Kilkenny City Vocational School hosts Forward Thinking: An Irish-Italian Collaboration

Staff and students at Kilkenny City Vocational School (KCVS) gathered last week to celebrate the success of an Erasmus+ collaboration between Kilkenny and Italy.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Kilkenny, John Coonan, along with Kilkenny County Council members Deirdre Cullen and Jenny Catt, KCVS Principal Cathy McSorely, Deputy Principal Deirdre Costigan, Erasmus+ Coordinator Ciara Gannon, and International Coordinator Debbie O’Connor.

Special guests Raffaella Balduzzi and Cristina Bertucci, accompanied by 25 students from Italy, joined forces with 25 KCVS students for an innovative three-day project exploring Kilkenny’s future through the lens of youth, creativity, and European cooperation. 

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Together, the Irish and Italian students tackled the Kilkenny Full Forward 2030 initiative — a visionary project focused on improving the city for the next generation.

Over three days, they explored Kilkenny, shared cultural insights, and developed thoughtful, practical proposals for the city’s development. As part of their research, the students walked around Kilkenny, capturing photographs of local areas and identifying specific locations where some of their creative ideas, such as vibrant murals on empty walls, could bring new life and colour to the city.

Themes of diversity, inclusion, and sustainability emerged strongly across all groups, highlighting the students’ shared commitment to shaping a better, more inclusive Kilkenny.

This Erasmus+ project exemplified the very best of European collaboration — uniting young people across borders to share ideas, build friendships, and strengthen international understanding. As Principal Cathy McSorely remarked, Erasmus+ gives students a voice, a platform, and a chance to see how powerful cooperation can be.