May 2016
The dissemination activities continued to be performed throughout the month in order to promote the upcoming Summer School:
- Isolde, Caterina and Diletta distributed printed copies of the promotional materials and posted them at relevant locations in order to attract potential attendees (such as Departments and Libraries of the University of Verona, practitioners’ associations offices, the Court of Verona);
- Caterina and Diletta introduced and illustrated the Summer School to young practitioners attending the Legal School of the Bar Association, who represent one of the main targets of the course.
Diletta drafted and finalised the second issue of the Newsletter (n. 2/2016), which has been uploaded on the project website and sent to a wider audience thanks to the already reviewed mailing lists (academics, practitioners’ associations, general public). The issue contains a review of the Conference and its positive results, as well as the column “An insider’s view” that aims at offering an insight on the fashion industry as told directly by people working in it (in this issue, in particular, an interview with the fashion designer Patrizia Prencipe, who was already involved in the project activities).
Regarding the Summer School-related activities:
- a waiting list of applicants was created, given that the number of applications received thus far was already exceeding the ceiling number of participants envisaged in the project. Therefore, the Project Team (in particular, Prof. Baruffi) was required to carry out a preliminary evaluation of the letters of admission and the CVs of potential applicants;
- Isolde, in cooperation with the IT Offices, took care of the creation of the private web platform on the University website where the teaching materials of the course are uploaded. At the same time, Isolde and the IT Offices also created guest accounts (made up of username and password) that would be provided to the Summer School attendees at the beginning of the course. Thanks to those accounts, they would be able to access the mentioned private area of the University website and to connect to the University Wi-fi network;
- the Summer School Programme was finalised with few adjustments in relation to the draft version referred to in the previous report. In particular, due to an unforeseen commitment of one member of the Teaching Staff (Prof. Barbara Pozzo), it was decided to include a lesson on “Corporate Communication and Marketing” to be delivered by Patrizia Salvaterra, journalist and communication expert who already joined the project activities acting as moderator during the Inaugural Conference. Such choice was made on the basis of the specific competence and professional profile of the teacher. Moreover, taking into account the positive feedback received with regard to the Conference speakers, it was decided to provide the Summer School with a sort of follow-up of two topics in the Conference agenda, namely the historical background of Italian fashion and the sale of shareholdings of fashion companies. Prof. Carlo Marco Belfanti and Prof. Tommaso dalla Massara thus agreed to join the Teaching Staff and a reassignment of tasks was required in order to maintain the 42 teaching hours as proposed in the project (two teaching hours of Project Team members – Isolde and Diletta – were reassigned to Prof. Belfanti and Prof. dalla Massara). With regard to the workshop activities (events in addition to the teaching hours), the finalised version of the programme envisaged a total of 6 hours (4 workshops of one hour each and one workshop of 2 hours). As to the experts in charge of those activities, some adjustments were made as well. In particular, considering their active involvement in the project, Anna Caprara (Consorzio della Moda of Verona) and Patrizia Prencipe (fashion designer from Verona) were asked to deliver a lesson on their respective professional background, and Riccardo Vannetti (Pitti Immagine) was asked to offer an insider’s perspective on the fashion industry with regard to the support of emerging designers. Raffaele Bonizzato (Gruppo Sinergia Srl), who was already a speaker at the Inaugural Conference, was also asked to provide a workshop on the role of e-commerce in the development of fashion companies. The implementation of the project activities thus benefitted from the synergies that were built with companies and organisations within the territory of Verona, fostering the mutual interaction between academia and entrepreneurs;
- the internship opportunities were finalised with the law firm and the companies that agreed to offer those positions. More precisely, they were: KPMG Tax & Legal, Consorzio della Moda and Mondialmarchi. Prof. Baruffi and Isolde agreed to provide them with a list of applicants who are interested in taking up this opportunity. The aim is to allow the internship providers to get directly in touch with the applicants in order to finalise the internship programme and offer an experience that suits both the interns and the law firm/companies.
June 2016 (before the Summer School)
The activities in this time period focused on the finalisation of the organizational aspects of the Summer School:
- after the registrations closed, Prof. Baruffi and Caterina evaluated the applicants’ profiles in order to create the admission list. To each admitted applicant it was required to confirm its participation to the course and those who could not confirm have been replaced with applicants from the waiting list;
- Isolde and Diletta uploaded the teaching materials provided by the Teaching Staff members on the private web platform on the University website that can be accessed to by means of the already created guest accounts;
- Diletta and Cinzia drafted the evaluation survey that is going to be distributed at the end of the course. It contained questions on various aspects of the course (contents, Teaching Staff, organisation and delivery, overall satisfaction), as well as free questions in order to get suggestions and advice for the following editions of the Summer School;
- Isolde prepared the materials for the course: folders for the participants with the programme and guide of the course, registers of attendance to be signed by the participants during each lesson/workshop, certificate of attendance to be awarded to the participants at the end of the course;
- Isolde updated the project website with new contents: the homepage banner for the latest news, the final version of the Summer School programme, the Conference podcasts, the brief papers on the Conference topics drafted by some of the speakers, the section regarding the accreditation of the Summer School, and the list of applicants admitted to the Summer School.
20-25 June 2016: Summer School
The course has been successful as to the number of attendees and the overall positive feedback it received (for a detailed review, see the analysis of the evaluation surveys in Annex 1).
The participants who have reached the minimum of attendance required for the award of the certificate were 41.
The course was conducted according to the agenda. The broad range of topics provided the participants with an overview of the manifold legal and economical implications regarding the fashion industry, but thanks to the workshops it offered also an insight of the various professional profiles working in the industry. Some lesson/workshop have been particularly acclaimed by the participants, who often asked for further explanations (for example the lesson on “Corporate Communication and Marketing” delivered by Patrizia Salvaterra).
On Thursday, June 21 and Friday, June 24 two light lunches were offered to all participants and Teaching Staff members. They provided a useful networking opportunity between the Staff and the participants in order to build useful contacts even beyond the course. The expenses related thereto were covered thanks to external funds.
During the week, the University Press Office published a column regarding the course on the University magazine (https://www.univrmagazine.it/sito/vedi_articolo.php?id=4096). Moreover, it uploaded on the Youtube channel of the University a video coverage that was shot on Thursday, June 21 and included some brief interviews with Prof. Baruffi and other Teaching Staff members (https://youtu.be/m_QSkE50hqA). Both contents are also linked to on the project website.
During each lesson/workshop the registers of attendance were distributed and duly signed by the participants in order to check their attendance required for the award of the final certificate. To this end, the Tutor (Diletta) collected the registers after each lesson/workshop.
At the end of the course the evaluation surveys were distributed among the participants with the aim of receiving their feedback on various aspects of the course. Also, the certificates of attendance were awarded to those participants who met the required minimum of attendance (80{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the teaching/workshop hours). The attendance was part of the accredited training programme of the Bar Association of Verona (20 credits were awarded), as well as of the didactic programme of the Ph.D. School of Law and Economics of the University of Verona (1 credit every 8 hours of attendance).
June 2016 (after the Summer School)
After the Summer School, a Project Team briefing took place on Monday June, 27. The Team gathered to discuss the results of the course right after its conclusion and to plan the upcoming project activities according to the timeline.
In particular, the following steps were planned as follows:
- Baruffi e-mailed the Teaching Staff members to thank them for their contribution in the successful delivery of the Summer School. Many of them expressed their satisfaction with the participants and the course, wishing for a similar success for its following editions;
- Isolde e-mailed the Summer School attendees to thank them for their participation to the course. Many of them answered thanking the Project Team and the Staff for the organisation of the course; their interest in its topics was so high that some of them also asked for the delivery of an additional advanced course open to those who had already attended the Summer School. She also asked to those interested in taking up an internship to send their applications and collected them. Then she contacted the internship providers (KPMG Tax & Legal, Consorzio della Moda and Mondialmarchi) and sent them the applications, so that they could evaluate them and make the selection according to their professional needs and availability;
- Isolde started collecting the teaching materials of those who agreed to publish them as Open Educational Resources (OER) on the project website. Their upload is scheduled within the end of July;
- the collection of the scientific papers drafted by the Teaching Staff members started right after the end of the Summer School. Caterina and Diletta started editing the first articles that were received in order to get ready for their publication in the e-journal “Papers di diritto europeo” scheduled at the end of July;
- Cinzia carried out the analysis of the evaluation surveys and discussed them with the whole Team before drafting the report on the collected data (see Annex 1).
Verona, June 2016
* * *
Annex 1
Report on the 2016 Summer School evaluation surveys
The surveys disseminated at the end of the course were aimed at evaluating the general organisation of the Summer School, the contents of the lectures, the Teaching Staff and the methodology, as well as collecting observations and proposals on various aspects that might be useful for the upcoming editions.
The survey was submitted by 35 attendees of the Summer School, amongst them 9 were lawyers, 15 trainee lawyers, 8 law students and 3 of other professional categories.
Overall, the results of the evaluation surveys showed a high level of satisfaction with the Summer School, its organisation and contents. The Project Team welcomed the submitted proposals and will consider them for the programming of the upcoming editions of the Summer School and other related activities.
The specific outcomes of the surveys are as follows.
Knowledge of the course
11 participants became aware of the Project “Univr Fashion Week” and the organisation of the Summer School because of the news posted on the official website https://europa.univr.it/univrfw and other 11 people thanks to the promotional materials (posters and leaflets) distributed in the relevant locations, such as University buildings, libraries and Courthouse premises. Other means of knowledge were the presentations of the Summer School held within the Conference of 18 March 2016 or during a class of the Legal School of the Bar Association. Respectively, 2 and 3 attendees knew about the Summer School thanks to those initiatives. Furthermore, 3 attendees learned about the course as a result of a promotional communication sent by the Project Team through mailing lists (which include academics, students and other practitioners) and other 9 attendees were informed by an exchange of information with other colleagues.
Objectives and contents
As to the objectives and contents, 22.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the attendees declared that before attending the course they had a poor knowledge about the provided topics, 51.43{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} was fairly aware of them and 25.71{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} had a good familiarity. As a result of the course, 8.57{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} reached a fair level of knowledge, 82.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} felt that its level was good and 8.57{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very good, none of the participants rated it low. The percentage of 2.78{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the participants rated as fair the relevance of the Summer School programme and its topics, while 50{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} believed that it was good and 47.22{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very good. None of them believed it was poor.
With regard to the topics on the fashion industry in the European Union, 10 attendees suggested that lectures on intellectual property rights issues should be repeated in the next editions, while 9 of them considered that marketing and communications should be maintained as part of the teaching lectures. Respectively, 5 and 3 participants proposed antitrust and management issues for the next editions and 3 of them deemed important the scheduling of workshops.
On the contrary, some of the attendees would not recommend repeating certain topics in the future editions of the Summer School. In particular, 8 of them did not find very useful the workshop on ”The origin of Trends in the fashion industry”, 2 expressed some doubts on the lecture on supply chain management in European fashion companies, and 3 stressed a lack of interest in the issues related to corporate social responsibility, marketing and communications and tax and fiscal advice, respectively.
Furthermore, participants submitted some topics that might be dealt with in the upcoming events. 4 of them asked for a more practical approach from a general point of view and 7 made the same request but specifically related to contracts law. Intellectual property law issues, counterfeiting and criminal aspects should be covered as suggested by 4 people each, as well as 2 of them requested customs matters to be included in the course programme. 2 participants recommended as a topic the role of the professional as fashion industry counsel. Lastly, other suggested arguments were environmental issues, consumers’ protection, national labour law, young entrepreneurs’ experience and practise of the SMEs.
Teaching staff
Participants were requested to evaluate the Teaching Staff members’ competence and communication skills. 38.89{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} considered them as good and 61.11{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very good, while 0{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} rated it poor or fair. As to the quality and effectiveness of the didactic materials, 50{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} expressed that the uploaded and distributed resources were good and 50{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very good, while 0{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} rated it poor or fair.
Organisation and delivery
Further questions concerned the organisation of the Summer School and the Project Team’s activities. With regard to the Staff, which includes the Project Team, Academic Coordinator, Module Leader, Tutor and Secretarial service, 20{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the attendees declared it was good and 80{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very good. None of them rated it poor or fair.
Participants were also required to submit proposals in respect of the organisation and delivery of the course. 6 of them suggested that the daily number of teaching hours should be reduced and 8 pointed out the need to extend the course over more weeks. The evening sessions should not be too intensive as stated by 4 attendees and for 2 of them 4-hour lectures held by a single teacher should be divided. Other 2 people complained about the need of air-conditioned rooms, one attendee requested a different conducting period of the course, and lastly another one proposed not to set a limited number.
Overall satisfaction
Some remarks were emphasised from a general point of view. Proposals covered the needs of a more practical-professional approach of the lectures, the involvement of practitioners and enterprises, a case-law analysis, an in-depth examination of specific contracts law issues, and basic marketing skills. Moreover, some of them asked for a closer interaction between the Project Team and the attendees, a need of a stricter selection of the targeted groups, as well as the organisation of a 3-level edition of the Summer School.
The highest percentage of attendees (54.29{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995}) declared that the level of their overall satisfaction with the course was very high; while 42.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} expressed it was high and only 2.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} fair (1 participant). 0{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} rated it low. In respect of their expectations, none of the participants declared they were met to a low extent, 2.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} was fairly pleased (1 participant), 45.71{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} well satisfied and 51.43{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} very well satisfied. Indeed, 60{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the participants considered the course useful, 37.14{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} moderately useful and 2.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} did not express a preference (1 participant).
Lastly, 2.86{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} of the attendees (1 participant) declared that they would not advise the course to other people, 28.57{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} stated that if their suggestions were accepted they would do it, and 68.57{a14a5fb528fe56ca25149d65a85f27027fc08aee43dd8ba19daa5f9e2276d995} confirmed that they would recommend the course.