Project School

Using the most innovative design techniques in the social field, Project School intends to create a generation of professionals capable of designing ambitious and sustainable initiatives, able to solve some of the most difficult challenges of our society: education, work, environment, migration, etc.

Co-founded by two project managers with more than 10 years of experience in social innovation projects, Project School is a startup company based in Italy and Belgium aimed to strengthen the creative and design skills of individuals and organizations willing to develop solutions to small and big challenges of their communities. The goal of Project School is to increase the quality of initiatives and projects with a social impact by working on everyone’s skills: from young people in schools to associations, from aspiring designers and social entrepreneurs to public bodies that want to invest their resources in effective projects. Using the most innovative design techniques in the social field, Project School intends to create a generation of professionals capable of designing ambitious and sustainable initiatives, able to solve some of the most difficult challenges of our society: education, work, environment, migration, etc. Services delivered by Project School include: classroom training, online training, individual and organizational consultancy, workshops and events. All services can be customized according to the needs of the users. Project School methodology is composed by three main phases: 1) Coaching. Our approach starts from a coaching and listening path, in which the Project School trainers act as a tool through which the participants have the opportunity to discover and bring out the enormous potential of their ambitions and ideas. 2) Empowerment. (Re)discovery, enhancement and strengthening of the skills needed to design and implement a concrete project through a creative design writing capacity building process. 3) Validation. As a last step, the participants will structure real project proposals, which will allow them to verify the soundness of their ideas, as well as the possibility to network with other organizations that will act as project partners. Project School tested its methodology for different organizations in Italy and abroad, developing tailored Social Impact Project Labs, aimed to generate impactful ideas and at the same time, supporting the growth of a (EU) project department. At the moment, SIPL have been implemented for: Pro Arbeit (Germany), Azienda Sociale Comuni Insieme, Manageritalia, Cooperativa Il Pungiglione, Centro Arti Terapie, Valore D and CASCO Learning Centre for which it has been providing ad-hoc training and support. Furthermore, Project School has been involved as a partner in seven EU-funded (KA2, KA3, PPPA) projects in relation to different topics, such as: active citizenship and urban regeneration; women empowerment and gender equality; migration and social inclusion; youth engagement and sustainable development, sport. At the moment, we are contributing to the idea generation of several European and national projects targeting disadvantaged groups, such as: young people, women, people with disabilities, migrants, refugees. We were further involved in one national project funded by the European Solidarity Corps revolving around creativity and sustainability in schools. Finally, members of Project School have been involved as guest lecturers in relation to project planning, funding and management in a variety of Higher Education institutions and European networks, including: European Platform for Rehabilitation, Lifelong Learning Platform, LUM University, Fenice Green Energy Park, Università del Piemonte Orientale.