ALMA, The International School of Italian Cuisine, is promoting, with the support of the Fondazione Cologni, an official request to the institutions (Prime Minister’s office and the Ministers of Health, Education, Economic Development and Cultural Heritage) by the schools of excellence which are, in various ways, linked to training in arts and crafts.

The request, already signed by about twenty important schools and open for more signatures, aims to bring to the attention of the authorities the different educational approach that these schools have, compared to other schools and universities which are essentially based on theoretical teaching, as opposed to the mainly experiential and practical methods that characterise the sector of artistic craftsmanship.
The main concern shared by the signatories of the request comes from the effects that the latest provisions on opening and closing the national education system may have: such a delay could cause immense, even irreparable, damages. 

The promotors underline how the teaching in these schools, in which traditional Italian artistic crafts, the cultural heritage and essential foundation of Italian quality production are taught and handed down, is strongly and mainly based on practical activities in workshops; moreover, many of the schools are also businesses with a high number of employees.

The request therefore aims to ask specific measures for these schools, starting from the recognition of their difference from other educational institutions. A solution must be found which, while respecting health and safety which today are priorities, can also meet their important requirements. Fondazione Cologni supports and wants to make known this important petition, to prevent possibly very great damage to this particular world of education, with a dramatic loss of extraordinary competences and professionalism, at times unique in the world, that we believe Italy, especially at the present time, absolutely cannot afford to lose. To know the names of the schools and to sign the petition, all the references are “here”.