The Pact for Skills welcomes a new Regional Skills Partnership for Piemonte’s agri-food sector. This new Partnership will drive forward a shared strategy for reskilling and upskilling, helping the region respond to economic, environmental and social challenges.
The agri-food sector across Europe is under growing pressure to become more sustainable, competitive and inclusive. Producers must adapt to greener practices, shifting consumer demands and the rise of digital technologies. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face rising costs, limited access to innovation and increasing competition from global agribusinesses.
In the Italian region of Piemonte, these challenges are made more complex by labour shortages and an ageing workforce. The region’s renowned wine and dairy industries rely on highly specialised skills that are difficult to replace or transfer. There is also a gap between academic training and real-world business needs, making it harder to attract young talent. The new Regional Partnership aims to close these gaps through coordinated action.
The ambition
The Regional Skills Partnership aims to strengthen skills in the agri-food sector by developing a shared strategy for upskilling and reskilling. The focus is on:
· improving job opportunities and making the sector more attractive, especially for young people
· supporting lifelong learning across the region
· increasing the competitiveness of farmers, cooperatives, processors and other stakeholders.
The Regional Skills Partnership is building a roadmap to guide this work and will use resources from EU-funded projects (e.g. FIELDS, Food-STA, ASKFOOD, I-Restart, AGRIFOODSKILLS) as a foundation. Actions will be supported by measurable indicators to track progress and impact.
The commitments
Partners have pledged to improve how skills needs are identified and communicated to education and training providers. The Regional Skills Partnership in Piemonte will adopt EU-wide job profiles and contribute to the exchange of policy insights and good practices from European projects.
The Partnership will strengthen collaboration between education providers and businesses, support EU-wide mobility for students and trainees, and promote vocational education, apprenticeships and lifelong learning. To attract young talent and qualified professionals, tailored communication strategies will raise awareness of career opportunities in the sector.
Special focus will be placed on SMEs, ensuring that training responds to their specific needs. The Partnership will also encourage coordination between employers, workers and training providers through social dialogue to build a more agile and inclusive skills system.
Find out more in the Partnership Declaration below.
Details
- Publication date
- 17 July 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion