TRED High School: the school that prepares young people to build the future

In a fast-moving world, with technology dictating the pace of constant and often dizzying evolution, training plays a crucial role in preparing the new generations to embrace the major transformations taking place - from energy transition to digitisation - so that they can truly become the protagonists of change. 

This is the mission of the Liceo TRED: a new type of four-year high school, developed by the ELIS Consortium, which involves high schools, universities and companies with the aim of enhancing the potential of students and making them aware of the opportunities offered by the professions of the future.

With a network involving 27 high schools throughout Italy, for a total of around 1,300 students, the Liceo TRED offers a high-level multi-disciplinary teaching programme, where the rigour of the scientific tradition merges with the sensitivity of the humanities to offer an education based on up-to-date skills and innovative learning methods - and at the same time foster students' personal growth - through the development of soft skills such as effective communication and the ability to work in a team.

A true model of a state-of-the-art high school of which we have become partners, with the aim of enriching its educational offerings and supporting young people who want to concretely explore the key issues of our time.

School-business synergy for a new training horizon

With a duration of four years, Liceo TRED allows students to achieve the same educational goals as a traditional five-year course, supplementing it with a teaching model that combines the study of applied sciences with an approach based on practical experimentation and interdisciplinarity.

The educational content of Liceo TRED is developed by ELIS in collaboration with some of Italy's most prestigious universities, such as the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Mind4Children (a spin-off of the University of Padua) and the LUMSA University: an educational offer that is enriched thanks to constant cooperation between professors, university professors and experts from the corporate world, creating a lively and stimulating learning environment.

The training strategy is carefully designed to respond punctually to the rapidly changing labour market. According to Elis data, in fact, 80% of the professions of the future will require STEM skills, while already today 96% of Italian companies are looking for professionals with digital skills. Furthermore, it is estimated that demand for professionals in the field of ecological transition will reach about 2.4 million jobs in the next three years.

It is precisely against this backdrop that it appears increasingly necessary to facilitate direct collaboration between schools, universities, and businesses, creating virtuous synergies that help reduce the employment gap and encourage young people to embark on dynamic and promising careers, with ample room for personal and professional growth.

Educational excellence between theoretical training and practical experience

The Liceo TRED is characterised by an all-round educational offer, where theoretical learning is not confined to the classroom, but is transformed into concrete experiences through which students can experience the acquired skills right from the start.

Some key moments in this process are the workshops: workshops conducted both individually with individual classes and jointly with all TRED high schools that are part of the network. This further encourages collaboration and the sharing of joint projects dedicated to the core topics of sustainability and energy transition. 

There are also learning weeks and summer camps during the course to develop skills and learn by doing. 

Technology and sustainability: a word from our experts

One of the most innovative aspects of Liceo TRED is certainly the opportunity for students to engage with experts from the corporate world, who work alongside teachers to offer concrete insights into cutting-edge technologies related to the energy transition.

Enel contributed to this integration between schools and businesses with a meeting held on 16 April at the ISS Volta - Castel San Giovanni in Piacenza by Roberto Caraglio, Head of the Maintenance Section of the E. Amaldi power plant, on the high level of industrial automation within the thermoelectric power plant. During the meeting, the students were able to learn about the different types of control systems and the components used, also by means of concrete examples. 

The active involvement of students enabled them to understand the complexity of systems.

In addition, an online workshop involving 12 member schools of the TRED network took place on 23 April. 219 students were accompanied by our Sustainability Manager, Piera Savino, and by Fabio Valla, Maintenance Engineer of Enel Green Power's Hydro Predictive Diagnostics unit, on a short journey that started with the Enel Group and its positioning on sustainable renewable sources, and led to the discovery of technologies that support an increasingly efficient and safe use of renewable sources.

During the webinar, students were able to learn how the use of increasingly innovative sensors and predictive algorithms can help Enel Green Power's technical and operational staff to constantly monitor the health of hydroelectric plants.

Starting with the analysis of real cases, the students explored the role that advanced sensor technology plays in the predictive maintenance of our power plants, enabling our technicians to collect, interpret data and intervene in a very effective and timely manner, while contributing to the development of the circular economy. 

Towards a new idea of school

Liceo TRED is thus configured as a school-laboratory on the future, a learning environment that transcends the boundaries of traditional didactics to embrace a more engaging, integrated and up-to-date education.

A new educational model that does not merely transfer knowledge, but wants to activate experiences, bringing together knowledge and expertise, schools and businesses, science and humanism in order to interpret and overcome the environmental and technological challenges that await us.

Accompanying students on this path means preparing them to face the great transformations of our time with awareness and responsibility. Because, as Plutarch reminds us, “students are not vessels to be filled, but torches to be lit”. And our task, together with ELIS, is to feed that light every day.