Designing Services “For and With” the New Generations: Here’s the Innocenti Manual

The awareness-raising and training plan dedicated to the Manuale di programmazione e progettazione dei servizi per le nuove generazioni (Manual for planning and designing services for the new generations), drafted by the Istituto degli Innocenti as part of the activities included in the cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, is in full swing. The manual, that can already be viewed and downloaded online, has been designed to be a useful tool to accompany a new form of planning “for and with” the new generations, starting from the rights and opportunities rooted in the values of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child all the way to promoting the best practices in the field of social work.

After the online publication of the Manual in the summer of 2022, a specific awareness-raising and training plan with several levels and pathways was launched. The text and other in-depth content can be read on the specially created website. Training courses can be accessed through the website too. At the same time, in-person meetings and webinars were also offered to analyse the content of the Manual.

What’s the Manual on Planning and Designing Services for the New Generations?

The Manual is addressed to those who, with different roles, develop, manage, implement schedules, services and projects for children and adolescents. The text aims at strengthening provisions and services starting from guidelines related to methods and content that contribute to ensuring that the rights of children and adolescents are guaranteed throughout Italy. The Manual has 500 pages that are structured around three main areas - planning, design and thematic focuses.

In the context of the regional regulations and the different sources of funding for children and adolescents, the Manual also aims at contributing to and stimulating planning, designing and managing services for children, adolescents and young people, starting from their rights, and in a manner that is consistent with regional planning. The Manual places itself within the national framework of social policies, sector regulations and European policies. Starting with guidelines on methods and content, the Manual aims at strengthening provisions and services in favour of minors that ensure a uniform commitment throughout the country. It is also an operational tool in line with the aims of the National Action Plan for Child Guarantee, adopted by Italy to implement the European Recommendation.

“Phase 2”: Content Dissemination

On Monday 9 October, the last event of the webinar series on justice reform took place, organised as part of the dissemination of the Manual on Planning and Designing Services for the New Generations. The online event was attended by Renato Sampogna, Director of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, and many professionals working in the field of planning, designing and implementing services and provisions for children and adolescents (social workers, educators, psy-chologists, officials and managers of public bodies, third sector organisations).

In parallel with the webinars, the dissemination plan also included a series of meetings that took place in Milan, Rome, Florence and Naples. The meetings focused on the themes suggested by the Manual through plenary reports and participatory workshops aimed at disseminating the key elements of good planning, and fostering an exchange and debate on local circumstances. Each seminar delved into specific contents of the Manual, allowing a comparison with relevant local experiences in order to suggest contexts where the Manual can be of use.

Finally, the distance learning Tracce per la programmazione e la progettazione (Tracks for Planning and Designing) are available on the Manual's dissemination platform, with a total duration of 13 hours between video lectures and self-study. The topics proposed by the Manual are developed through video lectures given by experts who contributed to drafting the various chapters. Teaching materials, bibliographies, additional texts and links for those interested in learning more about the topics are available in the platform. Further training suggestions are also periodically uploaded onto the platform. There is also a participatory experience-sharing area open to all those who wish to make their contribution through exchange and discussion on the topics proposed by the Manual.