and to learn more about the stories of young people shaping their future!

To continue following the activities of the Futurama project, you can consult the project page (link here), visit the project blog (link here), and follow us on Facebookand Instagram. For participation or further information, contact Daniela Avanzato at d.avanzato@fcagrigentotrapani.it.

The Futurama project was selected by "Con i Bambini" under the Fund for combating educational poverty and co-financed by the Fondazione Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The Fund was created through an agreement between banking foundations represented by Acri, the National Forum of the Third Sector, and the Government. It supports initiatives aimed at removing economic, social, and cultural barriers that prevent children from fully benefiting from educational processes. The social enterprise Con i Bambini, a non-profit organization entirely owned by the Fondazione CON IL SUD, was established in June 2016 to implement the Fund's programs.*www.conibambini.org*