Carpiformazione is a Vocational Training company specialized in planning and running training courses for the Fashion field and in services concerning the Textile/Clothing sector.

During the 25 years since it was founded, the centre has been equipped with instruments and new methods for work analysis and training planning which, together with the human resources available, give maximum flexibility in organising the various training initiatives in the areas of designing, planning and creating sample models, industrial production, commerce/marketing and administration and management areas.

Carpiformazione thus represents a reference point for learning and keeping up-to-date knowledges and abilities: both young people and adults can, in fact, quickly acquire skills and competences which are widely employable in the labour market and in the fashion world. Students qualified nowadays by Carpiformazione are able to present themselves with a professionality which is immediately employable on the labour market, while continuing to keep up-to-date regarding the company needs and the socio-economic situation in which they are operating.

Within the structure, classrooms and laboratories are equipped with the latest technologies, including a large number of Personal Computers, CAD systems for planning and creating sets of samples as well as the most common specialised softwares widely used in the companies in the district. All this allows the students to acquire basic computer technology skills and to practise and simulate company levels and processes.

The main clients of Carpiformazione are the European Union, the Labour Ministry, the Emilia Romagna Region, the Province of Modena and the firms. The proposed projects generally have as partners the Entrepreneurs and Trade Union Associations which, in some cases, are themselves the promoters of the projects. There are about 300 small, medium and large companies that annually supply qualified support for the initiatives of planning and setting up the training courses.

The excellent level in the training courses on technical-production profiles in Textile/ Clothing and Fashion, the experience in planning, the use of teachers/ external experts coming from the sector, the new teaching methods, the strong ties with Schools, Companies and Entrepreneurs and Trade Union Associations, and the high level of employment at the end of the training courses make Carpiformazione an outstanding Centre in Emilia Romagna.

Carpi Formazione offers a wide range of services and types of training including courses in:

> Initial and higher Vocational training with

• Courses integrated with the State Senior High Schools, providing courses designed for students of the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of the Higher Institutes for textile studies;
• Initial training courses for young people and adults to acquire basic qualifications;
• Training courses for higher qualifications lasting one year including stages in companies for young people who hold a High School diploma or degree, designed to create professional figures with specific specialised skills;
• Courses designed for special users, disadvantaged or underprivileged persons who risk social exclusion, and persons away from the work scene for long periods.
  

> Continuing Vocational training with

• Refresher/re-qualification courses for workers, technicians, office workers and company owners in the sector;
• Company courses specially designed for the specific needs of the requesting organization, both for technical up-dating and for the development of managerial skills;
  

> Orientation courses and counselling activities, for students in senior high schools, reintegration for unemployed adults and as a support for disadvantaged categories.

Relativamente alle attivitą non corsuali, Carpiformazione progetta e implementa, con la collaborazione dei propri partners sociali, azioni di sistema che prevedono la realizzazione periodica e ricorrente di studi e ricerche sulle evoluzioni e i trends del settore e delle figure professionali che vi operano e la ricerca di nuovi modelli e metodologie formative, oltre alla progettazione e realizzazione di materiali didattici multi-mediali di tipo tecnico.
Infine, nell'ottica dello scambio di metodologie e buone pratiche, partecipa in modo ricorrente, sia in qualitą di coordinatore che di partner, a progetti transnazionali, finanziati all'interno dei diversi Programmi Comunitari, realizzando insieme ad altre reti italiane e comunitarie, azioni di studio e ricerca, studio di profili professionali del settore moda, contenuti formativi, progettazione e produzione materiali di materiali didattici e divulgativi.

Regarding projects apart from courses, Carpiformazione plans and carries out, with the collaboration of its own company partners, systematic initiatives involving frequent periodic studies and research into the evolution and trends in the sector and the professional figures operating there, research into new models and training methods as well as planning and creating technical type multi-media learning materials.
Lastly, in the sphere of exchange of methods and good practices, Carpiformazione regularly participates, both as a co-ordinator and as a partner, in transnational projects, financed by the EU Community Programmes, creating, together with other Italian and community networks, study and research ventures, study of professional profiles in the fashion sector, training contents, and planning and production of learning and informative materials.

In this context, therefore, Carpiformazione plays a role of a training agency that, with regard to the textile/clothing and fashion sectors, offers a service of tailored training programmes designed with modular criteria to answer the needs of different users.
Carpiformazione, formerly a public Vocational Centre of the Emilia Romagna Region is, since 2001, a limited company with its own Administration Council, the body of the company currently made up of the Carpi Town Council and the Town Councils of Modena, Soliera, Cavezzo, Concordia, Campogalliano, Novi di Modena and S. Possidonio.
The staff consists of a director, four planner/ccoordinators for initiatives and training services, three tutors supporting the students, an administration manager, an administration collaborator, two employees for the secretarial office and the front office, an attendant and a collaborator who manages the running of the computer system in the Centre. As regards teaching, the Centre has a well-established group of about 200 trainers and external specialists coming from companies, Universities and from free-lance professional areas who are employed from time to time in the projects and courses.
Carpiformazione, situated at 800 metres from the historic centre and at the entrance to the industrial area in Carpi, can be reached by car from the A1 or A22 motorways (Carpi exit), by train on the Verona-Modena line, by bus from the main cities in the province and in the Region and by plane from Bologna airport, linked to Carpi by a shuttle bus service.

The Centre holds credentials from the Emilia Romagna Region and the certificate according to the UNI EN ISO 9001:2000 regulations.