At its second event of the season, the Googreen Biodiversity Market returns to the Sambuy Gardens – in its special edition on the occasion of Portici di Carta 2023 and in conjunction with the event La Vendemmia a Torino – Grapes in Town.

From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the seasonal excellence will be represented by Maestri del gusto e del Paniere, food and wine presidia, small but excellent producers from our land, garden masters and sustainable economy, united in the evocative setting of the gardens in front of Porta Nuova.

On the occasion of and in collaboration with the event La Vendemmia a Torino – Grapes in Town, Giardino forbito will inaugurate, together with Annalena Benini, the first didactic flowerbed cultivated with vines, part of the SEMINATO project, the crowdfunding campaign for the sustainable evolution of Giardino Sambuy. A small vineyard, symbolic and representative of the lands of Piedmont’s literary wines.

In the morning, the appointment with the Pizzica and Southern dances and the free workshop with the masters of the Paranza del Geco returns.

For the first time at the Sambuy, Arianna Abis’ Poetry on Token plays the role of a sleeping character who waits for passers-by’s token to tell her poems, nursery rhymes and illustrated stories. The technique she uses is that of the kamishibai, an ancient Japanese method of storytelling: illustrated plates are placed in a wooden case and the spectator sees the chosen image while the narrator tells the story.

The day will close with the customary Ape-ritivo in collaboration with the Slow Food Metropolitan Pollinators Community to celebrate the commitment of the first association founded in Italy for the knowledge and protection of biodiversity and pollinators.

Inauguration on Saturday 7 October 2023 from 11am to 7pm

Let the bad speak presents the works of seven artists from Iran and Afghanistan: Elmira Abolhasani, Hoda Afshar, Elyas Alavi, Armin Amirian, Hangama Amiri, Latifa Zafar Attaii, Naseer Turkmani.
The common thread is the heartfelt desire to establish an intercultural dialogue, which deconstructs the classic interpretative categories of the Middle Eastern scenario by drawing attention to the events and stories of the people who come from those contexts.

Bad, in Dari/Farsi, means “wind”. The wind is also, metaphorically, the voice of the Afghan and Iranian people. Every year, for 120 days, it visits Afghanistan and the Iranian plateau, howling impetuously across their steppes. The wind can collect stories, making them travel beyond borders. With its intangible essence, it embodies transience and, yet, it is the best master in showing how to survive in uncertainty and impermanence. The title of the exhibition – appealing to a fortunate assonance with the English word bad – aims to summarize the desire to fight any superficial ethical polarization between “good” and “evil”, the desire to restore the word to the Iranian and Afghan population and the choice to observe their situation beyond the stereotypes, in its complexity, without neglecting its surprising contradictions.

Through a plurality of media, the protagonist artists will not fail to evoke unexpected consonances between the Afghan-Iranian scene and the rest of the world. Working on themes such as the relationship between personal identity and uprooting from the motherland, the intertwining of cultural memory and individual biographies, Let the bad speak paints landscapes in which everyone can see themselves reflected, recognize themselves and re-discover themselves.

On Saturday 7 October, for the first time and only on that day, Fondazione 107 opens a temporary space to the public in which it presents Amen, a site-specific project by Federico Piccari. The artist presents a complex project in which bronze sculptures interface with paintings, videos, photography and installations.
The exhibition takes place in an atypical territory, an abandoned shed where neglect and the passage of time have left their traces. In this place we do not find the parameters of the typical museum or art gallery and the works integrate with the abandoned objects, giving rise to an infinite chain of meanings.
The central categories of existence become temporariness, vertigo, the difficulty of accepting the other from oneself.

They are restless and disturbing signs perspicuously captured by Federico Piccari’s thirty-year research which penetrates the cracks of reality to grasp the flaws, the ambivalences, the loss of meaning. Nothing is as it appears. His works, diversified in the multiple techniques presented, always lead back to the impenetrable reality that lies behind appearance, to the ontic fragility that characterizes the contemporary human dimension and defines its ambiguity. Also underlining the need to recover “humanity” as a founding element.

LET THE BAD SPEAK
curated by Exo Art Lab
the artists will be present
5pm performance by Elyas Alavi
8 October – 26 November 2023 • opening hours: Saturday-Sunday 2pm-7pm
FOUNDATION 107
via Sansovino 234, Turin

Entrance: 8 euros; reduced (from 13 to 18 years) 5 euros
Free entry up to 12 years old and for Piedmont Museum Pass holders
Guided tours by reservation and every Sunday at 4pm
Information: +39 347 6603149 • amministrazione107.it • 107fondazione@gmail.com

Within the framework of the Community of Practice project, implemented with the contribution of the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, an online meeting was held on Tuesday 26 September on the phenomenon of Neet (Not in Education, Employment or Training), young people not engaged in study, work or training.

The meeting was attended by 19 organisations that in various ways share an interest in the issue, with the aim of stimulating an initial discussion on the project initiatives put in place by the players of the ecosystem.

The meeting was also attended by Alessia Gianoncelli, Director of Knowledge and Programs of EVPA, the European network that brings together over 300 organisations dedicated to impact finance. EVPA’s Impact Week will take place in Turin from 22 to 24 November 2023 and the NEET theme will be among those addressed in the rich programme of workshops and conferences.

After the greetings and an introduction by Torino Social Impact, the organisations of the ecosystem shared their mission and the progress of their projects and initiatives regarding the NEET phenomenon. On the whole, the shared aims are aimed at improving the psychological well-being of young people, employability, the prevention of school drop-outs and drop-outs, training pathways, as well as the development of scholastic and personal skills that look towards effective pathways of socio-economic empowerment.

The second part of the meeting focused on a collective discussion on measuring the impact of NEET initiatives by the organisations present.

A series of meetings featuring some of the most interesting architecture studios and collectives in Italy, organised by the Foundation for Architecture in Turin

From February to November 2023 – Combo Torino

The Fondazione per l’architettura di Torino, in pursuit of its mission to promote and disseminate the quality of architecture, has organised a cycle of five meetings, from February to November 2023, featuring five of the most interesting and innovative studios, collectives and individual professionals on the Italian scene.

Face To Face – Architects in Contact is a five-stage journey addressing different, specific and highly topical issues, open to all and, in particular, to those involved in the design and transformation of places and spaces from an up-to-date, inclusive and sustainable perspective.

The appointments will take place in the presence and in the evening from 6 to 8 pm, in the spaces of Combo Torino and for those who wish, it will be possible to conclude the meeting with a moment of dialogue, direct confrontation and conviviality between participants and guests, at the bar and/or in the courtyard of the venue.

After Fosbury Architecture, Sex & the City and Annalissa Metta, on 9 October it will be the studio Nemesi Architects that will take the stage at Face To Face. Founded in 1997 by Michele Molè and directed since 2008 in collaboration with Susanna Tradati, Nemesi Architects stands out in the contemporary architecture scene for its ability to combine Italian identity and avant-garde in its projects.

At the basis of the studio’s philosophy is the project conceived “as a real instrument of investigation from inside the deep structure of contemporaneity, like a laboratory in which spurious materials, coming from different contemporary aesthetic expressions, interpolate themselves, opening up new and unexpected possibilities of configuration”.

The meeting will be an opportunity to explore Nemesi’s design approach with an in-depth look at the recent innovative Campus project on the Olivettian TESISQUARE® model, in Cherasco.

Admission is free with compulsory registration and 2 CFPs will be recognised for architects: places are limited, register now to secure your place in the classroom!

The next Face To Face event is with Davide Ruzzon on 9 November 2023.

The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) is pleased to announce the return of its Global Impact Summit, co-hosted with SpainNAB, which will be held from 2 to 3 October 2023 in Malaga, Spain.

This prestigious gathering will bring together over a thousand leaders and professionals from finance, business and civil society from around the world.

This year’s Summit will celebrate the successes of the impact movement and identify strategies to deliver and amplify large-scale positive impact in the future. The two-day event will focus on three key themes: mobilising capital for people and the planet; achieving full transparency in impact measurement; and accelerating impact and social economies.

The speakers are key visionary and impact thought leaders.

Summit participants represent a cross section of the impact ecosystem, ranging from large corporations to start-ups, governments and investors. These influential change makers include asset owners, investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers, regulators, consultants and market makers.

Read more

What is the GSG

A UK-registered charity since November 2017, the GSG currently has 36 member countries. Chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen, the GSG brings together leaders in finance, business and philanthropy to solve some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
An independent organisation, it catalyses social impact investing and entrepreneurship for the benefit of people and the planet. The GSG was established in August 2015 to incorporate and follow up on the work of the Task Force on Social Impact Investment established under the UK G8 Presidency in 2013.

Regenerating must be a sustainable action. In time and in intentions.

Giardino forbito‘s intentions have been the same for eight years: to give new life to the SAMBUY GARDEN, a green oasis located opposite Turin’s central station, which has been degraded and abandoned for too many years.

How to do this? By giving life to a SEMINATO GARDEN on which to spread good practices, starting right from the earth.

Through the work of landscape architect Elisa Campra and agronomist Laura Storero, SEMINATO was born, a project of sustainable and participatory evolution for the park in Piazza Carlo Felice.

How do we want to regenerate it? DISCOVER IT HERE!

Sunday 24 August saw the Clean Up Day Torino, an ecological walk in the northern parks of Turin. The event was organised as part of the Community of Practice on the Circular Economy, a project funded by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.

The activity was proposed by Green Growth Generation, an organisation working on issues of community and sustainability practices, and designed in collaboration with Bici-T, which provided a cargo bike and took care of transporting the collected waste to the nearest ecological island, and Panacea Social Farm, which offered a light break at the end of the route. In addition, Mercato Circolare, Cooperativa Esserci, OffGrid Italia and Atelier Riforma actively contributed to the event and its dissemination.

The morning was a chance for participants, 20 in total, to improve the environment and collective wellbeing, as well as an opportunity to socialise with other members of the community who share the same passion for environmental protection.

The route

The walk started at 10 am at the Bocciofila Vanchiglietta, Lungo Dora Pietro Colletta 39/a. The participants walked through the Crescenzio park, then on to the Pietro Colletta park, where there was a short stop and a break with delicious crostini prepared by Panacea Social Farm. The loop then closed at the initial meeting point, and the collected waste was transported by bici-T to the AMIAT collection centre in Via Amedeo Ravina, 19.

At the centre of any effort to decarbonise Europe is how we power our society. Industries, transportation, housing: all have to get energy from somewhere. In order to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale, it has become indispensable to embrace renewable energy as the cheaper, more efficient, and lifesaving solution compared to fossil fuel sources. Working towards this objective, the European community EIT InnoEnergy brings people and resources together, catalysing and accelerating the energy transition through new ideas, products and solutions that make a real difference, and new businesses to deliver them to market.

Established in 2010 and supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, EIT InnoEnergy builds connections worldwide by gathering innovators and industry, entrepreneurs and investors, graduates and employers. As a major player in sustainable energy, EIT InnoEnergy is very active in fostering innovation: its current track record includes over 200 portfolio companies on their way to generate €110 billion in revenue by 2030, €9.7 billion in investments raised from external partners, more than 370 patents filed to create commercially viable technologies and over 300 products launched into the market. Recently, EIT InnoEnergy also announced the successful completion of its private placement round of over €140 million of equity: the proceeds will be used for increasing new deal flow, accompanying the portfolio companies in their growth.

With the aim of presenting the EIT InnoEnergy international Ecosystem to the Turin network of industry stakeholders, academic researchers and innovative start-ups, the Italian university Politecnico di Torino – Institutional Partner of EIT InnoEnergy – and the business incubator I3P organised a public event in Turin on October 5th, 2023, which will bring together many institutional representatives, high-profile guests, venture capitalists and young entrepreneurs to discuss the most interesting projects, initiatives and funding opportunities in the energy sector. The in-person event will be held – in English language – in I3P’s Sala Agorà, located within the Campus of Politecnico di Torino, and will start at 14:00 CEST with its schedule of panels, round tables and reserved meetings to further explore possible new collaborations.

Registration for the event is open and the number of available places is limited: sign up now to participate in person and meet the EIT InnoEnergy Ecosystem live in I3P!

Agenda

14:00 – Welcome coffee

14:30 – Institutional introduction

• Guido Saracco, Rector of Politecnico di Torino
• Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P and Professor of Politecnico di Torino

14:40 – “EIT InnoEnergy, mission and opportunities for start-ups and energy stakeholders”: keynote by Frank Gielen, Education Director and Executive Board Member of EIT InnoEnergy

15:00 – Round Table A: “From Research to Market”

• Giuseppe Giordano, Co-Founder & CEO of Enerbrain
• Tommaso Randolfi, CEO of Volta Structural Energy
• David Chiaramonti, Vice Rector for International Affairs of Politecnico di Torino and Project Coordinator of the European project H2STEEL

15:20 – Round Table B: “The Turin Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem”

• Paolo Mulassano, Chief Impact Innovation Officer of Compagnia di San Paolo
• Stefano Buscaglia, CEO of LINKS Foundation
• Cristina Odasso, Head of Business Analysis of LIFTT
• Marco Morchio, Business Angel of Club degli Investitori
• Enrico Pochettino, Head of Innovation of Iren

15:50 – Networking coffee

16:20 – Closed-door meetings with EIT InnoEnergy, Politecnico di Torino and I3P

Personae: the call of the Welfare Accelerator of the CDP National Venture Capital Network, which we talked about here, is open until 8 October.

But what is Personae?

Personae is a Call for Startups that will select up to 10 start-ups, which will receive

• an initial investment of 100,000 €
• 4 months of intensive acceleration supported by a wide network of experts, corporate partners and investors
• up to €300,000 follow-on for the best teams,
• vertical training modules, masterclasses and 1:1 mentorship sessions,
• weekly tutorship for each start-up,
• matching and networking with corporations and investors.

Personae’s objective is to become an effective response to social vulnerability: an accelerator that aims to promote start-ups as catalysts of social innovation complementary to public welfare systems.

They are therefore looking for proposals that can contribute to individual and collective wellbeing, offering better access to services and facilitating the balance between personal life and career.

But what are the requirements to apply?

Your project must have

• a product/service already validated on the market,
• have a team or company structure that involves at least two people who are predominantly committed to the business,
• have a positive social, environmental and/or cultural impact.

For all other information, you can go directly to their website by clicking here.

The Acceleration Programme

The programme is part of the CDP Venture Capital National Accelerator Network, a network present throughout the country to help the growth of young companies specialising in high-potential markets. Set up on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital Sgr and realised together with SocialFare | Centro per l’Innovazione Sociale and a|cube with a total budget of EUR 6.1 million, Personae sees the participation of SocialFare Seed, a|impact – Avanzi Etica SICAF EuVECA and Fondazione Italiana Accenture ETS as co-investors and benefits from the support of main partners Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo and Fondazione Social Venture Giordano dell’Amore. Accenture Italia participates as a corporate partner.

Selected start-ups will receive an initial investment of EUR 100,000 and participate in a four-month intensive acceleration programme focused on growth for market access.

The programme offers masterclasses and mentorship sessions with mentors and industry professionals, networking and collaboration opportunities with Italian and international investors, and additional investments of up to EUR 300,000 for start-ups with the highest growth and scalability potential.

Turin, Friday 15 September 2023.
The event “CEB and PerMicro: Europe in support of microcredit” took place today at Ersel’s headquarters in Turin, during which the Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Carlo Monticelli, announced the granting of a 12 million euro credit line in favour of PerMicro.

The Programme

CEB provides loan programmes to microfinance institutions in Europe with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment, supporting the creation and development of micro-enterprises, thereby contributing to income generation, job retention and creation, and the financial inclusion of vulnerable populations, rural communities, women, migrants and ethnic minorities, with the aim of addressing regional disparities, income inequalities and gender imbalances.

The loan from this programme will support PerMicro’s portfolio of loans to enterprises to finance their investment and working capital needs. The credit line granted by CEB will allow PerMicro to provide loans with the following characteristics:

• the final recipients are micro-enterprises, including start-ups, which employ fewer than 10 people and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million (EU definition of micro-enterprises);
• the loans will have a maturity of between 24 and 72 months and will not require collateral;
• at least 25 per cent must be granted to women’s enterprises;
• refinancing is not allowed;
• loans to traders or tobacco producers are not allowed;
• other sectors not allowed, in addition to those prohibited by PerMicro’s code of ethics (arms, pornography sector, betting): mining sector, waste treatment incinerators, sectors involving animal experiments, real estate, financial, nuclear, sectors harmful to health or the environment.

The scenario

Italy has the highest number of self-employed workers (2.2 million) in the EU and is identified as one of the EU countries with the highest number of entrepreneurs (0.6 million). Furthermore, the country has the second highest population of foreign residents in the EU (9% of the population). Italy also has significant gaps in terms of entrepreneurial activity and financial inclusion, especially for the most vulnerable groups.

Microfinance can have a positive impact on these challenges facing Italy by promoting entrepreneurial activity, self-employment and economic development. Italy has the highest estimated financial gap for microfinance in the EU, with an estimated unmet demand for microcredit of around EUR 2 billion per year, representing around 15% of the total financial gap in the EU.*

The provision of microloans enables financially excluded people, particularly those without collateral and without a credit history, to gain access to credit. This type of financing is often used as a means to encourage increased self-employment (often facilitating the transition from unemployment to self-employment) and to support the formation and growth of micro-enterprises, playing an important role in the implementation of EU policy objectives. PerMicro’s client base is made up of financially excluded clients who are granted a loan with the ultimate goal of accompanying them towards bankability.

The estimated social impact of the Programme will be considerable: by adding the gender dimension in lending to eligible enterprises, this impact will be based not only on the number of jobs that will be retained or created, facilitating access to finance and entrepreneurial activity for existing micro-enterprises or start-ups, but also on reducing gender inequality.

Social Impact of PerMicro

A research conducted by Centro Tiresia of the Politecnico di Milano analysed the social impact of 11 years of activity (2009-2019) of PerMicro:

• Unbanked people who became bankable: 6,335.
• Jobs created: 2,452.
• Increased government revenue (Irpef and tax revenue due to increased income and consumption): 111 million euros.
• Reduction in public expenditure (reduction in state subsidies and administrative costs): Euro 17 million.
• On average, each financed enterprise created 1.3 jobs.

Statements

PerMicro’s CEO, Benigno Imbriano, states: ‘The gap between the increasingly rich few and the increasingly poor many is something that, if not addressed, will irreparably condition our future, making life difficult even for those who think they are not part of these dynamics. A country with integrity, sound in its principles, should be able to work for its economic growth, but at the same time it should be able to work to reduce inequalities. Access to soft finance such as the CEB loan will be crucial for PerMicro to sustain its activities, allowing us to increase our business volumes and thus our social impact.”

Carlo Monticelli, Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank, adds “Supporting microcredit is an integral part of the CEB’s social mandate and has now acquired strategic importance for the Bank. It is important to support institutions operating in this sector, such as PerMicro, so that their activities can support an increasing number of micro-entrepreneurs who wish to start a new business or expand an existing one, thus contributing to the promotion of financial and social inclusion in the country. Our 10-year cooperation with PerMicro and the social impact it has produced is a tangible example of how financial and European institutions can come together to address complex challenges by investing in people and communities.”

“We have always believed in the social importance of a project like PerMicro, which is why we have chosen to support it since 2007, first with Fondazione Paideia and now with our family holding company. – Commented Guido Giubergia, President of Narval – We see microcredit as a fundamental element for the development of the country, both in the social and productive spheres, to support therefore, on the one hand, families in difficulty and, on the other hand, to give a chance to those who have a valid business idea. PerMicro, in this sense, over the years has been able to provide a concrete contribution of which we are very proud.”

*Data source: OCSE (2021). The Missing Entrepreneurs 2021, p.41; Microfinanza nell’Unione Europea: Market analysis and recommendations for delivery options in 2021-2027 p.3. e p. 91.

Thursday 5 October 2023 from 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
at Rinascimenti Sociali, Via Maria Vittoria 38 – Turin

Training event for operators in the field of reception, orientation, employment services, personal services, banking professionals.

Organised by PerMicro as part of the Empower project.

The reception of people with a migration background or seeking political refuge represents a challenge for society as a whole, in terms of social inclusion, which means “access for all citizens to basic resources, social services, the labour market and the necessary rights, in order to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life, and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live”.

Very often, the social inclusion of people with migration histories passes through financial inclusion that allows them to have access to basic services for their families, self-employment opportunities, and thus the possibility to see themselves projected for the long haul in the new territory they inhabit.

The meeting will focus on the opportunities offered by the Microcredit tool, for an aware access to credit and to start up projects of migrant citizens’ enterprises and families.

Register here to participate!

In the eleventh year of Italy’s leading national exhibition for the CSR community, Il Salone della CSR e dell’innovazione sociale, takes place the second edition of Meet the CSR Leaders, the project that allows new generations to meet sustainability professionals. Promoted by the Salone della CSR e dell’Innovazione Sociale in partnership with Amapola, the sessions will be held during the three-day event (4, 5 and 6 October 2023), at the Bocconi University in Milan.

Sustainability professionals will be available to meet interested students in a special area at the tradeshow. Students may book a direct one-to-one orientation session lasting approximately 30 minutes with an expert. During the meeting, they will be able to discuss sustainability issues and learn how to plan a career in this field.

The professionals will be available at these times:

• Wednesday 4/10 rom 10 am to noon and from 3 to 5 pm
• Thursday 5/10 from 10 am to noon and from 3 to 5 pm
• Friday 6/10 from 10 am to noon 

Private sessions may be booked here no later than 03/10/2023.

Inhabiting change

«Inhabiting change is the title we have chosen for this edition of our annual event. And among the various areas in which this change must take shape, there is also training, to which this year, in addition to Meet the CSR Leaders, we will dedicate an entire series of talks and appointments” says Rossella Sobrero, creator of the event. «Educating for sustainability means providing tools to understand and manage complex problems, promoting responsible behavior, creating synergies between the entrepreneurial, institutional, non-profit and educational worlds, but also strengthening dialogue between generations. With Meet the CSR Leaders we want to do just that: look to the future and support the generations that will inhabit tomorrow’s world”

The second edition of Meet the CSR Leaders

The project is in its second edition. In 2022, the initiative was divided into 3 days of meetings for 10 hours of one-to-one orientation and involved 43 young participants, who were able to meet and dialogue with 23 Sustainability Managers. On YouTube you can review the interviews with some of the protagonists at this link. «Students, young people approaching the world of work for the first time, startuppers: Meet the CSR Leaders was welcomed with enthusiasm and curiosity. Also from the professionals who intervened with passion, dedicating time and advice” comments Elena Mancino, Amapola partner. «This year’s ambition is to multiply the meeting and discussion spaces, involving a greater number of people and making more sessions available. Because we truly believe that focusing on training is central to support a new model of sustainable development.”

What concrete tools can be used to launch an integrated sustainability and accessibility strategy? This will be discussed at the free webinar – registration required – “The impact of digital communication: towards neutrality and inclusiveness” scheduled for Friday 6 October 2023 and organised by Merakyn in partnership with SustainMe, Siti Accessibili, GreenCome and the support of Artera and Joomla! Lombardia.

Digital can be a transformation enzyme for people, the environment, models of society, as well as a tool for building a better and more sustainable future. Although technological innovations can help solve environmental problems, the ICT – Information & Communication Technology sector as a whole has a significant CO2 footprint. It is the so-called digital paradox: while technological innovation enables the ecological transition, its environmental footprint is undoubtedly significant.

But how energy-intensive is digital business and digital processes compared to a traditional business? It is estimated to contribute at least 3.7 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions compared to 2 per cent for air traffic (source: Karma Metrix). In fact, the Internet produces around 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 annually, equal to the annual CO2eq emissions of Italy, France, Spain and the UK combined. All of this is growing at such a rate that it predicts a potential impact by 2030 in which the Internet would generate around 10% of global emissions (source: The Shift Project).

This is why the topic of ‘sustainable digital’ is becoming increasingly relevant. According to research by the Global Web Index, 61% of Gen. Millennials are inclined to pay more for sustainable or eco-friendly products, while 80% of Gen. Z respondents consider it essential for brands to implement green solutions for their products.

At the same time, in terms of a systemic sustainability strategy, another aspect of social impact also needs to be explored, namely the issue of digital accessibility, which now involves around 87 million disabled people (visually impaired, deaf, etc.) in Europe. A mass of people that has prompted the European Union to take action with the EAA – European Accessibility Act, due to be implemented by 2025, when all platforms (sites, ecommerce, etc.) will have to be fully accessible to people with disabilities according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), in addition to the various regulations and best practices already existing and currently in place.

On these topics, on the occasion of the Milano Digital Week, Merakyn – Benefit Society and consulting agency specialised in communication and sustainability – is organising, in partnership with SustainMe, Siti Accessibili, GreenCome and with the support of Artera and Joomla! Lombardia, a dedicated webinar to explore these issues in depth. The partners involved will suggest reflections, concrete ideas and best practices to evolve towards an integrated and inclusive digital sustainability strategy, consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals, i.e. the SDGs of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

For more information on the webinar agenda and to register, please visit Eventbrite.

Sustainability Reporting: Obligation or Opportunity? Many organizations, in this period of regulatory and non-regulatory upheaval, are asking themselves this question. To explore a topic increasingly at the center of the debate, on Wednesday, September 27th at 12 PM, Amapola, the communication agency specializing in sustainability, is hosting the first Amapola Café, an online webinar dedicated entirely to Sustainability Reporting on its LinkedIn page. Registrations are open on Eventbrite.

A WEBINAR TO GAIN CLARITY ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

Is sustainability reporting solely a matter of finance? A reputation strategy? An imposed obligation without any utility? And how should companies approach it and adapt it to their specific needs? One thing is certain: to stay up to date with the times, all businesses must equip themselves to best respond to the expectations of markets, citizens, consumers, and the increasingly stringent demands of regulators and finance. Today, all these demands are moving in the same direction: greater control over environmental and social impacts and transparency regarding the actions taken. This is where sustainability reporting comes into play.

During this Amapola Café, Giulia Devani, Head of Reporting at Amapola, in conversation with Micol Burighel, Head of Communication at the agency, will delve into the most common questions and concerns about sustainability reporting, getting into the specifics of approaches, strategies, and tools to transform this corporate process into a strategic, organizational, and impactful tool. In a 40-minute conversation, the main aspects of sustainability reporting will be reviewed, from regulatory changes to stakeholder engagement.

For registrations: Eventbrite

“The world needs your ideas“: this is how the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches its global call for entries to the NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2023, the planet’s largest annual hackathon dedicated to space and science. Italian fans of the exploration of the cosmos and the new opportunities generated by the Space Economy will be able to take up the challenge live in Turin: in early October I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, will host the 7^th edition of the local event in the Piedmontese capital, in collaboration with ESA BIC Turin, the incubation program for entrepreneurial ventures in the space industry.

The international event will take place in every single global location over two days, from Saturday 7^th to Sunday 8^th October 2023, with free participation. The hackathon is based on collaborative solving of challenges, with the aim of producing open source solutions in response to the actual challenges mankind is currently facing on Earth and in space. The previous edition of NASA International Space Apps Challenge – Space Apps for short – was attended by more than 31,500 participants from 320 cities in over 160 countries around the world, who produced more than 3,000 projects in response to challenges set by the Washington-based space agency. The theme for 2023 will be “Explore Open Science Together”: an invitation to experience the possibilities and potential of open science, i.e. the cooperative approach aimed at access to scientific knowledge by all, without barriers.

In Turin, Space Apps 2023 will be held in presence at the I3P incubator, located in the Campus of Politecnico di Torino, starting at 14:00 CEST on Saturday 7^th October, with the reception of participants and the composition or confirmation of the teams taking part in the hackathon. After the introduction and explanation of the rules, the competition will begin at 16:00 and will continue for the next 24 hours, without interruption – the incubator will also remain open during the night – and with meals offered on site to allow maximum time to work on the project, which must be delivered by 16:00 on Sunday 8^th October. At that point, the pitching phase will begin for the teams, as they will have to present their work in just a few minutes to all those present, including the judging panel, thus competing for the available prizes, both at local level – the Local Awards offered by I3P’s partner sponsors – and at international level (Global Awards). The hackathon will then conclude at the end of the afternoon with the awards ceremony for the projects judged to be the brightest and most promising, which may one day go on to become start-ups.

Teamwork and complementary skills will be indispensable to tackle one’s favourite challenge. NASA has already made more than 30 challenges public on the initiative’s official website, and their topics offer a wide variety of choices: from creating apps for geological research to educational games about landing on remote planets, from the innovative use of open space data to new methods of explaining eclipse mechanics, to using databases for biological research outside the Earth’s atmosphere and devising interplanetary travel solutions in a future space tourist office. The challenges are open to contributions from everyone: engineers, programmers and technical experts as well as designers, storytellers and ordinary space enthusiasts. To participate in person in the Turin hackathon, it is necessary to register on its dedicated webpage, after logging in on the Space Apps website with a personal profile.

The Turin local event of Space Apps 2023 is organised by the I3P business incubator, which since 1999 supports the birth and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, in collaboration with the incubation program ESA BIC Turin, founded in 2021 to stimulate the development of new innovative space-based companies. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) is a partner in the initiative at a global level, as are the European Space Agency (ESA) and other of the world’s leading space agencies, while at a local level the Turin hackathon will be able to count on sponsors, mentors and jurors from the aerospace industry, innovative start-ups and SMEs, public bodies and associations that foster the growth of the Italian space sector.

“We are honoured to host a new edition of the world’s largest annual hackathon and to be part of this important international initiative,” said Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P and Coordinator of ESA BIC Turin, “both because the event represents a unique opportunity for experimentation and potential innovation for space enthusiasts, university students and aspiring startuppers, and because the initiative is fully in line with our daily activities of supporting new technology-based entrepreneurship. Projects born out of inventiveness and the desire to create something new can evolve and go a long way, especially when they respond to the very real challenges humanity faces today on its journey into the depths, and possibilities, of space.“

Collective Projects 2023-2024 is an initiative that aims to promote open innovation and integration between universities, the Third Sector, enterprises and start-ups. Réseau Entreprendre Piemonte, in collaboration with the Turin campus of ESCP Business School and with the impulse and support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, is promoting the call for applications to participate in the Collective Projects 2023/2024.

The first integration experiment, in the last edition, was very successful and saw the participation of 288 students in the second year of the Bachelor in Management at ESCP Business School, 43 host institutions, including ETS, SMEs and Startups from 4 regions, for a total of 50 projects implemented.

The overall objective of the initiative is to stimulate collaboration between companies and students in order to promote an opportunity for mutual contamination and to improve and make organisations more efficient. It is possible to take part in projects covering different areas, including strategic and managerial vision, marketing and communication, internationalisation, fundraising and strengthening the social impact generated by one’s activity.

The Collective Projects will take place between November 2023 and April 2024 and will involve around 310 students of more than 40 nationalities enrolled in the second year of the Bachelor in Management programme. Companies, institutions and start-ups interested in taking part in the project can apply until 30 September 2023 by filling in the application form.

The following link provides further details on the Collective Project, the areas of intervention and the process, and for more information, please contact nmokarramdorri@reseau-entreprendre.org

Supported by Fondazione Time2, the master’s degree from the UniTo Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences is the only one in Italy dedicated to new support figures.

Master’s degree in personalized and participatory planning in implementation of the CRPD

The Annual Level I University Master’s Degree in “Expert/a in Personalized and Participatory Planning in Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)“, organized by the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Turin, is scheduled to start in March 2024.

This is the first university master’s degree in Italy dedicated to training expert figures in personalized and participatory planning in support of the life project of people with disabilities, according to the principles of the UN convention.

The master’s degree was created following the approval of Law 227/21, titled “Delegation to the government in the field of disability“, which promises to initiate a radical paradigm shift towards the achievement of citizenship for all. Thanks to this law, Italy is preparing to put in place a profound reform of services aimed at people with disabilities, overcoming all forms of welfarism, custodianship and institutionalization and making the rights described by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enforceable.

“In order to implement the coming reform and respond to the increasingly pressing demand coming from people with disabilities and their families, as well as from the most attentive operators, it is necessary to train new professionals; we need professionals capable of working on contexts to remove the barriers that today prevent people with disabilities from participating in everyone’s world. The master’s program, which boasts among its faculty the most qualified national experts on the subject, aims to accompany the reform of services that will descend from the implementing decrees of 227/21 that are currently being approved. The establishment of the National Guarantor of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, approved by the Council of Ministers in recent weeks, is the first of the major changes to come. The operators that the master’s program will train will be able to accompany their organizations in reorganization: a necessary step to adapt services to the mandate of full citizenship for all and everyone that the UN Convention prescribes for us”, said Prof. Cecilia Marchisio, a member of the commission drafting the implementing decrees and director of the master’s program.

The new, 60-credit, 18-month course of study has 35 places. The cost is €2,700, partially covered by 35 scholarships worth €2,000 each provided by Fondazione Time2. The cost per participant will thus be 700€.

 DISCOVER THE MASTER

On Wednesday 13 September, the third workshop of the European Social Economy Project HUB on the Horizon Programme took place at the Cottino Social Impact Campus. The meeting followed the previous workshops held in June and July, which focused respectively on the Erasmus+ Programme and the LIFE Programme.

The European Social Economy Project HUB is an initiative launched in collaboration with Weco Impresa Sociale thanks to the contribution of the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, which aims to seize the European Union’s financial opportunities on the topic of social impact, enhancing the ecosystem’s competences in the field of europlanning according to a peer-to-peer learning mechanism.

A total of 21 organisations from the IST ecosystem took part in the workshop, with a total of 27 participants. The workshop opened with greetings from Torino Social Impact and Weco Impresa Sociale. During the first part of the morning, the Politecnico di Torino, represented by Dr. Laura Fulci and Dr. Antonella Castellani, from the Research, Enterprise Relations and Innovation Directorate, provided participants with useful tips to introduce them to the Horizon programme.

This was followed by the intervention of two partners of Torino Social Impact: Itinerari Paralleli, with the contribution of Sergio Galasso, and Planet Smart City, with the contribution of Barbara Melis and Martina De Gallo: both partners shared with the participants their organisation’s European planning strategy, providing suggestions, aspects to be paid attention to and practical advice for drafting a project proposal.

During the second part of the morning, the organisations worked side by side, divided into working groups, to experiment the first steps in the development of a project proposal.

Through real “learning in the field”, the work was supported by the experience of Weco Impresa Sociale, which guided and facilitated the workshop. The groups focused on some calls in Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society) and Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment),

Of particular interest for the ecosystem is the call ‘The role of social economy in addressing social exclusion, providing quality jobs and greater sustainability‘, which will open in October 2023.

In this first phase, the working groups mapped possible local and European partners, identified needs and objectives and set up an initial project proposal, sharing their work with the participants at the end of the day.

OPEN DAY

Saturday 16 September from 10am to 1pm at the Polo del ‘900 in Turin

The new school year has begun and SOUxTorino, the school of Architecture for children aged 7 to 12, is ready to start up again for the second year running.

SOU was born in Favara in 2010 and has spread to many other cities in Italy. The idea of bringing it to Turin as well was strongly desired and promoted by the Foundation for Architecture in Turin and this year sees the second consecutive year.

SOU’s mission is to stimulate reflection, planning and action for an improvement in society, educating to the values of welcome, participation, solidarity, generosity and social commitment. Accustoming children to freedom of thought, the magic of creativity, the desire to make the impossible possible and the realisation of their dreams.

“The values of SOU,’ say Gabriella Gedda and Eleonora Gerbotto, respectively President and Director of the Foundation for Architecture of Turin, ‘are the same values shared by our Foundation, and when the President of SOU, Andrea Bartoli, told us, with great enthusiasm, about his school of architecture in Favara, we immediately felt involved and wanted to bring this format to Turin as well. In fact, we believe that architecture, in its deepest sense, the art of designing beauty around us, through inclusion and sustainability, is a fundamental and indispensable principle, to be transmitted from an early age, in order to instil sensitivity and awareness with respect to these issues”.

Once again this year the SouxTorino programme will be curated by director Alice Furioso and will be enriched by the collaboration with the Polo del ‘900 thanks to the co-production of content inspired by the year’s theme: Utopia.

The fil rouge of all the lessons will in fact be utopia, inspired by the words of Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano: “Utopia is like the horizon: I walk two steps and it recedes two steps. I walk ten steps and it recedes ten steps. The horizon is unreachable. So what is utopia for? That’s what it’s for: it’s for continuing to walk”.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

The open day will be held on Saturday 16 September from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Admission to the open day is free, by reservation only, and it is possible to choose whether to attend the first presentation from 10.00-11.30 a.m. or the second from 11.30 a.m.-1.00 p.m.

The lectures will be held in the Polo del ‘900 Didactic Room every Tuesday from 17.00 to 19.00. The first lecture will be on Tuesday 31 October 2023, the last on Tuesday 28 May 2024.

To book, simply send an e-mail to sou@fondazioneperlarchitettura.it specifying which of the two shifts you choose: 10.00-11.30 a.m. or 11.30 a.m.-1.00 p.m. name and surname of the parent who will be present and, name/surname, age of the child.

There is also the possibility of participating in the first trial lesson, paying 10 euros, and then assessing whether to enrol in the entire course.

 

For further information:

sou@fondazioneperlarchitettura.it | souxtorino@sou-schools.com

Follow SOUxTorino on Facebook and Instagram

From the Comunità di Pratica project, financed by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation comes World Cleanup Day: an ecological walk through Turin’s parks.

On Sunday 24 September 2023 from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. the ecological walk will take place, involving citizens and organisations in the area in a collective action to clean up litter, helping to improve the environment and the wellbeing of our community.

The ecological walk is proposed by Green Growth Generation, an organisation working on community issues and sustainability practices, in collaboration with Torino Social Impact and BiciT, which will provide cargo bikes and take care of transporting waste to the nearest ecological island. It will also see the participation of numerous local organisations that are part of the IST project ‘Community of Practice – Circular Economy Group’.

The event joins the initiatives of the international World Clean Up Day movement, which globally aims to combat the problem of pollution from abandoned or illegally disposed of solid waste through the efforts of volunteers and organisations in the territories.

What to expect:

A morning dedicated to making our environment cleaner and more sustainable; an opportunity to socialise with other community members who share the same passion for environmental protection and materials and support to ensure an enjoyable and safe experience for all participants.

How to participate:

Those interested in participating in the initiative are asked to register for the event and turn up on Sunday 24 September 2023 at 10.00 am at the Bocciofila Vanchiglietta in Lungo Dora Pietro Colletta 39/a. Dress comfortably and bring your ecological spirit with you. Don’t forget to have a reusable water bottle with you to stay hydrated during the ecological walk. Walking and cycling routes are planned, so each participant has the choice of how to get around.

Join the event for a collective action that will make a difference to our environment and well-being. Everyone’s participation is crucial to the success of this initiative. For more information and updates on the event, please send an email to info@greengrowthgeneration.com.

Together we can make a difference, step by step!

Those who would like to venture into the world of technology-based innovative start-ups now have one more opportunity and a starting point from which to embark on a real growth path: applications are now open for the 3^rd edition of GrandUP! Tech Academy, the free training initiative for future entrepreneurs and innovative start-ups in the province of Cuneo.

The initiative is promoted by Fondazione CRC in collaboration with I3P, the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, in the context of the multi-year project GrandUP! Tech, launched in 2021 with the aim of supporting the development of an innovation ecosystem and the birth of new enterprises in the Cuneo area. The training course of the GrandUP! Tech Academy training course is entirely free of charge and is aimed at both aspiring entrepreneurs and young innovative companies already active in the area: the initiative is open to all residents or domiciled in the Italian province of Cuneo and to those who have set up, or intend to set up, their own business there. Project teams may register more than one component for participation in the Academy, while each participant or team of participants may present only one business project to be developed during the meetings. To take part in the course, for which places are limited, it is possible to apply until October 27^th, by filling in the dedicated form accessible from the web page https://grandup.org/tech/startup/.

The new edition of GrandUP! Tech Academy will be the focus of the presentation event organised by Fondazione CRC and I3P for September 21^st, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Rondò dei Talenti in Cuneo. In addition to learning in detail about the programme of this year’s programme, with in-depth information on how to apply, participate, and take part, the meeting will be an opportunity to hear the testimonies of some of the young entrepreneurial teams supported during the last edition, including Aurelia, Connessioni Domiciliari and Wetraffic. The event will then conclude with a networking aperitif dedicated to the exchange of ideas and the creation of new contacts within the local business community. To attend the meeting, it is necessary to register on Eventbrite by September 20^th.

The two previous editions of the Academy, participated by 40 young innovators, fostered the birth or further growth of several entrepreneurial projects that went on to enjoy significant early successes in the field. Among the teams that completed the first round of classes, in 2022 the start-up Agree NET won 3^rd prize in the Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta competition and in 2023 Eventvm announced the closing of a €160.000 investment round; among the projects participating in the second edition, this year Elemento Cloud was elected winner of the Turin event of the ‘Talentis – GI Startup Program 2023‘ by Giovani Imprenditori Confindustria, Wetraffic was selected in CDP Venture Capital’s Magic Spectrum acceleration programme, and Nabu flew to Houston, USA, to participate in the ‘Space IT Up‘ acceleration programme organised by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

The Academy’s new path returns to address the essential issues for the development of a new innovative start-up, tackling both theoretical aspects and practical applications and case histories. The seven meetings scheduled from November 2023 to February 2024 will offer lectures by Politecnico di Torino professors, industry experts and I3P analysts who will accompany the participating teams in the development of their entrepreneurial projects. The main topics of the lectures will include: business models, customer discovery processes, performance evaluation metrics, the business plan and fundraising activities, project communication and digital marketing, through to legal and tax aspects in setting up new companies. The initiative will conclude with an open event, the Pitch Day, scheduled for March 2024, during which the teams will present the entrepreneurial projects developed during the meetings to an evaluation jury: the most promising will be given the opportunity to access a pre-incubation path at I3P, financed by Fondazione CRC, to evolve their projects into real start-ups.

The GrandUP! Tech project and its Academy are being implemented as part of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding for the Innovation and Digitalisation of Enterprises in the Province of Cuneo‘, promoted by the Fondazione CRC and the Cuneo Chamber of Commerce, to which all the main trade associations in the area have signed up, including Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, Confartigianato, Confcommercio, Confindustria, Legacoop Piemonte and Punto Impresa Digitale. The protocol envisages the active involvement of business representatives from the various economic sectors in the province of Cuneo in the establishment of a cohesive, innovative and digitised ecosystem.

“The third edition of GrandUp! Tech Academy, realised in collaboration with a partner of great value such as I3P, confirms our desire to stimulate and support the territory in the field of innovation, a strategic lever for present and future development, with a specific focus on the training of the younger generations,” said Ezio Raviola, president of Fondazione CRC. “The Academy is part of the broad strategy, sanctioned by the Memorandum of Understanding for Innovation and Digitalisation, which intends to make the province of Cuneo a district suitable for the birth and development of new start-ups and high-tech companies, which are also capable of attracting significant investment.”

“It is a real pleasure for our incubator to continue the collaboration with Fondazione CRC and together to launch the third edition of this unique initiative in the Cuneo area,” commented Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P. “The innovative entrepreneurship training opportunity offered by GrandUP! Tech Academy gives impetus and perspectives to projects that are already taking their first steps towards becoming start-ups, as well as offering a valid opportunity for professional growth and entry into an increasingly flourishing network. This is demonstrated by several of the teams supported in the past editions, whose inventiveness has led to their first awards, even important ones, or attracted the interest of large companies, investors and markets.“

The EU-funded project SoTecIn Factory just launched its first open call for social innovators with €3.3M for individuals & organisations, as civil society members, developing tech-driven solutions based on circular economy and social innovation in textiles, food, water & nutrient and plastics & packaging key industry value chains.

The Open Call 1 will award 25 European social innovators with up to 15,000 EUR for their ideas as solutions to circular challenges in the context of the specific project Mission (either a concrete problem proposed by the applicant or selected from one of the circular challenges coming directly from industry).

From this group, 15 innovators will engage in a pre-market technological demonstration with additional funding support of up to 85,000 EUR.

Besides equity-free funding, the beneficiaries will receive additional support in training, mentoring, and peer-to-peer engagement and pilot development, as detailed down below.

The benefits will be:

• SoTecIn Factory grants up to €100K (equity-free)
• Pre-market technological demonstration
• Capacity-building for social entrepreneurship & circular business support

Who can apply?

• Individuals as part of a legal entity
• Single organisations
• Consortium (Individual/Single organisation + Challenge (owner) that is not listed in Annex B) are eligible for this call
• Entities legally established/resident in the European Union or Horizon Europe Associated Countries

Target value changes?

• Plastics and packaging
• Textiles
• Food, water and nutrients

The deadine for application is 28 September 2023, 18h CET

Join SoTecIn Factory Open Call Info Webinars on Sept 05 2023, at 2pm CET and Sept 20 2023, at 11am CET

Find out more on the SoTecIn Factory website.