In Emilia Romagna training courses to become Art Gardener. Qualified the first twenty-three

Twenty-three professionals are the first in Emilia Romagna to obtain the regional qualification of Art Gardener for historic parks and gardens. A total of 139 students are engaged in the nine training courses, two of which have already been completed, carried out by training institutions in the provinces of Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Ravenna, and Forlì-Cesena and supported by the region through a call for applications financed with 600,000 euros of Pnrr resources.

The new professional figure, included in the regional repertory of qualifications, allows new art gardeners to acquire the skills necessary to ensure the proper protection of historic parks and gardens (twelve in Parma and 11 in Piacenza, respectively). The courses, which will be completed by June 2024, involve 600 hours of training, including about 300 hours of internship or apprenticeship. From 20 to 50 is the age of the participants, about half unemployed or unemployable.

Each funded course mandatorily included the signing of an agreement with historic gardens and parks and floriculture and green design companies in the area concerned. This allowed for practical exercises and cognitive visits to historic gardens available to host the workshop activities, and offered the possibility of internships in specialized companies, in order to acquire management and organizational skills and facilitate the employment of participants once the training course was completed.

The direct involvement of associations such as Apgi (Association of Parks and Gardens of Italy) and Adsi (Association of Italian Historic Residences), involved 34 historic parks and gardens in activities of analysis and study, with visits and workshops or as places for training internships.

“Emilia-Romagna is among the first regions in Italy to have implemented this measure envisaged by the NRP,” commented councillors for Culture and Landscape, Mauro Felicori, and Training and Employment, Vincenzo Colla. “We are convinced that the new profession of art gardener is now a necessary figure with excellent job outlets, given the specific skills acquired to care for a heritage of small ecosystems, widespread assets that are also an expression of local history and culture.”

“The figure of art gardeners for historic gardens and parks is very important for Historic Houses, which is why we thank the Region for believing in this initiative,” said Emilia-Romagna Historic Houses Association President Beatrice Fontaine. “In fact, their specialized and interdisciplinary skills, as well as their technical ones, make it possible to enhance even more the green areas present within private mansions of historical-artistic interest, which we can now define as real cultural ’production plants’ that cannot be relocated, capable of creating social value and an economy inextricably linked to the territory.”

Amounting to 190 million euros are the Pnrr resources allocated nationwide to regenerate and redevelop Italian parks and gardens of cultural interest, also providing specific professional training for Art Gardeners. The region intervened by including the professional figure in the Regional Directory of Qualifications, consistent with the nationally shared standard. The Art Gardener for historic gardens and parks is able to intervene in the process of conservation, renovation, maintenance and restoration of historic gardens and parks, public or private, respecting their original forms and enhancing their historical, material culture, architectural, environmental and landscape peculiarities, through the use of the techniques and materials most suitable for the type of intervention to be carried out.

In Emilia Romagna training courses to become Art Gardener. Qualified the first twenty-three

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