In October 2025, we organised the international final conference of the MILEAGE Mentorship for Impact – Raising the Quality of Study Practices in Higher Education project at the University of Palermo.

This hybrid event brought together the academic community, students, career centres, and NGO partners from Slovenia, Italy, and Finland to present the results developed over three years of collaboration.

Following the welcoming speeches, Italian singer Giovanni Caccamo took the stage as keynote speaker and presented the international initiative Manifesto for Change, which creates opportunities for young people to co-create the future. The main objectives of the initiative are to generate concrete, value-driven proposals for a better future from the perspectives of young people from different cultures, identities, and environments, and to create a platform for real support for young people. The programme also included the premiere of the documentary film Manifesto for Change. Through these contributions, Giovanni Caccamo highlighted the connection with the MILEAGE project, which bridges the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills, enabling students to strengthen valuable skills, increase their employability, and make a significant contribution to society.

Project leader Prof. Dr. Tomaž Deželan presented the project results, which establish a comprehensive, experiential learning-based model for practical training in higher education that supports students’ development in four dimensions: professional, academic, personal, and civic. The model is implemented through a phased, structured student "journey," in which the roles of all key actors are defined and methodologically supported: students, higher education institutions (such as career centres and coordinators), and host organisations with work mentors. Both digital and analogue supports have been developed: a web application for managing the process, and a set of practical tools and training courses that standardise and improve the quality of mentoring and practical training. The result is a transferable framework that enhances the quality of practical training and strengthens learning through direct work experience.

At the round table "Quality of the study practice: challenges, opportunities," experts discussed the key challenges and opportunities currently shaping the quality of practical training in the European higher education area. Prof. Elina Lehtomaki (University of Oulu), Prof. Raimondo Ingrassia, and Doc. Sonia Gargano (both from the University of Palermo) explored what institutional structures, mentoring, and cooperation with the working environment mean for students – from the design of partnerships to the effects on learning, inclusion, and future employability.

At the conference, project partners presented tools to support practical training in three workshops dedicated to the transfer and practical application of these tools. In each workshop, participants actively tested a set of digital tools designed to support career counsellors, practical training coordinators in higher education, and mentors in NGOs. The tools and content were received with great interest and are expected to prove relevant, understandable, and useful in practice.

Professor Antonino Margagliotta concluded the programme with the opening of the MILEAGE Corner at the UNIPA Placement Pavilion, which will continue to serve as a space for guiding students in practical training after the end of the project. The event raised awareness of the importance of quality practical training, as the discussion moved from the level of "project presentation" to that of "structural change" in institutions, which will certainly influence changes in the perception of practical training and students' attitudes towards it.