University, ITS, master’s degree or a job straight away? Mondadori Academy Forum Orienta starts from Palermo on 28 October, the tour with Evidence Network which will visit 11 cities over three years to help young people choose their own path.
Four university students out of five love the city in which they study. Yet more than one in two is convinced that once the exams are over, they will have to pack their bags. The UniversityBox Observatory tells it, and the data says a lot about a moment that we all remember well: the one in which we must decide that what to do when you grow up. To avoid grappling with it, he arrives Mondadori Academy Forum Orienta, the new orientation project of Mondadori Media with the program curated by Evidence Network and Evidence Network Scuola.
Numbers in hand
Other numbers confirm that there was a need. Italy is the second country in the European Union in terms of share of NEET, children between 15 and 29 who do not studydo not work and do not follow a training course: around 15%, with peaks close to 28% in Sicily. And it is precisely from there, from the South, that the journey starts.
Three years, 25 stages and 11 cities, going up the country to Milan in 2028. We begin to Palermo on 28 and 29 October, where over 5,000 students and teachers are expected, then Lecce (10-11 November) And Taranto (1-2 December). In 2027 it will be the turn of Catania, Bari And Toasts.
Who’s there? What’s going on?
What do you find? An area for those who are about to graduate and want to learn universities, academies And ITS (higher technological institutes, post-diploma courses designed with companies), one for those who already have the degree and look for a masterand Future Jobs, where job supply and demand meet face to face. In the larger cities, an International area is added for those who dream of studying abroad. Teachers will also have their work cut out for them, with refresher courses ranging from artificial intelligence to gender education.
And when the lights go out? The Forum continues online, all year round, on the UniversityBox platform, which offers over a million students free tools to understand aptitudes and interests. A Permanent observatory, meanwhile, it will measure emerging skills in real time, from AI to green professions.
Main partners of the Forum are DEAS and Banca Ifis; institutional partners the Minister for Sport and Youth and Invitalia. The Minister for Sport and Youth will have an exhibition space to promote the National Youth Card project. Invitalia will instead present Resto al Sud 2.0, the incentive for under 35s who want to start a business in the South: it will explain how to access it and what the first steps are to transform an idea into a business, and offers a space for individual interviews with its experts.
In Palermo they also collaborate on the program Studenti.it And Webbohthe generation Z community.
THE’entry is freewith registration on http://mondadoriacademyforum.
The debut in Palermo
Palermo will be the protagonist city of the first stage of the Mondadori Academy Forum Orienta il 28 and 29 October 2026 at i Cultural Sites at Zisa. Over 5,000 participants are expected to attend the event, sponsored by the Municipality of Palermo and Sicindustria, including secondary school students, universities and teachers.
The program, curated by Evidence Network and Evidence Network Scuola, will alternate great educational moments, practical workshops and hackathons. First-rate speakers will take turns on stage: from Marco Camisani Calzolaritechnology public communication expert, a Gianluca Gazzoliradio host and author of the podcast “Pass from BSMT”, to web strategist Tony Siino. Furthermore, the main institutions of the city will be present at the opening event scheduled for 10.40 am on 28 October: the Mayor of Palermo Roberto Lagallathe Rector of the University of Palermo Massimo Midiri and the President of Sicindustria Luigi Rizzolo.
The following will take part in the various scheduled meetings and workshops: those responsible for orientation from the main universities; local entrepreneurs who will present job opportunities in the area in a meeting in collaboration with Sicindustria; counselors for students and teachers; and the representatives of Palermo Football and of Experimental cinematography centre who will talk about the professions behind the scenes of sport and cinema.
Plus the professor Furio Camilloscientific director ofSylla Research Institute and Webboh Laba permanent observatory on the New Gen, will bring to the stage of the Mondadori Academy Forum Orienta a panel focused on the new generations and their idea of the future. Students will interview graduate schools, undergraduates and professionals with Esmeralda Moretti, host creator of the brand, to gather expectations, needs and perceptions on the value of postgraduate training.
