XXIII National Congress SIO

Orientation should now move away from asking people "what they will do when they grow up" and focus more and more on how people would like to transform their living contexts in the future, solving problems and addressing issues that transcend the individual dimension alone. This is the concept of desirable futures, namely those that allow orientation to become a preventive device even against the risks of current society that impact people's well-being and the quality of life of their contexts. Rights, peace, justice, and the environment are therefore no longer issues to be delegated, nor are they beyond the scope of orientation action, and for this reason, they will be the central themes of the XXIII Congress of the Italian Society of Orientation. Unjust communities, processes of economic and human exploitation, forms of structural injustice that are becoming increasingly pervasive, and logics based on power and profit lead orientation professionals to focus on how their actions can also trigger processes of change, transformation, and social regeneration. The need to challenge professional boundaries and discover new spaces and forms of practice, no longer exclusively focused on supporting individual life and career trajectories but also aimed at producing social changes that can eradicate the suffering and injustices endured by people, becomes increasingly urgent. Indeed, physical, economic, cultural, linguistic, political, environmental, and social barriers too often exclude and limit career paths and make our communities increasingly less inclusive.

Building on these premises, the goal of orientation professionals should be to promote actions that support individuals in designing their future educational and career paths and in building aspirations even where aspirations have less chance of being nurtured.

The XXIII edition of the Congress will be held on a Mediterranean island, a place of meeting and exchange, of journeys to places that have crossed natural, social, and political boundaries, but also a place of conflicts and clashes, a stage where structural injustices are transformed into tragic images of those chasing the hope of a better future for themselves and their loved ones. This metaphor will accompany the entire Congress: our lives and careers are not islands but interwoven and interwoven plots with those of everyone else.