Memorandum of understanding for promotion in schools signed
Today in Verona, in the frame of the "Vinitaly" event, the Undersecretary for Education, Rossano Sasso, the Undersecretary for Culture, Lucia Borgonzoni, the Undersecretary for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Gian Marco Centinaio, and the President of AIS ( Italian Sommelier Association), Antonello Maietta, have signed the new three-year Memorandum of Understanding, aimed at promoting, among the students of the first and second cycle of education, the themes of the National Day of the Culture of Wine and Oil.
The Day, which this year will take place on 7 May, was conceived by AIS in 2011 to enhance two of the most important and representative Italian products in the world. Celebrated every year since then, even remotely during the lockdown, the Day has become an opportunity for collaboration between the institutions, in line with the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the UN 2030 Agenda.
"The signing of this Protocol is a further concrete signal of a restart after two years marred by the pandemic and renews a precious collaboration to protect those that are two of the most celebrated Italian excellences at international level: wine and oil - he declares the Undersecretary for Education, Rossano Sasso -. The world of school plays a strategic role in the care and enhancement of the extraordinary specificities of our territories: especially in the context of secondary education, the study paths linked to food and wine guarantee very high profile paths and offer a wide range of employment opportunities. ".
"From the good eating habits of the Mediterranean diet to the landscape, from the ancient crafts to the traditions related to their production, also passing on the economic value they generate: oil and wine testify to the knowledge, history and image of Italy steeped in multiple territories that characterize it. Involving female students in this project means creating and promoting culture, to raise more aware generations of the art linked to these two extraordinary agri-food products ”, says the Undersecretary of State for Culture, Lucia Borgonzoni.
"Products such as wine and oil do not represent only two excellences of our regions, they are part of our history, our traditions and our being Italian - recalls the Undersecretary for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Gian Marco Centinaio -. This Protocol helps to transmit to the new generations the value of two symbols of our agri-food sector which represent both culture and education, and which are among our best ambassadors in the world. By teaching young people their value, we protect and promote our tangible and intangible cultural heritage, starting with the Mediterranean Diet, as well as our territories ".
"The training activity of the Italian Sommelier Association, today more than ever, thanks to the new spaces of the national headquarters in Milan, provides all the necessary tools to place oneself permanently in the world of work, promoting gender equality within one's own associative association and encouraging sustainable lifestyles in one's professional sphere, in total harmony with the fourth point of the 2030 Agenda. It is therefore a great satisfaction for me to renew a Memorandum of Understanding which, among other things, will allow hundreds of students schools to know places where the link between culture, wine and oil is tangible ”, declares the president of the Italian Sommelier Association, Antonello Maietta.
By renewing the previous three-year agreement, the ministries involved and the AIS will continue to disseminate and raise awareness of the knowledge, economy and traditions linked to wine and oil production in the Italian regions, through museum, educational, historical-documentary itineraries. The participation of female students and students is promoted with particular attention and, in respect of school autonomy, the development of training courses dedicated to the direct knowledge of the culture and socio-economic characteristics of the individual territories, relating to the oenological traditions and olive oil. Training initiatives, including multimedia ones, will be carried out on specific topics such as agri-food excellence and the fight against counterfeiting, and orientation activities in lower secondary schools, in synergy between the Regional School Offices and the National Network of Agricultural Institutes (RENISA). Valuing a wealth of experiences built in the past years with schools throughout Italy, not even interrupted by the epidemiological emergency.
To implement the provisions of the new Protocol, each within the scope of its own competences, will be, alongside the Italian Sommelier Association, for the MI the Directorate General for School Regulations, the evaluation and internationalization of the national education system, for the MIC, the Directorate General for Education, Research and Cultural Institutes and the Directorate General for Museums, for the MIPAAF the Directorate General for the Promotion of Agri-Food Quality and Horse Racing and the Department of the Central Inspectorate for the protection of quality and the repression of fraud on products agri-food (ICQRF).