The Italian School-Work Alternating System

Abstract

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS, Italian National Institute of Health) is the main governmental research institute for public health in Italy. A recent challenge for ISS is communication of scientific knowledge to different targets, outside the research area, to promote healthier behaviours and improve healthcare. In this framework, schools are a privileged place to promote life-long learning programs and health literacy. The paper reports the results achieved by an innovative approach to health communication addressing school students and teachers. The objective is to stress how responsible research needs a holistic approach involving different stakeholders. School-Work Alternating System (SWAS). The Italian Law 107/2015 introduced the SWAS in educational programs, requiring alternation between school and work during school time. This system was designed to improve students’ motivation to study through the logic of “learning by doing” and develop their basic knowledge and skills for a successful and critical transition from school-to-job. In this context, as part of its health promotion activities, the ISS started a pilot project in 2015–2016; it produced enthusiastic reactions among students, teachers, and researchers, and lead to the development of a wider project in 2016–2017, involving 13 public schools, 260 students, about 200 researchers and 13,500 h of activity. Fifty training modules on public health issues were designed to foster students’ involvement in a process of RRI, by attracting their attention towards cutting-edge scientific topics and introducing health issues in a non-formal educational scenario. Based on this experience, the ISS elaborated an organizational model that can be transferred to other research institutes. The adoption of RRI principles within the SWAS and the creation of ad hoc networks of research institutes can contribute to strengthen the institutional commitment towards the promotion of science in and for society and develop innovative and responsible research communication strategies affecting different targets outside the research area.