Team-Building outdoors is the latest training innovation from ALMA. The concept of the group plays a key role for the school which encourages working together and sharing experiences.
Team-building is intended to enhance knowledge and encourage cooperation among students who undertake their training at ALMA. From their first days on the course pupils share the places where they live, study and work. Team-building is fundamental to create a constructive and productive atmosphere in the classroom. Therefore, the course has been designed to facilitate positive interactions between students or groups of students who work in synergy to achieve common objectives.
“Innovation is in ALMA’s DNA. The topic of team building or coaching has become part of the School’s ethos. In an era where everything revolves around technology we have chosen to bring students into contact with nature, taking them away from their everyday routines for two days, with the aim of making sure that they can see each ingredient through new eyes, seeking the place where the food is sourced and discovering its sacred place. Only if you know yourself are you able to know others. We believe in fact that forming a group is the foundation of the values that will make the Next Generation Chef stand out from the crowd”.
That is why ALMA’s Director of Studies, Matteo Berti, also underlines the importance of choosing the venue, the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, a magical place with a hugely significant agricultural, food and wine heritage.
A short distance from Colorno, there are incredible landscapes largely unknown to most of those who come to ALMA from all over Italy and the world. Owing to its cultural and natural heritage, Unesco has included the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines in the world network of Biosphere reserves (UNESCO MAB Reserves Programme).
“I have practically taken off the chef’s hat, with which students see me, in order to be one of them, a member of a group rather than the group leader”
Chef Bruno Ruffini, cookery teacher
“We have discovered the Apennines, and that Emilia is not just a plain and this has been an incredible revelation for our students. I believe that we have also understood what it means to get to know a region.”
Prof. Novella Bagna, lecturer in sensorial analysis
“During the two-day training course I had not fully realised how emotionally involved I was. However, our Tuesday lunch was a revelation, when leaving after the lesson I had with CSCI 40, I arrived at the canteen and saw the students from 39 with different eyes… I felt I knew them”.
Chef Fulvio Vailati Canta, patisserie teacher
“I heard the students talk enthusiastically about these days spent together. I saw them ready to take on a new challenge, to leave behind their inhibitions and insecurities, and confidently reach new heights with their heads held high. And then return to see the stars. The silence on the terrace while watching the sky, helped by a sense of tiredness, was one of the most memorable moments”.
Prof. Fabio Amadei, teacher of the history of cooking
