Another AI is possible: In Torino, young people and experts envision the future of education

On 16 April, Torino, Italy, hosted the event A Different AI – Skills in Service of an Attractive and Inclusive Territory, organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO). Alongside the European Training Foundation (ETF), key public institutions and actors from the Piedmont region co-organised the event, from the Region of Piemonte and the City of Torino, to the Industrial Union, Compagnia di San Paolo, the Regional School Office, Fondazione per la Scuola and Forma Piemonte. The event took place at the Salesian Opera House in Valdocco.

The event venue is steeped in both local and global history. It was here, in 1846, that Italian priest, educator and pedagogue Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco – better known as Don Bosco – founded the first oratory, launching a journey that has since expanded to 134 countries worldwide.

In his opening remarks, Don Claudio Belfiore, Vice-President and Director General of CNOS-FAP (National Centre of Salesian Works – Vocational Training), evoked Don Bosco’s legacy and his human-centred approach to education.

“We must put young people back at the centre – their paths, their dreams, and everything they carry with them,” said Belfiore. “Every seed, every dream left behind by each of us is a tremendous gift to society as a whole.”

Belfiore’s words found immediate resonance in the theatrical performance by the Tedacà collective, made up of young people aged 17 to 35. The powerful provocation of their short play set the tone and sparked discussions that would animate the event throughout the day.

As ITCILO's Stefano Merante recalled, the co-organisers’ request had been nothing short of audacious.

“We asked Tedacà to condense themes like digital transformation, demographic winter, environmental sustainability and social inclusion into just 15 or 20 minutes,” he said. “Four global themes with a local lens on Torino – it was close to impossible, and we knew it.”

Yet the company delivered. Through music and, above all, data-driven storytelling, they managed to convey both utopian and dystopian visions – capturing the sense of uncertainty facing today’s youth amidst technological upheavals, democratic regression and fears for the future. Statistics on birth rates in Turin over the past 60 years brought into focus young people’s anxieties about starting families in a rapidly changing world. Other striking data – such as “one in four young people would consider a romantic relationship with AI” – forced experts and policymakers to reckon with how young generations are perceiving today’s seismic shifts.

Their gazes and movements captivated the audience, forging an emotional connection that moved many to goosebumps – and some, almost to tears. After outlining bleak scenarios for the future of Turin and beyond, the performers whispered personalised reflections into the ears of audience members – subtle calls to reimagine education and social planning with greater hope and purpose.

It was then Merante’s “unenviable task,” as he joked, to bring the audience “back to reality” and kick off the working group sessions. “Without offending anyone’s ego, I think we can agree: no workshop, publication or research project matches the impact of art in depicting reality – as proven by Tedacà’s performance.”

The thematic roundtables addressed both overarching and topic-specific questions: how to tackle today’s challenges through networked approaches, and how to envision the future of each respective area. Many participants agreed that a network should be built and thought out even before something happens, that is, before an emergency arises (a concept that is becoming increasingly systematic in today's world).

"You need to network even when it's not needed," noted one participant.

The table on Networks and Collaboration, led by ETF’s Siria Taurelli and Fabio Nascimbeni, highlighted the performance’s ability to spark unexpected, high-level reflections – and the equally important task of bringing those reflections back down to earth, where real change happens. This highlights the crucial need to foster the development of a social conscience within businesses themselves. In this, the crucial need to foster the development of a social conscience within businesses is highlighted, a situation that is supported in Turin by its long tradition of social networks, which should be valued, likely modernized, but even more promoted.

The Skills Mismatch and Career Guidance table, coordinated by Merante, reiterated the value of dialogue between different actors – businesses and beyond – to align educational and social needs with future skills strategies. In private-public partnerships, it is important to provide young people with concrete, practical examples of abstract concepts such as internationalisation and innovation. To achieve this, it is important to recover and communicate the experiential value of work, what it means for each individual, and how it is linked to the impact of AI, which is creating new jobs to which we will need to adapt.

Other groups were steered by local authorities. The Mobility table, led by Davide Gandolfi (Piemonte Region), and the Enabling Conditions and Territory table, coordinated by Piergiorgio Turi (City of Torino). Both groups stressed the need to strengthen interregional and transnational collaborations, as well as reflect on the city's trajectory over the past decades.

Piemonte, they noted, is no island – it engages with neighbouring regions, European partners, and the international student body that chooses Turin each year as a place to live and learn. An ecosystem with strong potential for innovation in networking approaches and project design, developing dedicated services also through technological advancements. In this, the experience of Turin as a Skills City is crucial, along with its post-industrial evolution (a word that has come up in the debates is, in fact, deconstruction) into a city of skills, without compromising social justice, attracting (and retaining) talent in transit.

Finally, the focus group From Initial Education to Lifelong Learning, chaired by Stefano Molina (Industrial Union), brought attention to the growing shift towards transversal skills. Lifelong learning is no longer a vague concept but a tangible trend: the traditional divide between education and work is fading. Technical competences now serve broader capabilities that accompany individuals throughout their lives. Several local initiatives from Turin and the Piemonte Region are already putting this approach into practice in vocational education and training.

Reflecting on the ideas raised at the event regarding the future of Torino, Taurelli emphasised that the need for a different model, including an economic one, for the city "must be translated into concrete actions and political choices, not just short-term projects."

"Networks are not simply a set of rules, but primarily visions: Torino needs work, but also citizenship and participation. Surely, to generate impact, a new permanent table must expand, open up, and address new needs that are still voiceless today," Taurelli continued.

 Nascimbeni added two more key concepts: "diversity and sharing, both within society and between Turin itself and the rest of the world."

In her closing remarks, Paola Babos, Deputy Director of ITCILO, thanked the participants for the wealth of content generated during a day of reflections on key issues such as social inclusion, decent work, and the role of education and training in shaping them.

“This is not just a technical matter, but a set of true strategic levers for the city of Torino – and that’s the idea we’ve unpacked today,” Babos said. “We want to bring today’s ideas on the social economy and inclusion forward – from dialogue to concrete action.”