More than 31% of Southern Italy’s creative sector comprises artists and creative freelancers, but support is limited due to fragmented CCI education across training paths. The CCI ecosystem - mostly SMEs and micro-enterprises - is impacted by green and digital transitions and the move toward a circular economy, with workers lacking the skills needed to adapt to the transitions.
The ambition
The new RSP has the long-term ambition to drive a just transition in Southern Italy and foster creative skills, aiming to build a future-ready skills ecosystem that addresses skills gaps and aligns with national and European strategic goals.
Spearheaded by Materahub (a highly active Pact member and a member of the Creative Pact for Skills Large-Scale Skills Partnership), the RSP aims to establish a "Skills Intelligence" framework by 2028, which will enable real-time monitoring of skill gaps and focus on training a highly skilled workforce proficient in digital, transversal, entrepreneurial, and green transition skills.
The RSP aims to achieve national scalability by extending its partnership into Campania, Calabria, Sardinia, and Sicily by 2028. Additionally, the Partnership will collaborate with regions such as Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna.
The commitments
The RSP will upskill and reskill the creative workforce by providing at least 45 skills actions for professionals by 2028 and piloting three innovative training models. The partnership will also provide nine dedicated training actions for its members on leadership, managing fundraising and policy advocacy.
By 2028, the partnership will expand to include at least 20 new active members across the founding regions of Basilicata and Puglia. Simultaneously, the network will scale into two further southern regions (selected from Campania, Calabria, Sardinia, or Sicily).
To further support these regions, the RSP has committed to creating a Strategic Plan for Expanding the Stakeholder Base – for maximum economic and systemic impact – and a comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Operational Toolkit by 2027.
Through dynamic skills intelligence and financial alignment, the RSP will publish three comprehensive Skills Needs Analysis reports by 2028, launch an Inter-Partner and Inter-regional Working Group for Financial Alignment, and develop a Monitoring Dashboard to visualise skills gap trends.
Are you inspired by the ambitions of this RSP?
Learn more by downloading the Partnership Declaration below!
- Publication date
- 10 March 2026
- Author
- Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion