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.

Textile product labeling: the European Commission invites submissions by September 30

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims to address the growing environmental impact of textile production and consumption. As reported in the strategy, household consumption of textiles in the EU is on average the fourth largest negative impact on the environment and climate change, and the third largest in terms of water and land use from the global life cycle perspective. At the same time, the competitiveness of the textile sector-and particularly its recovery-is suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The strategy includes a series of legislative and non-legislative measures to address the impact of textile products on the environment, including the revision of the textile labeling regulation. The main objectives of the strategy are to ensure accurate, readable and comparable information for consumers, particularly on environmental aspects; to reduce compliance costs; and to ensure regulatory clarity and consistency.

The Commission therefore intends to examine the possibility of adopting a single, uniform set of rules on labeling requirements in all potentially relevant areas, for textile and related products. These are primarily apparel and interior/home space products and accessories made of leather and fur, excluding footwear, for which labeling is governed by Directive 94/11/EC.

The Commission invites stakeholders (national, local and regional public authorities, businesses, civil society organizations and individuals) to submit their views and comments by September 30, 2023. Feedback will be taken into account in the further development and refinement of the initiative. Contributions received will also be published on the European Commission’s website.

To submit your contributions, you must register or log in using your own account. More information can be found on the European Commission website.

Googreen’s biodiversity market, a meeting place and regeneration centre in the Sambuy garden, a symbol and crossroads of the city, is hosting among its stalls the ingredients for a dialogue around the theme of biodiversity, as an accompaniment to Aspettando Cheese 2023 with a special selection dedicated to cheeses and mixed-flower honeys from the very meadows where they are produced.

Within the event dedicated to agricultural, nursery and enogastronomic excellence, therefore, a showcase of those that are melliferous garrisons and, consequently, fundamental production areas of our territory, points of arrival and departure at the same time of the vast and unique cultural heritage that belongs to us.
In the circuit of conscious producers – secular actors of our land, always attentive to the impact on nature and the earth – there will be space for those companies that in synergy produce honey and cheese, but also jams, spirits, liqueurs and processed products, born from the same flower meadows.

Once again, the Community of Metropolitan Pollinators and Giardino Forbito look to biodiversity as an alchemic ability to transform an intact, clean, fair and good landscape: from grass and flowers unique nectars, where every mountain, every hill or plateau is a landscape that over time has allowed animal and plant species to evolve and stabilise, in a harmonious and mutualistic way, to the point that if we wanted to ‘taste our landscapes’ we would discover that each one is in turn unique and unrepeatable. In this discovery, each flower always translates into multi-flower honeys and special cheeses.

SPACE OF IDEAS

Set up by the BeePlant nursery: the world is a flower meadow! Immersive journey into biodiversity among the scents, colours and peculiarities of the honey plants of our territory.

PROGRAMME

SATURDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

12 noon: “Super eco – zero waste” educational workshop organised by Beesù. A workshop to create together the ecopack, a natural ecological wrapping for wrapping and preserving food, made with beeswax and 100% natural.
3 pm: Presentation of ‘I viaggi di Mia. The Adventures of Water”. Tea edizioni. With authors Carola Benedetto and Luciana Ciliento
5.30 p.m.: Swing dancing at the Sambuy with dances by the Accademia Carma Torino and a DJ set by Doctor Swing.

SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.: free workshop of PIZZICA E DANZE DEL SUD! with La Paranza del Geco.
12 noon: presentation of ‘Agreste’, Piano B edizioni. With author Tiziano Fratus.
5 pm: presentation of ‘Il re era una regina. History, biology and curiosities about bees”, Graphot Editore. With author Fulvio Piccinino.
6.30 p.m.: greetings and bee-ritual in collaboration with the Metropolitan Pollinators Community.

The City of Turin invites you, next 20 September at CSI Next, in Corso Unione Sovietica 214, to the first working table with the Third Sector realities for the challenge 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030, as part of a comparison path aimed at defining shared strategies between the City and the realities of the territory to achieve together the goal of climate neutrality.

In fact, Turin is one of the 100 pilot cities selected by the European Commission to become a virtuous example, reaching the target of zero CO2 emissions by 2030 – 20 years before the rest of Europe.

Such a significant change, in such a short time, can only be achieved collectively and with the commitment, creativity and innovative contribution of all the players in the area.

By participating in the event, you will become part of the “100 Cities” community: a unique opportunity for active participation, networking and comparison, at local and European level.

Subsequent roundtables between the administration, institutional stakeholders, the University of Turin, the Politecnico di Torino and businesses will lead to the drafting of the Climate City Contract (CCC), which will detail the strategies and actions identified together in key sectors such as energy, buildings, waste management and transport.

Fact checker? Cato the Censor? Cheerleader? Tightrope walker? The Amapola 2022 Impact Report opens with a reflection on the agency’s increasingly complex role. “Today, reviewing data, information and stories requires the expertise not of an editor, but of a tightrope walker.”

What were the main benefit data last year? Including days of corporate voluntary work, activities to promote a sustainability culture, projects in collaboration with other benefit corporations and in-house initiatives, Amapola devoted more than 920 hour to its benefit objectives. Among its 2022 projects, Meet the CSR Leaders, in collaboration with Il Salone della CSR e dell’innovazione sociale, created opportunities for young people to meet sustainability professionals over three days of meetings and 10 hours of one-to-one orientation. The agency also provided free sustainability training for more than 470 senior-high-school and university students. Internally, Amapola confirmed its commitment to its people, with flexibility policies, bonuses for employees and co-workers, and in-house training and skill-sharing projects.

 

A question of identity

«At a time of omnipresent sustainability – in the form of action, fortunately, but above all at verbal level – communicating sustainability in a coherent and transparent manner becomes a distinguishing value,» says Amapola founder Luca Valpreda. «It is no coincidence that we are convinced supporters of the movement to add an 18^th goal to the current 17 SDGs: responsible communication. Because there has to be an indissoluble link between our intentions, the words we use, and the facts generated by those words.»

Drawn up in accordance with the latest update of the Global Reporting Initiative and with reference to the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, the 2022 Impact Report sets out the agency’s results and sustainability projects, with a focus on the common benefit objectives Amapola pursues as a benefit corporation. Now in its second year, the publication has also been transformed into a voluntary sustainability report, enlarging the reported dataset and taking a more participatory and dynamic approach to data collection.

«This is a complex journey,» notes agency partner Sergio Vazzoler. «For example, the environment is the focus of many of our cultural and educational initiatives. At the same time, however, our environmental impact as a services company consisting of just under twenty people is relatively modest. Is this a contradiction? Not necessarily: the point is to organise our commitment in an authentic and credible manner.»

This year, the Amapola Impact Report takes the garden as its theme, which it extends to the storytelling and to the graphics-visual project (the work of Daniele Cavallero at Za!Factory).

«Not just any garden,» say Micol Burighel, Beatrice Coni and Elisa De Bonis, the leaders of the agency’s under-36 Impact Board, «but a place where differences are discussed and accommodated, which is open to outside stimuli and influences. And to the unexpected: in our first full year as a benefit corporation (Amapola changed its corporate status in November 2021, ed.), we optimised our internal processes at every level, from strategy to accounting, with the increasing involvement of the whole team.»

The Amapola Impact Report is available here.

The City of Turin as lead partner, with the participation of the University of Turin and the Polytechnic University of Turin as institutional partners, intends to respond to the second Call for Proposals European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions (EUI-IA) with a deadline on 5 October 2023. To this end, it has published a Call for Proposals to identify the best project proposals and the best partnership for the subsequent co-design of the bid.

Among the topics covered by the Call, the City of Turin intends to address the challenge Harnessing talent in shrinking cities. In this context, the European Urban Initiative (EUI) finances innovative actions to test new solutions that contribute to retaining and attracting talent: placed-based pilot projects that involve local communities in experiments on an urban scale and that integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of demographic challenges.

The aim of the projects should be to meet the affordable housing needs of national and international off-campus university students through innovative solutions based on the valorisation of the city’s available real estate assets, but also to offer additional services aimed at improving students’ quality of life and creating a sense of rootedness and belonging to the territory, favouring not only their settlement but also their permanence in Turin at the end of their studies.

The project proposal may be submitted by a grouping of no more than three organisations. Only organisations with legal personality are considered eligible.

Project proposals are eligible whose financial plan respects the maximum limit of 6.000.000 € (including the co-financing share and the budget shares allocated to the City as Lead partner, to all the Delivery partners and to the 3 Transfer partners). Each partner will have to guarantee co-financing of 20% of its share of the budget.

Deadline for submission of applications: Monday 4 September 2023 at 16:00

For all details and to download the application documents, go to the dedicated page of the City of Turin website.

Early July 2023 were important days for the social startup Atelier Riforma: the first entity adopted their #Re4Circular technology for the classification, digitization and valorization of used clothing in the circular economy.

It is Emporio Margherita, managed by Cooperativa Momo in Cuneo province, a project for the collection of used clothing and objects to put them back into circulation, training and giving a job to disadvantaged people.

With the adoption of Re4Circular, the cooperative will also be able to valorize the clothes that are not suitable for reuse or for the target of the Emporio, directing them towards circular professionals/companies that carry out sartorial transformations, recycling of the fiber into regenerated yarns or their re-use in other industries, such as construction or furniture.
Objective: to reduce waste and follow the hierarchy of waste, in order to efficiently direct each garment towards the best form of recovery based on its characteristics and conditions. Moreover, the digitization of Re4Circular will make it possible to collect and transmit data regarding each garment throughout the supply chain, providing monitoring and transparency.

In the coming months, other entities will follow the example of Emporio Margherita, embracing #innovation, #sustainability and the #transparency of their work.

Are you sensitive to environmental issues and do you want to make a concrete contribution to the planet and the community?
We are launching the selection of young Reland Animators in Turin to whom we will provide free of charge all the resources necessary to undertake this new profession, including cutting-edge teaching tools and materials, as well as constant support from our experts.
You will have the opportunity to learn the principles of circular design and sustainability, get to know our education and entertainment formats.
You will put what you have learned into practice by conducting engaging activities such as laboratories and workshops aimed at children, teenagers but also families and companies.
We focus on the education of the new generations through standardized and scalable formats and processes.
Our big dream is to raise awareness of responsible production and consumption as many people as possible in the shortest possible time.
An objective that we can only achieve by training young agents of change.
We will first select the participants in the introduction course to the Reland method which will be held on 7 July 2023 from 9 to 18 at Offgrid Italia Aps Via Santa Maria Mazzarello 30 internal 23 Turin.
This training will then allow us to identify one or more candidates to be included in the Team, offering them the opportunity to collaborate in the scheduled events.
Apply by writing to info@reland.one attaching your CV and a brief motivational letter.

Features for the application:

• Age +20
• Residence in Turin
• Knowing how to create a loving environment and have organizational skills in group management.
• Diploma, degree or equivalent qualification in pedagogy, educational sciences or in a related field, alternatively have practical experience of working with children and young people (including summer camps or similar) through traineeships, internships or collaborations with specialized bodies
• To be a point of reference, “charismatic” rather than institutional.
• Knowing how to propose pleasant and rewarding arguments
• Possess creativity, fluency of thought and imagination
• Ability to entertain and relate to the public
• Provide a reassuring environment and respond to individual needs
• Have genuine sensitivity for education and a strong desire to contribute to their development and well-being with particular reference to environmental issues

 

After the completion of the first stage of the initiative, the “Ideas Competition”, the 19^th edition of the contest for new entrepreneurial projects now enters into full swing with its Stage II, the “Business Plan Competition“.

The contest is free of charge and is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs over the age of 18 with the aim of encouraging and supporting the creation of innovative and knowledge-intensive start-ups to promote the economic development of the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta regions.

Anyone can participate, either individually or as a team, even without having taken part in the previous stage, by submitting by July 28^th, 2023 an innovative business project in one of the five competition categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial, Life Sciences, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industries.

Organised within the framework of the PNI – Italian National Award for Innovation promoted by PNICube, the initiative is promoted by the incubators I3P, Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, 2i3T, Business Incubator of the University of Turin, and Enne3, Incubator of Eastern Piedmont. Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta provides a unique opportunity to finalise studies and research into business projects, regardless of their stage of development, and to join the network of Innovative Company Incubators. The winners will in fact receive support for the birth of their start-ups, support in defining their strategy, accompaniment on the market through contact with their first customers, and introduction to investors and banks for raising capital.

The prizes for the best projects

Thanks to the endowment made available by the Sponsors and Supporters of the 2023 edition, this year’s total prize money exceeds €65,000 and will be paid out in cash and services. The first prize winner will receive €7,500, the second €5,000 and the third €2,500.

The first six projects will also be awarded a prize of €1,000 each for entering the PNI 2023, the Italian National Innovation Award, the “champions’ cup” among the winning business projects of the regional Start Cups that will be held in Milan this year, organised by Università Milano-Bicocca, Politecnico di Milano, Università Bocconi and Università Statale di Milano.

As in the previous editions of the contest, there will be many special prizes promoted by the sponsors of the initiative:

• Cuneo Prize of 10,000 euros, offered by Fondazione CRC to the best entrepreneurial project setting up the business in the Province of Cuneo;
• Valle d’Aosta Prize of 7,500 euros, offered by the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta to the best entrepreneurial project setting up the company in the Pépinière d’Entreprises of Aosta or Pont-Saint-Martin;
• Aerospace Sustainability Award of 7,500 euros, offered by Piedmont Aerospace Cluster to the best project that considers the theme of sustainability in aeronautics or space;
• Social Innovation Award of 7,500 euros, offered by Fondazione Laura & Franco Beltramo ETS to the best entrepreneurial project in the fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agriculture and food requirements that promotes social progress and the development of better living conditions;
• City of the Future and Sustainability Award, worth a total of €7,500 (€4,000 in cash and €3,500 in services), offered by LINKS Foundation to the best project with an impact on sustainability;
• Two Jacobacci & Partners Prizes, worth a total of 7,000 euros in the form of services, offered by Jacobacci & Partners;
• UniCredit Start Lab Prize, offered by UniCredit and consisting in a mentorship session to assess the suitability of a project to be admitted to targeted contents of the Start Lab programme;
• Three 5G & Emerging Tech Prizes in services, offered as part of the City of Turin‘s CTE NEXT project to the best entrepreneurial projects which make use of 5G technology.

There will also be five special mentions:

• “Equal Opportunities“, for the best project aimed at promoting the principle of equal opportunities and female entrepreneurship;
• “Social Innovation“, for the best project involving the development and implementation of new ideas to meet social needs, create new relationships or partnerships;
• “Open innovation / Industrial Spin Off“, dedicated to the best project concerning innovative products and/or services resulting from a research activity conducted in collaboration between a company and a university in Piedmont;
• “Green & Blue”, for the best project proposing innovative solutions related to climate change, protection and enhancement of natural resources, aimed at creating economic growth and environmental protection;
• “Sustainable Technologies” for the project which stands out the most for its uniqueness within the sustainable technologies field, awarded by Jacobacci & Partners.

How to join the competition

To take part in the Business Plan Competition, it is necessary to submit a Business Plan (or Business Model) describing the business project from June 21^st to July 28^th, 2023 via the online form available on the competition website.

All aspiring entrepreneurs over the age of 18, including university and research centre graduates, and owners of start-ups can apply. For more detailed information on how to participate, it is recommended to consult the official regulations available on the competition website.

For more information you can write to the dedicated e-mail address info@startcup-piemonte-vda.it, while to stay up-to-date on all the news of the competition – in its current or future editions – you can follow the official social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, or subscribe to the free newsletter via the form at the bottom of the site pages.

As part of the co-implementation process of the Social Economy Action Plan, the Commission encourages, collects, promotes and supports public and private stakeholder commitments for concrete actions to move towards the green and digital transition of the ecosystem.

The European Commission addressed stakeholders through a call for pledges on ‘proximity and social economy’ published on 14 November. The initial deadline to submit pledges was set for 28 February 2023. The next deadlines are 1 July 2023 and 1 December 2023. The call for pledges will remain open during the entire implementation of the transition pathway.

Torino Social Impact participated in the first call and 4 of its pledges have been included related to stakeholder engagement, data for social impact, impact finance and the Social Impact Stock Exchange, the support to social enterprises provided thanks to the SocialTech4EU project.

The I3S Project promotes the use of Digital Twin and Virtual Reality technologies for new residential solutions

“Knock Knock. It’s open” is the name of the research project born within I3S, which demonstrates how inclusive digital technology can create the right conditions for a gentle management of the insertion of fragile people in new situations.

The inclusion of fragile people in services often generates in their disorientation and great discomfort. Anticipating the experience and guiding it thanks to a virtual reality tool  can decrease stress and disorientation, both in the fragile person and in his family, allowing all those involved to improve the quality of life in the transformation phases.

These are the assumptions on which the idea of the ETS Crescere Insieme Cooperativa Sociale and Il Margine was born, thanks to the support of the I3S Project, intervention line 1 – accompanying digital innovation for new models of sustainability. Thanks to the design of simulation and gaming models, tools were identified that exploited Digital Twin  and Virtual Reality technologies  to simulate the insertion of fragile people – elderly and minors with specific pathologies, such as autism – within new environments, such as nursing homes, communities and accommodation facilities for people with disabilities.

The goal achieved within I3S was to develop a pre-proposal for the development of a  research and innovation project to  be presented on possible funding opportunities dedicated to research and development. But the project went far beyond the writing of the pre-proposal: it was successfully nominated on several calls  and obtained both the funding of the Turin Chamber of Commerce to carry out a joint experimentation with the University of Turin, using the research infrastructure “HST – Human Science & Technologies” on the analysis of human behavior, and the funding from “Digital Cooperation”,  The multi-year project that supports the digitization of Italian cooperative and non-profit enterprises thanks to the contribution of Google.org. Thanks to this funding, the project “Knock Knock. It’s open” was able  to start work, which will end in October 2023.

Compared to the existing panorama and the common application areas, the innovation of  this project is represented by its dynamism, interactivity, immersiveness and customization, maintaining a high degree of accessibility and usability. The goal is to allow people  to live the experience in preview, reproducing details that are central to the person and that “make home” (smells, objects, arrangement of things). It is not simply a matter of reproducing environments, but of understanding objects and spatial aspects significant to the person and bringing them back into the phygital  experience to ensure their presence. The project, in fact, aims to create a link between the starting space and the destination space, with the possibility of acting on the destination space.

If normally the digital twin is the reproduction of a space that is the same for everyone, here it offers  a pushed customization,  starting from the environment of the subject to end up in the target environment, creating a faithful mapping. In addition to the digital twin of the structure, an Artificial Intelligence algorithm will be created  that will be able to measure the emotions of the subjects who try the instrument, thanks to the analysis of speech and facial images.

The experimentation will be carried out in a Day Disabled Training Center for adults with autism spectrum disorders, soon to open in the Municipality of Turin. The vocation of service is an important challenge for the heterogeneity of the behavior of the people who will attend it. The population with autism spectrum disorders represents 6 per thousand of the population (ISTAT). An audience that adds up to about 360,000 people.

What is I3S

The I3S Project promotes digital transformation and the adoption of new business models for the third sector. It avails itself of the contribution of the Turin Chamber of Commerce and is part  of the Tech4Good program of the Torino Social Impact Strategic Plan, which also acts as a director. It is conducted by Piemonte Innova, which also coordinates and enables the network of companies and experts, in collaboration with the Links Foundation. It is designed and implemented in collaboration with the Representative Bodies that adhere to the Committee for Social Entrepreneurship: Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte and VOL. TO Volunteering Turin.

The time is approaching for Turin to host the most important event in Europe in the field of impact investing and venture philanthropy: the Impact Week of EVPA (European Venture Philanthropy Association), the international network that brings together more than 300 organisations including foundations, social impact funds, financial institutions, universities, incubators and accelerators from 35 countries.

EVPA’s Impact Week 2023 will be hosted from 22 to 24 November at the OGR Torino – a hub dedicated to innovation and impact with a focus on culture and tech – and will see the participation of around 1,000 impact players from all over the world. The works will be divided into sessions, workshops and meetings in six action lines: The Triple Crisis, Take Care, Impact Works, Impact by Numbers, Impact Cities, Impact by Design: with more than 30 sessions to choose from!

Impact Week 2023 is grafted into Turin’s impact ecosystem, with Fondazione CRT and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo anchor partners and Torino Social Impact as collector of the city’s rich and varied impact network. In the team Cottino Social Impact Campus, content partner, and Fondazione Time 2.

The spotlights are turned on on the historic village of the washermen, Bertolla, a neighborhood that seems suspended in time but boasts an active and participating community. In recent months, thanks to the “Bertolla Social Village” project financed by the Compagnia di San Paolo and coordinated by Weco social enterprise, citizens have been the protagonists of an accompanying process that has led to the creation of the Bertolla social week, a full program of events that will take place from 14 to 18 June.
The Bertolla Social Week will be an opportunity not only for socializing and celebrating, but also for dialogue with the institutions, allowing the citizens themselves to be spokespersons for requests and proposals with a view to improving the livability of the neighborhood with the aim of making Bertolla a village outstanding historian. Workshops will be held every day that will see the active participation of the city institutions, in fact the mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo will be present, the councilor Carlotta Salerno (delegation to suburbs and urban regeneration projects), the councilor Francesco Tresso (parks and banks rivers) and the councilor Jacopo Rosatelli (social policies) and the president of the VI District Valerio Lomanto.
The week will open with a competition aimed at neighborhood schools entitled “The Bertolla I would like”, whose projects will be presented on the final evening.
The inauguration on Wednesday 14 June will open with a traveling parade to get to know the village by the Eufemia association, which will be followed by a musical aperitif with the young artist Jacob.
On Thursday, after the visit to the diversion channel, we will move to the church of San Grato, where a concert of classical music will give even greater prestige to the place that hosts it.
Friday will be dedicated to the Nexity area, with a treasure hunt, an aperitif and fun activities aimed at everyone.
On Saturday and Sunday it will be possible to take part in guided tours of the village and in moments of entertainment aimed at children (guided by the Animando cooperative), with the main event on Saturday evening: the magicians will be the protagonists at the oratory of San Grato of the Bartolomeo Bosco Magic Club.

The complete program can be viewed on the website

Bertolla Social Week is an initiative of Weco social enterprise sponsored by the City of Turin and realized with the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation

Consolidating deep & inclusive social innovation ecosystems (Consolid8) is a project co-funded by the European Union that aims to support the integration between social innovation actors and traditional innovation ecosystems throughout Europe.

The project will carry out social innovation capacity-building programs in Romania, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Slovenia as well as an accelerator for ecosystems builders throughout Europe. A social innovation European festival will be organised in Romania between 22 – 24  September 2023. For more information about Consolid8, please visit here

This questionnaire: CONSOLID8 PROJECT: QUESTIONNAIRE ON NATIONAL SOCIAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM (office.com) is targeted to social innovation organisations (such as social enterprises, incubators and/or accelerators, Universities, public authorities, startups with social mission/impact, cultural organisations) and intends to collect views and information on the national social innovation ecosystems in Romania, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Slovenia.

During this free seminar, jointly held by ESA BIC Turin and RP Legal & Tax, regulatory aspects in investment transactions of interest for start-ups will be addressed and explained in detail. In particular, the speakers will analyse the so-called “golden power” regime – and more in general restrictions to foreign direct investments in the European Union – which allows the Government to block or impose specific conditions to transactions that fall within certain strategic sectors of national interest.

The experts leading the seminar will also present the new European regulation on Foreign Subsidies and antitrust law, with particular reference to the new regime of the so-called “below threshold” transactions.

The event will be presented in English language by Leo Italiano, Senior Consultant at I3P and Program Manager of ESA BIC Turin, and led by Marco Gardino, Partner at RP Legal & Tax, and Amedeo della Croce, Senior Associate at RP Legal & Tax.

How to participate

The event, free of charge, will be held on June 22nd, 2023 at 17:00 CEST in presence at I3P’s headquarters, located within the Campus of Politecnico di Torino and accessible from two different pedestrian entrances: in Corso Castelfidardo 34 and in Via Pier Carlo Boggio 59. The seminar will be held in English language. 

In order to attend the event in person, registration is required on Eventbrite.

About the organizers

RP Legal & Tax is a full-service law firm, founded in 1949, with over 150 professionals, 6 offices in Italy and partnerships with leading international firms. The firm is proud to offer innovative and valuable legal solutions across 25 practice areas – including one specifically devoted to start-ups and venture capital – through close-knit teams. For more information, visit the official website of RP Legal & Tax.

ESA BIC Turin supports entrepreneurs and start-ups in transforming their space-related projects into successful enterprises, offering financial incentives, strategic business consulting, scientific and technological support for the development of products and services, and direct access to a wide network of highly qualified industrial, financial and scientific partners. ESA BIC Turin is managed by I3P with the technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation. For more information visit the website

I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, supports the creation and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, founded both by university researchers and students, and by external entrepreneurs, providing strategic consulting services, coaching, mentoring, fundraising support and spaces. For more information click here 

Last April at Fuorisalone 2023 in Milan, (RI)GENERIAMO together with Leroy Merlin Italia and Connect-Italia, promoted the “Laboratori Tematici” (Thematic Workshops) series of meetings, four consecutive mornings focused on topics such as connections, generativity, social impact. We invited our stakeholders to take part in these meetings, anyway they were open meetings and from time to time some visitors to Fuorisalone decided to sit with us in order to listen and maybe say a word.

Drawing on that experience, we’ve produced an Ebook (in Italian) that is now available and free to download on our website.

Why this Ebook? Two are the main reasons:
first, to tell the story of what happened during that experience
second, to encourage others to replicate it, and possibly scale it.

Those meetings turned out to be, in a nutshell, a sort of an “exercise of generous connection”. We know from the findings of the survey we took in the following weeks (it’s included in the Ebook) that participants appreciated so much their experience.

Why such appreciation? We can’t tell it for sure, anyway we strongly believe that the main reason is about the way the audience has been stimulated with regard to what to share: not the usual success stories (“we did this, we did that, we have best practices, we’ve been awarded”), but somehow quite the opposite: we invited participants to tell the story of the problems they’ve struggled with, the story of their crisis moments, the story about when they failed, the story about the impact they didn’t succeed in making. In our view, that kind of “not usual” and maybe even uncomfortable approach allowed any of us to learn so much from each other and to deeply feel we need one each other.

Are you wondering if it’s worth giving a try? If you need help, we’re gladly avaialable to give a hand. Let’s connect together.

Sweden holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2023, and from June 7 to 9, Europe’s most important players in the field of the social economy will gather in Gothenburg, at a conference highlighting the role of the social economy in creating a stronger and more resilient Europe.

The “Social Economy 2023 – Building a Stronger and Resilient Europe” conference is organized with European experts and stakeholders and focuses on the Social Economy Action Plan approved in 2021 and its implementation. It builds on last year’s Strasbourg conference “Social Economy – Future of Europe,” included in the official program of the French presidency, and bridges with equivalent events to be held under the upcoming Spanish presidency in San Sebastian (November 2023) and the Belgian presidency in Liège (February 2024).

Torino Social Impact with the City of Turin will be present to present the advancements of the activities carried out under some European projects. Respondet, funded by the COSME – Social Economy Mission (Missions for the Social Economy) program, and dedicated to promoting the social economy with a focus on circular economy and energy transition issues. Socialtech4EU, dedicated to fostering the development of social economy clusters by strengthening their key players, funded by the European Innovation Council and the SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) through the Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for European Recovery (SMP- COSME-2021-CLUSTER).

TSI will also participate in the Annual Meeting of Reves – European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy, of which it is an active member, which will take place as part of the Conference.

Read more

The Stories Matter project is a cutting-edge initiative that seeks to empower and uplift individuals in the creative and cultural sectors. Our primary goal is to offer a comprehensive curriculum that enhances the skills of emerging artists, socially engaged artists, and industry stakeholders. By promoting sustainability, innovation, participation, and inclusivity, we create an environment where participants can thrive in their projects, work, and productions.

Working in collaboration with partners from Belgium (Creative District), Cyprus (Visual Voices), and Italy (Green Growth Generation), we harness a diverse range of expertise to provide a transformative experience. Our overarching aim is to upskill and expand the audience reach of visual artists and creatives. Through the lead of industry experts and practical knowledge, we delve into crucial subjects such as sustainability, innovation, inclusion, civic participation, climate change awareness, and other themes that aim to raise awareness and empower artists to become catalysts for change and storytellers within their communities.

The 12th edition of the international contest Posterheroes: Beautifully Diverse – redefining disability has opened. The contest invites graphic designers, illustrators, both professional and non-professional, to express their thoughts through a poster-manifesto of size 70×100 cm. The initiative is promoted by the Plug Cultural Association, the Favini paper mill, the ITCILO International Training Center and Fondazione Time2.

The constant growth of inequality, makes urgent to strengthen cooperation and educate in solidarity and empathy to recognize the value and dignity of every individual, regardless of ability or characteristics. Through collective action, it is necessary to promote a narrative of disability that is neither positive nor negative, but simply an expression of the diversity that characterizes humankind.

As every year, Posterheroes aims to fuel the international debate on issues of social concern, stimulating the creative community to reflect on them; in particular, with this new edition Posterheroes questions the concept of normality and intends to promote the beauty of diversity.

READ THE BRIEF

 

Contest Opening: 05/13/2023

Deadline: 8/27/2023

The partnership between Plug, Favini and The ITCILO International Training Center, consolidated over the course of the editions, is enriched this year by the collaboration of the Fondazione Time2, strengthening the social value of the contest and further amplifying its communicative potential.

An international jury, composed of leading figures in the fields of design, illustration and social communication, will select the 40 winning posters, which will be the subject of exhibitions, events and publications curated by the Plug association. Two special mentions will also be awarded with related cash prizes: the Favini prize, worth €2500, and the Fondazione Time2 prize, worth €1500. As every year, 12 posters will be selected for the creation of the 2024 Calendar designed by the Plug Cultural Association and produced by the Favini company.

An additional novelty of the 2023 edition is an experimental section of the call, outside the official competition, intended to accommodate works generated on the theme using generative systems based on Artificial Intelligence.

Over the past ten years Posterheroes has received more than 15,000 posters from around the world and involved more than 100 international experts in the field of illustration, the arts, and visual communication who, as members of the jury, selected the winning posters.

For more information on the contest brief and rules, visit website.

“In a historical moment like the present,” says Silvia Barbero, president of Plug Association, “knowing how to welcome diversity is crucial for not only personal but community growth. It is certainly not easy to be able to understand diversity (of opinions, situations, abilities,…) but it is an indispensable effort to live democracy and equality.”

“By supporting this socio-cultural illustration contest, we feel we are contributing to a deep reflection on relevant issues by illustrators, graphic designers and artists, both professionals and students, and creative enthusiasts,” explains Eugenio Eger, CEO Favini. “Through their eyes and art, thanks to Posterheroes, a representation of disability will be composed that will help viewers raise awareness on the issue.”

“This is an important opportunity. The new languages and contexts will help overcome a moralistic attitude toward disabilities for which it is ‘good’ to care.

We will thus be able to help finally access a perspective of full recognition of citizenship rights on a basis of equality with everyone and everyone,” says Samuele Pigoni, secretary general of Fondazione Time2.

Earthrise – Design for a Living Planet is the annual festival that Circolo del Design dedicates to the relationship between design and environmental sustainability, helping to outline possible responses and scenarios, and fuelling collective and shared dialogues.

A great part of what surrounds us comes from trees: the first edition of the festival focuses on the relationship between forests and society, gathering visions, proposals and researches of design, science and culture.

Earthrise is a project by Circolo del Design to join the cultural change necessary to develop a new ecologic consciousness.
The 2023 edition is curated by Giorgio Vacchiano (lecturer and science popularizer) and Elisabetta Donati de Conti (design curator and planner).

Having examined the Iranian and Syrian questions in the  first two editions of Voci, we turn to a mostly underrated social issue: the prison and its world. To tell us about this “parallel universe”, together with prejudice surrounding it, we talked to Carmine Falanga, President of Idee in Fuga, social cooperative born inside the prison of Alessandria (Piedmont), working in the field of prison economy.

The Voci column

Voci is about stories, people and words without frontiers. In our infodemic age with its extreme background noise, this is an initiative designed to focus attention on key social issues, giving a voice to people with first-hand experience. Voci is powered by Amapola.

On April 24, 2023, exactly 10 years after the Rana Plaza tragedy, the Responsible Fashion Movement (MMR) was born.

The first action of this network, made up of brands, producers, companies, cooperatives and professionals who work daily in the fashion industry, is the launch of the Manifesto for Responsible Fashion in Italy which aims to create a fashion industry that is always more responsible, accessible and recognized.

This is only the first step: it is important to reiterate in every way the urgent need for a change in the fashion industry on the planet and on people.

The union of intentions comes to life from the awareness of the negative impact that the fashion industry has both on an environmental and social level, with the aim of creating a system that looks at the fashion sector with a critical and proactive perspective.

With the dissemination of this Manifesto, the participatory movement wants to be the spokesperson for a project that has three main aims:

• For companies: promote transparency and good practices, helping companies understand how to reduce their environmental impact, introducing virtuous practices for a positive social impact, through concrete guidelines that can be applied to their company, as well as by setting a good example ;
• For institutions: promote a sense of responsibility, uniting the voices of producers and consumers to acquire greater strength and therefore be able to propose new regulations to support the path towards sustainability;
• For people: promoting awareness, critical thinking and conscious consumption, as well as making it easier to identify virtuous and responsible companies.

The founding values on which the Manifesto is based with the aim of making the fashion industry responsible are four: pursuit of quality, creation of social value, respect for the environment and ethics and social responsibility.

Elena Ferrero – CEO of Atelier Riforma, one of the signatories of the Manifesto – says:

“If we want to see a positive change, we must be that change. The Movimento Moda Responsabile is the result of this strong will, the will to see one day a fashion industry that bases its economic growth not on the exploitation of people and the environment, but on their protection”.

The Manifesto, the list of participants and the graphic contents to share the project are available here

To find out more, you can follow the Instagram page

The social startup Atelier Riforma, part of the Torino Social Impact ecosystem, was awarded the “Premio Impresa Ambiente” in the “Young Entrepreneur” category.
This is the highest Italian award for companies that, in carrying out their business, have made an innovative contribution in terms of environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
The award ceremony – promoted by the Venice Rovigo Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Unioncamere and under the patronage of the Ministry of Ecological Transition – took place at the end of April in Venice, in the beautiful Palazzo Franchetti.

The CEO of the startup Elena Ferrero said:

“Receiving the highest Italian award for companies that contribute to environmental protection and social responsibility is something we would never have imagined a few years ago, when, with great insecurity, Sara Secondo and I tried to look into this very complicated world that is entrepreneurship.

We are very grateful because – in this low-meritocratic world – the efforts made almost never correspond to the results obtained… and we often discuss it bitterly with our peers.
Considering the current context, young “social” entrepreneurs who start from scratch, without funds or backings, but with a dream in their heart, make a real “venture”, not so much in the sense of a “company”, but precisely in the sense of “heroic deed”.

We know many young people like that… and they are the ones who give us hope for the future. This award goes to all of them!

Atelier Riforma is an innovative social startup with the mission of reducing the negative environmental and social impact of the fashion industry through the circular economy. The two founders (Elena Ferrero and Sara Secondo) started in 2019 with a social project dedicated to refashioning of discarded clothes and in recent years have given a technological breakthrough to the startup, with Re4Circular project.

The function of Re4Circular is to maximize the residual value of each end-of-life garment as a resource, postponing as much as possible the moment when it will turn into a waste. How? Facilitating the players in the fashion industry  to use these clothes as a resource,  implementing circular practices such as reuse, sartorial upcycling or the recycling of textile fibers.

Re4Circular is a digital platform aimed at matching the B2B supply and demand for used or leftover clothing efficiently and transparently.

They have created an automatic cataloging and digitization technology for clothes that they supply to used clothing collection/selection entities, as well as to fashion brands that want to manage their deadstock or take-back services in a sustainable way. Through this tool they can record and transmit all the information about their garments to the circular companies/professionals that can give a second life to these clothes (the process is made easier and faster for them thanks to an Artificial Intelligence algorithm, trained to automatically recognize this information just from a photograph of the garment and its label).

Linked to this tech there is a digital marketplace, which allows them to sell the clothes thus cataloged directly to circular fashion companies/professionals, so that each garment can be valorized as a resource and directed towards the circular process most suited to its characteristics and conditions. But it is not the usual offline and non-trasparent trade of used clothes, it is a wholesale transparent and precision commerce.

Re4Circular is a digital marketplace on which every circular business can use several search filters to find the most suitable clothes for their business: e.g. used garments in perfect condition for second-hand shops, clothes with specific colours, fabrics and patterns for upcyclers, 100% single fiber clothes divided by colors for recycling companies, and so on. Once the search has been carried out, the user will see which entities have the material they are looking for and can view the images of all the clothes available item by item, with information on their characteristics. In this way, they can easily select and purchase online the material they need.

Re4Circular is an innovative technology, for which Atelier Riforma has filed a patent application.

But it is not meant to be used by the startup internally, but to be supplied to any entity in the sector that needs it, anywhere.

This allows the startup to make a positive impact on a large scale and potentially to reform the entire sector from a circular perspective.

Re4Circular landed on the market in mid-March 2023 – after years of work in design, fundraising and development – and in a few days a few hundred garments were directed for reuse … in short, the circular ecosystem started to come to life and hopefully it continues to grow more and more!

The Consorzio Sociale Abele Lavoro together with the European Association Ensie (European Network of Social Integration Enterprises), is organising an event on the theme: “Social Enterprises for Social Integration. Uno sguardo europeo”, on 25 May 2023 at Sermig – Arsenale della Pace, in Piazza Borgo Dora 61 in Turin.

A European comparison of good practices, similarities and differences, and ideas for innovative collaborations between public authorities and social enterprises for social and labour insertion.
The event will be held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Consorzio Sociale Abele Lavoro, as well as the Ensie Annual General Meeting.

Ensie is the European network of social insertion enterprises and brings together 31 national and regional networks, representing 21 countries of the European Union, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. These networks pursue, adapting to local needs, objectives of social reintegration of disadvantaged groups. In total, the network comprises 2,800 social work integration enterprises and more than 184,000 employees.Ensie therefore works for the social integration of groups at risk into the labour market, for the economic viability of social work integration enterprises and for the promotion of equal opportunities.

PROGRAMME

14.00 Registration of participants
14.30 “Social Enterprises: Turin is Europe” – Opening by Massimo D’Amico (Director Consorzio Sociale Abele Lavoro)
Speakers: Patrizia Bussi (Director ENSIE and Vice President Social Economy Europe) and Raffaella Scalisi (Senior Advisor Torino Social Impact)
15.00 “Co-planning and Co-programming: a double interview between the Third Sector and the Public Entity” (Massimo D’Amico and Federica Giuliani from the Division of Social, Socio-Health, Housing and Labour Services of the City of Turin)
Edited by Gianfranco Marocchi (Director of the magazine Impresa Sociale)
16.00 Coffee Break
16.30 “Socio-occupational integration of disadvantaged people: experiences and ideas for different collaborations between public and private social institutions around Europe” (Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Austria and Italy); moderated by Gianfranco Marocchi and Piera Lepore (Consorzio Sociale Abele Lavoro)
17.30 Audience Interaction
18.00 Closing remarks and greetings

Live stream on YouTube channel

In the digital era, it is important to be conscious citizens capable to communicate complex ideas in simple terms.

Amapola is a partner of Torino Social Impact and has been working on sustainable communication for years.

In this new episode of Bench-Mark, we discover with Alberto Marzetta, partner of the agency, how communication plays a fundamental role in changing the business paradigm.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

A new collective worksite for the TSI ecosystem has been launched, thanks to the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation: the European Social Economy Project HUB, aimed at seizing the many opportunities that are opening up at EU level with the launch of the Transition Pathway of the European Social Economy Action Plan and the inclusion of proximity and social economy ecosystems among the 14 industrial ecosystems for European economic recovery and the realisation of the dual green and digital transition.

The ecosystem will be involved in a capacity building pathway based on a peer to peer learning mechanism, where participants will be both generators of skills and receivers of support actions. The partners of Torino Social Impact will have the opportunity to take part in real “learning in the field” in conjunction with the European funding programmes identified for the project.

With the launch of the project, a survey was shared within the IST ecosystem to map the partners’ interest in taking part in the initiative and their experience of Europlanning. The results of the survey will be presented during the Torino Social Impact Partners Assembly, scheduled on 12 June.

To participate in the survey or for further information on the project, please contact us at info@torinosocialimpact.it

Read more:

EU co-creation of the proximity and social economy ecosystem

As part of the European RESPONDET (Regional Social Economy Policies for sustainable community-Driven Environmental Transition) project, the City of Turin and the Turin Chamber of Commerce, as part of the Turin Social Impact activities, organized a workshop yesterday at Open Incet spaces entitled “Reflections on the Circular Economy.”

The project aims to promote local and regional development in order to strengthen the social economy, making common management of resources the main element of social sustainability in the Green transition process, with a focus on the issues of circular economy and energy transition.

The goal of the workshop, attended by 11 organizations from the TSI ecosystem, was to gather experiences, suggestions and needs on the topic of circular economy from the local area in order to identify common intentions and strengthen the dialogue with local government.

The reflections that have emerged regarding the project will feed into the development of an Action Plan of the City of Turin, which will be submitted next June to the European Commission along with that of other regions.

The meeting was opened by greetings from Councillor for Ecological and Digital Transition Chiara Foglietta, who stressed the importance of collaboration with local stakeholders to fortify the city’s circular economy practices.

The meeting, led by Circular Market SB, was also an opportunity to reinforce the collective dimension of the Torino Social Impact ecosystem; in fact, during the morning, a new ecosystem project on strengthening communities of practice, implemented with the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, was presented. The partners were involved in a working group on the circular economy theme that, modeled after TSI’s table of benefit companies, will discuss common issues and challenges, pooling skills and experiences in a peer-to-peer learning logic to generate shared value.

Discover more:

The Chamber of Commerce and the City of Turin win the RESPONDET European Project for Torino Social Impact

First meeting of RESPONDET | Torino Social Impact project partners

Turin hosts “RESPONDET”, the European project on Social Economy

 

The competition is back, open until 18 June, offering a concrete opportunity for under-35 creators of digital content to make a name for themselves and grow

Open until 18 June, the sixth edition of the national competition “Faber, creativity, enterprise and impact“, organised by Weco with the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and the Turin Chamber of Commerce, as part of Torino Social Impact. For 15 years, it has been promoting encounters between young people active in the fields of digital creativity and companies and organisations interested in enhancing these skills. The professional spin-offs are important: in fact, more than 90% of the young participants in the last edition recognised a fundamental role of the initiative in their own entrepreneurial and career path. The subject of the competition is works and products realised in the last 24 months on commission or independently, with a free theme in the four categories envisaged: Live action & Animation, Visual & Graphic design, Gaming, augmented reality and virtual reality, Web, app, social.

Participating in and winning the Faber competition allows digital creatives under 35 to access the fabermeeting and thus to participate in workshops, talks, meetings and exchanges with partner companies, paid experience at the same companies and to have support for the projects proposed in various fields, including live action, visual design, augmented reality and virtual reality, apps, social. Faber also promotes the knowledge and application of creative and digital media and tools to meet new social and entrepreneurial challenges.

Partner companies find in Faber the answers to specific innovation needs, new skills, new languages and new approaches to technology.

As Dario Gallina, President of the Turin Chamber of Commerce, explains, “Digital, innovation and social impact: this is the heart of the Faber call for proposals, now in its sixth edition, which on the one hand allows young people to propose digital and creative solutions for immediate use, and on the other allows entrepreneurs to make effective use of them in their business. A contact that is often fruitful and long-lasting, since 75% of the young people awarded a prize sign a work contract after this positive experience”.

“For 15 years,” says Carlo Boccazzi Varotto, director of the initiative, “the Faber competition and Fabermeeting have been a great showcase for Italian digital talent, the success of which is measured in the fact that, increasingly often, those who originally took part as competitors now participate as partners, not infrequently representing a company that they met thanks to Fabermeeting. Faber is also one of the, not too many, initiatives capable of anticipating languages and themes. This is why it is important to open up to the world of the Third Sector and social impact, which, more than any other, can benefit not only from the skills, but also from the inspirations, the needs for change that the boys and girls participating in the competition express”.

Since its inception in 2008, Faber has seen more than 1,000 young people take part in the competition phase, 470 projects have been submitted and more than 150 have been awarded. In five editions there were more than 200 partner companies and 106 speakers involved in workshops, talks and round tables. In 2008 there were 14 partners involved, today there are more than 60.

The Faber 2023 edition expands by extending the partnership to Third Sector organisations to meet their need to identify new market spaces and competences. Social impact and sustainability will be relevant themes in the programme and will also find space in dedicated workshops and talks.

All information on how to participate can be found at: www.fabermeeting.it

What does cultural craftsmanship have to do with the impact economy?

In order to change the direction of the economy and finance, all sectors must be involved to achieve relevant results.

Tommaso Rovetta, Coordinator of the training activities of the Accademia Liuteria Piemontese, a third-sector association that makes musical instruments, explained  how music and attention to the ancient arts can be an interesting way to understand the issues of the impact economy.

The Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

CERES – At Le Valli in Vetrina, the Al Cicapui association focuses on territory and sustainability and does so starting from the game, from sensitivity, from nature.

≪We would be pleased to invite you from 21 to 24 April at the “Al Cicapui” stand during the “Le Valli in Vetrina” fair. During the event we will present the board game “VIAV: The Tour delle Valli” result of a long co-planning between various players of the Joint Association finally in the first edition in LIMITED Edition, 90% guaranteed with reused materials. For the occasion, on the afternoon of April 23, we created a short immersion in nature at psychological character to experience firsthand both the benefits and nature and the environment mountains offer on the well-being side, both the motivations that support and guide the Association in pursuit of its mission. For us it would be a great pleasure to be able to share the event and the experiences together.

We kindly ask you to confirm your presence or not at the event by writing us on whatsapp ai numbers 3398654032 or 3479430952≫.

The current context is characterized by a fundamental challenge: the transition to sustainability. Global warming, environmental and climate change, depletion of resources and biodiversity, drought and water scarcity are just a few examples of how the impact of human beings has broken the balance of the Earth. This condition remains difficult to intercept because it lacks, al moment, a solid “common ground” that can lead to a concrete change in both economic modalities and in daily habits.

Starting from what has been said and from a profound attention to the social changes that result from it they achieve, the psychologist Nicolò Starnai, the glass artist Chiara Ferraris and the technical Maker in circularity Antonio Convertino in collaboration with the Al Cicapui ASD and APS Association, integrating different perspectives and skills, they decided to give life to Eco-Chance Lab.

Eco-Chance Lab defines itself as a laboratory for the acquisition and development of skills direct and indirect on the theme of sustainability, therefore on the relationship between human beings and nature. It is in fact aimed at promoting new ways of being and acting, objectives pursued through support to people, organizations and communities. Eco-Chance Lab was born from the integration of daily practice and scientific studies: it is defined in the acronym C.H.A.N.C.E., which identifies the six pillars essential to favor a sustainable turnaround considered in all its aspects.

Eco identifies a window on the relationship between Ecology and Economy, but above all it highlights the Eco understood as resonance. Indeed, the challenge of sustainability must be faced in a shared integrated way. Awareness identifies the need to develop a personal awareness, a necessary basis to co-build a collective consciousness of symbiosis with nature and the environment. Health represents well-being and health: the reference model is bio-psycho-socio-environmental. The bio-psycho-social model must be integrated with the physical environment, as it is capable of increasing o reduce perceived well-being. Art is understood as awareness of beauty, therefore an opportunity for growth and greater equilibrium. Art represents the possibility of perceiving things from an alternative point of view, key element in any change. Nature: experiences in nature have powerful and positive implications on physical, psychological and health emotional. Furthermore, direct contact with nature has proved to be a powerful tool raising awareness in favor of green practices. “touch” the problem and experiment with its solutions. Experiential learning, especially when in a cooperative context, is an aspect capable of activating new ways of thinking and acting.

Eco-Chance Lab therefore incorporates workshops, training and experiential activities that they allow to develop a sense of realistic trust and conscious optimism towards the present e to the future. ≪These develop – they explain from the association – starting from concern, a very important feeling because it is capable of stimulating behaviors useful for solving a given problem. In other words, it is a powerful emotional lever that can lead to change. It’s just starting on a level adequate of concern that you can cultivate psychological closeness. Psychological closeness is the element for which a subject, initially perceived as distant (e.g. “global warming is an Arctic ice sheet problem”) is acknowledged as ever closer and concretely observable here and now in the immediate vicinity (“because of global warming today there is no more water in the river and probably this summer will come streamlined”). Therefore, developing psychological closeness starting from concern means understand what is happening and consequently acquire greater awareness a respect, an element capable of favoring deeper and more significant concrete changes.

Eco-Chance Lab therefore aims to raise awareness among people, families, communities and organizations on the issue of sustainability mainly through two channels. On the one hand it offers Team Making and Team Empowerment activities, with the dual objective of developing knowledge on sustainability (direct skills) and enhance the relational components and the dynamics that characterize a work group (indirect skills). These activities are carried out mainly in the Atelier through practical workshops of direct experimentation with reused materials. On the other hand, the objectives are pursued through experiences of immersion in Nature a psychological nature, aimed at promoting the strengthening of resources especially in relation to managing stress, emotions and difficulties. This is to increase your own individual, organizational and community well-being in favor of a better quality of life and greater serenity. The goal is not the application of top-down solutions, but the co- construction of a different approach aimed at promoting feasible and shared solutions for the different reality. A newfound and conscious symbiosis between human beings and the environment can in fact promote both individual and organizational practices of recirculation, reuse and recovery of materials with a view to circular economy, and to promote greater general well-being≫.

The Sand company, with its giant games, will be at Lingotto Fiere into Torino Comics, from 14 to 16 April, inside the Games pavilion dedicated to role-playing, card and board games.

Every day Sand designs and builds elements of communication, furnitures and structures to enhance open spaces, from private gardens to national natural parks; for this faire Sand will make available to the Comics visitors some GIANT GAMES made with recycled wood and processing waste. Traditional and popular games come back revisited in a modern and eco-sustainable key: checkers, jenga, connect four, tic-tac-toe and target shooting with rings.

We are the Qubì cultural association and we’re building a garden on the Dora river: a meeting place, an urban vegetable garden and a cultural reference point for the Lungo Dora area adjacent to Borgo Rossini.

Our project starts from the ideas of sustainability and circularity, passing through our incredible cuisine.

We are in the development phase and this summer we will begin to fill the Lungo Dora area in front of our headquarters (Lungo Dora Firenze – opposite via Parma). We want to collaborate with a reality that helps us calculate the impact, emissions and absorption of CO2 that we will produce with our project!

Are you interested or interested? Write to us at info@qubitorino.it directed to Andrea!

Thank you!

Qubì Staff

Aspire is an incubation programme for anyone with a high social impact idea to develop.
The programme supports aspiring entrepreneurs and social innovators through online training, networking and access to a grant to test their idea. The aim of the programme is also to break down barriers for the most vulnerable groups, for which rewards will be awarded at the evaluation stage.

In 8 weeks, together with other change makers from all over Italy, it will be possible to improve impact design and entrepreneurial skills, consolidate one’s idea and realise it, with the opportunity to access a non-repayable grant of 10,000 euro.

Applications are open until 30 April here.
The Social Tides incubator is managed by Inco and supported by google.org

San Salvario, located in the heart of Turin, has become today one of the coolest districts of the city, representing transformation and change. In this area you can find Vasté Impresa Sociale, the project created with the aim of offering high quality catering linked to Piedmontese tradition but open to innovation.

In this interview by Francesco Antonioli with Marco Valente and Marco Pastori – respectively President and Head of Innovation, Development and Impact of Vasté – we discover how a catering project can have a positive impact on both people and the surrounding environment.

 

 

Watch previous episodes here.

AG 4 Future Food Accelerator is a b2b vertical acceleration program that, through partnerships with the best companies in the sector, investments and the most qualifying mentorship path on a global scale, aims to identify and support the growth of International STARTUPS for the development of innovative, economically sustainable, accessible and efficient solutions and technologies within the ENTIRE INTERNATIONAL AGRI-FOOD CHAIN.

Admission to the program is reserved for 10 highly motivated international startups and teams in the pre-seed phase operating on cutting-edge technologies, with relevant industry experience, a clear roadmap, brilliant execution skills and a TRL> = 6.

Champions selected out of the business accelerator will receive  a convertible grant of 100K € each.

Applications are open. Apply here

This free seminar will cover the fundamentals of how to approach a venture capital fund, how to structure a funding round and how to build a solid partnership with the investor after the investment.

Too often, the fundraising process is approached by founders without the necessary preparation, which makes the communication between start-ups and investors harder while reducing the chances of getting funded. Hence, a better understanding of an investor’s expectation and an improved knowledge of a fund’s investment rationale are essential for an optimal fundraising process.

A special focus of the event will be on deep tech start-ups, which face specific challenges such as technological risk, capital requirements and the need for skilled talent.

The seminar will be presented by Leo Italiano, Senior Consultant at I3P and Program Manager of ESA BIC Turin, and led by Federico Cuppoloni, Senior Associate at Primo Ventures.

How to participate

The event, free of charge, will be held on April 18, 2023 at 17:00 CEST in presence at I3P‘s headquarters – located in Corso Castelfidardo 30/a, 10129 Turin, Italy – in English language.

In order to attend in person, registration is required on Eventbrite.

About the organizers

Primo Ventures is an asset management company specialized in seed and early-stage venture capital investments. The firm is currently managing seven funds across the digital and space investment domains. In particular, Primo Space is focused on start-ups of the New Space Economy, ranging from upstream solutions and downstream applications to enabling technologies such as cybersecurity, advanced materials, additive manufacturing, power systems and robotics. For more information here

ESA BIC Turin supports entrepreneurs and start-ups in transforming their space-related projects into successful enterprises, offering financial incentives, strategic business consulting, scientific and technological support for the development of products and services, and direct access to a wide network of highly qualified industrial, financial and scientific partners. ESA BIC Turin is managed by I3P with the technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation. For more information here

I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, supports the creation and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, founded both by university researchers and students, and by external entrepreneurs, providing strategic consulting services, coaching, mentoring, fundraising support and workspaces.

After a first interview about the Iranian protests, the project Voci | Parole senza barriere (Voices | Words without barriers) by Amapola returns to a dramatic current event: the earthquake in Syria. Alex Moscetta, communication manager of Comunità di Sant’Egidio, an international movement that takes care of the poorest and works for peace, talks about this land and its people. Here is the summary of the video interview.

The project

Voci is a project about stories, people and words without barriers. An initiative which, at the time of the infodemic and extreme background noise, aims to keep attention high on major social issues, giving a voice to the protagonists who experience them up close.

There is an Italian startup committed to spreading impact culture through a sustainable digital, deposit-free reusable packaging service. Their main goal is to eliminate waste in an innovative, affordable and accessible way.

We discover more about this reality with Alberto Garuccio, cofounder and strategist of Around.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

Experimenting with new languages, or adopting old but powerful ones, such as theater, to explain and convey social impact: on March 24 we were at Teatro Gobetti for Biennale Democrazia with “Communities Free to Respond to the Future,” the event curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in which the City of Turin is a partner together with the Turin Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare Benefit Society.

The magic of the Little Prince opened the way for a dialogue on social economy and sustainability, and what is happening in the city on these issues.

Simona De Giorgio and Valeria Vacchiano spoke, with moderation by Nadia Lambiase.
Theater interventions by Antonella Delli Gatti, visual design by Stefano Giorgi.

Review the show here

We turn to students: do you know the study rooms near the Turin universities? They are not the height of beauty, let’s face it… they tend to be overcrowded, hot in summer and chilly in winter. And if instead of sitting among the tables of some “urban” study room we set ourselves to reviewing the last lesson of law or a chapter of contemporary history in the middle of the greenery in a mountain resort?

Let’s imagine that this was more or less the question that the association of Groscavallo, in Val Grande di Lanzo, Al Cicapui asked itself when, after the pandemic, it thought of participating in an Edisu tender to open an affiliated study room with the institution for the right to study. “The institution really liked the idea of ​​an outdoor study room – Chiara Ferraris of Al Cicapui tells us – because we had been told that, after the pandemic, students tended to look for outdoor spaces in which to study. We have participated in the tender in February 2022 and we were also selected for the courage of the initiative”.

The idea is certainly to bring students to the Valli di Lanzo, but not only: “We have decided – continues Chiara – that for this year we will launch a call for foreign students of English mother tongue, in order to be able to organize a summer camp and in Groscavallo Italian students and English-speaking students. It is also an action of inclusion”. From a lawn to a study room, therefore. Where did the idea come from? “By organizing the summer camp for the children here and doing their homework with them – explains Chiara – we saw that in the midst of nature they concentrated better and that they were less distracted, and older kids also arrived with them”.

To tell the truth, the study room has already existed since last year, and already in the summer of 2022 it had been quite successful. And in itself, looking at it, it seems more than inviting: in addition to the tables for studying, there are also spaces for having fun: swimming pool, basketball court and soccer field.

Now, however, the service will be enriched more and more. It will kick off in the summer period, even if the time “contours” are not yet defined. What is certain is that the classroom will also be easily accessible from Turin.  The student will in fact be able to arrive in Ceres by bus and there will find a shuttle to Groscavallo. Furthermore, if he wants to stop for a few days, he can do so by staying in Groscavallo. In short, the project aims to bring people to the mountains, and to take them there by letting them spend quality time, which is productive but also aimed at experiencing the places and territories.

“The main purpose of our association – explains Antonio Convertino of Al Cicapui – is to try to avoid the desertification of the territories where we lived our childhood, and therefore we think that even the idea of ​​letting them live some experiences in safety will allow guys to come back here and get attached to these places”.

(Art. by Francesco Munafò)

The initiative is by the Groscavallo association Al Cicapui, which is setting up a coworking space in Turin.

The name is suggestive: “circular building”. It indicates a process of building tools and spaces from waste materials that are “rescued” from landfills. And this is exactly the goal that the Groscavallo association Al Cicapui has been pursuing for some time, building a coworking space in Turin step by step.

The creation of the space is made possible, among other things, by the partnership with AICS Turin, the project leader body together with other third sector bodies. All together they participated in the tender that the City of Turin published in the framework of the Social Inclusion Plan with the project “Nourishing community for new life-generating trajectories”. Since it was born, Al Cicapui has always been the spokesperson and architect of projects with a view to circular building and, thanks to its internal skills and the network of donor companies, it will support some interventions for the regeneration of interiors in the field of social housing.

Chiara Ferraris, who represents the association, answers us right from the Coworking space in Piazza Vetta d’Italia in Turin, which Al Cicapui manages with two other cooperatives. A constantly moving space, animated by the shapes and colors of the furnishings built by those who will live in that space to work or study. “It is our workhorse – says Chiara – which we care a lot about. Now we are here in Turin, but the idea of ​​furnishing the spaces with reused materials comes from Groscavallo, precisely from the Migliere hamlet”. That is, the hamlet in which the Al Cicapui event was born.

“We had taken over the sports field of the hamlet – continues Chiara – but there was nothing, and therefore we had to furnish it. We didn’t have the funds to furnish everything from top to bottom, and so we decided to try our hand at regenerating the spaces using reused materials”. The idea worked and the space under management gradually took shape, became welcoming and on a human scale. But mind one thing: this is not just a matter of pure and simple recycling of materials destined for landfills.

Behind the furnishing of a space, as urban planning teaches, there is much more: “From the point of view of social housing – explains Chiara – it is certainly important to regenerate spaces, but what really matters is starting a process of education to beauty”.

A process that cannot ignore the involvement of those who will use those furnishings once built. “Making people participate in the construction of the spaces they will live in – explains Chiara – considerably reduces the possibility that the furnishings can be vandalized or mistreated”. In short, vandalism is read as a phenomenon connected to the extraneousness of the spaces that each of us experiences every day. To avoid this, users need to make them their own. And what better way to make them your own than by making them?

Getting your hands dirty, building your own spaces and reusing recycled materials therefore becomes an opportunity to trigger an educational and sustainable process. “We also focus a lot on training – explains Chiara -. For example, the Biosphere cooperative has started an internship in our spaces for an Egyptian boy who is not yet of age”.

The cooperatives, according to Chiara, “have understood that it is much better to teach Italian to young people through an educational and engaging internship, through which the young person can feel part of a creative project, than by sending them to take traditional courses”. We take a tour of the Coworking with Chiara: there are joelettes, chairs, mirrors, works of art and many other objects that furnish the space. All produced with reused materials. “We have a two-year contract with Decathlon which supplies us with the materials – explains Chiara – with which we then make the furnishings and tools”.

For her, it is also a matter of launching a message of awareness, and not just to ordinary citizens. “We would also like to sensitize companies – he says – by showing them that functional and socially useful objects can also be reproduced with waste pieces”.

But the coworking in Piazza Vetta d’Italia is much more. For example, since 2020 Al Cicapui has been holding circular building courses here as part of the Bottega Scuola Piemonte project.

Also within this project is the work of the designer Rebecca Ferrari, graduated from Polito with the thesis “Out-Feel: sensoriality in autism”. Rebecca is responsible for creating self-constructed social furnishings with Decathlon products and end-of-life glass transport.

In planning there is also a study room, always made with waste materials and always inside the Turin Coworking. Here too, the perspective is to combine the need to inhabit spaces with the possibility of starting a path of self-education in beauty and respect for shared places.

For the World Water Day, all of the media dedicated insights to this preciuos and endangered resource. But what do citizens really know? And how muche do they know about who manages the water service?

On March 16 and 17, more than 750 participants from all over Europe will meet at the OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin for the fifth edition of the Cities Forum.

The Forum is a biannual event, organized by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, which will bring together key urban actors, including mayors and representatives of large, medium and small cities to discuss policies, actions and initiatives that will lead to addressing the urban challenges of ecological transition and social inclusion.

The City of Turin was chosen as the venue for the event, among 19 European candidates, due to its long experience in deploying community resources to support urban regeneration and social inclusion processes, as well as the availability of a unique location such as the OGR that emblematically represents Turin’s profound transformation.

Two intense days of work and appointments that will offer high-level debates, participatory sessions and interactive workshops on city cohesion and recovery.

The Forum will offer participants a unique opportunity to network and discuss recent developments in various EU initiatives and policies, as well as to explore the host city through several site visits planned for the morning of March 16, which will take 400 people to discover the sites of major urban transformations in Turin that have been financed over the past 20 years by European funds.

The forum will shine a spotlight on recent developments in key policies and initiatives involving cities, such as the EU Urban Agenda, the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral Cities and the New European Bauhaus applied as a paradigm for inclusive, sustainable and beautiful development.

You can find out the schedule of sessions and following the webstreaming, starting tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. at the following link.

The I3S Project accelerates awareness and skills of Third Sector organisations in driving digital transformation

Are new skills needed to contribute to the digital transformation of the third sector? Apparently so!

Thanks to the I3S project, the Fondazione Piemonte Innova has identified the professional figures, with business and social skills, that are increasingly indispensable for third sector organisations interested in activating a strategic path to increase the digital skills of their organisation, including through the acquisition of young and ‘smart’ figures.

There are ten job descriptions identified by the study, which belong to four areas of specialisation:

• Operations and Service Delivery
• Knowledge & Expertise
• Communication
• Sustainability

Let’s find out what they are:

Operations and Service Delivery

Reverse Mentors

They are young people, possibly digital natives, with a good general command of digital technologies and specifically of the company’s enabling digital tools (PCs, Macs, Office 365, Google Workspaces, MS Teams, etc.).

Work alongside a senior figure with extensive experience, so as to encourage cross-fertilisation during daily work. They help colleagues to make better use of the available tools, gradually modifying work processes and solving the simplest problems, providing services such as proximity IT support.

Innovation Manager

Works as an employee or consultant of the organisation. He/she interfaces with the managers of all the organisation’s sectors in order to identify the innovations considered strategic for the organisation, acknowledging the needs of the reference context and identifying functional development processes to set up the progressive advancement of technological and digital transformation.

The Innovation manager promotes solutions and methodologies that foster cultural change in the company. He initiates paths of transformation in transversal areas, capable of bringing out new perspectives and opportunities for the organisation. He does not merely learn about new technologies, but builds competitive innovation projects that take into account the integration of technologies with other relevant factors: sustainable innovative technological solutions, the organisation’s digital maturity, strategic objectives and constant updating.

UX Designer

He is primarily concerned with designing, drawing and implementing the graphical interface of digital products, such as applications, software, social profiles or websites. His aim is to ensure the best possible user experience: intuitive, easy and accessible.

The UX Designer is concerned with studying the motivations that drive users to use that particular product/service, analysing their expectations and searching for appealing and efficient graphical solutions.

He studies the behaviour, the needs of the users and the objective of the product/service and of the organisation, always using a people-centred design approach (human-centred design), helping to provide products that are functional, with a high level of usability and aesthetically pleasing. In addition to collaborating with engineers to implement the tool, the UX Designer continues to gather feedback on the final product, working on its improvement and continuing to identify new solutions to optimise user experience and user satisfaction.

Service Designer

Expert in the design and improvement of sustainable processes, resources and services. He/she always keeps people’s needs in mind, considering both the end users and the staff and organisation delivering the service.

The service designer must be able to analyse the context in which he intervenes from different points of view, optimising it as a whole. Points of particular attention may be the definition of the touchpoints, both physical and digital, the systems, infrastructures and processes on which the service relies.

He has similar characteristics to those of the UX designer, but intervenes when a long-term strategic vision is needed in projects, and integration with other services and processes. For this reason, it is essential that he can understand the context in a holistic manner.

Knowledge & Expertise

Digital Educators and Psychologists

They are figures with digital knowledge and skills, able to use current technologies in the specific professional activities of Educators and Psychologists such as E-Therapy, E-learning, virtual reality as functional support (education, meditation, etc.).

They know and are able to use technological tools in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation activities of individuals, including fragile targets and communities, and neuromarketing. They understand the dynamics related to social media, video and serious games, digital learning (blended teaching), biofeedback and neurofeedback.

Digital educators and psychologists are experts who are able to use innovative tools and new forms of technology in educational, clinical-therapeutic and rehabilitation settings. They are able to orientate themselves in the digital and social networking world; they have knowledge useful for a new educational setting of e-learning, and therapeutic setting of e-therapy, individual or group.

Researcher Digital / Humanities

A student or doctoral candidate in ‘humanities informatics’, the science that deals with the connection between the humanities and information technology. More precisely, he applies information technologies in the humanities.

Designs and implements basic or applied research activities in order to investigate specific areas of expertise. Conducts systematic and rigorous experimentation of innovations, both in the laboratory and in the field, while advancing the ETSs’ awareness of technology and the quality of their activities. Analyses qualitative-quantitative data and documents activities and results with scientific dissemination and communication activities. Maintains relations and facilitates exchange between experts and academics and the Third Sector.

Communication

Communication, digital relations and social media

Handles the management of social and other communication channels used by the organisation. In particular, it monitors, moderates and responds to audience comments, manages partnerships within social, creates or posts shareable videos and images, sends newsletters, updates the website.

He is also in charge of the overall communication strategy, executing digital marketing and digital fundraising campaigns and collecting and analysing data and results. He also deals with digital communications with volunteers and supporters.

People & Community Manager

Is responsible for managing the organisation’s communities, both online and offline, in order to stimulate dialogue and interactions between the organisation and all its stakeholders, increasing the engagement and satisfaction of volunteers, employees and service users. Has an excellent knowledge of digital communication channels useful to the organisation and identifies the most suitable tools and systems to succeed in creating a comfortable environment of contact and dialogue between all stakeholders.

He manages all aspects of the relationship with staff and volunteers. In particular, it is responsible for recruiting, coordinating and enhancing the value of resources by stimulating and retaining all those who work with the organisation. It plans staff training with a view to increasing the organisation’s skills and culture over the long term, enhancing their abilities, and creating a healthy and pleasant working environment.

Sustainability

Data Analyst for impact assessment

He is in charge of designing and setting up all the tools for the collection of data relevant to the organisation along the different areas, processes and services of the ETS, their correct storage and processing from a strategic perspective in order to extract value from them.

Defines KPIs to measure the organisation’s impact and creates the respective data collection flows useful for the preparation of dashboards and automated reports, useful for the drafting of the social report and to support reporting activities.

It acts in support of all other figures and activities to optimise an effective and efficient processing and correct exploitation of the resulting data and information.

Grant Manager (Planning + Fundraising)

Is responsible for the management and diversification of funding sources, whether from design activities on funded initiatives or from fundraising activities, using all available digital tools to identify the best opportunities for the organisation and maximise the results of such initiatives.

It takes care of the processes that regulate the organisation’s interaction and relations with private and institutional donors, as well as with public administrations of reference for the co-design of services that meet the needs of the relevant territorial communities, supporting the organisation’s mission.

Job profiles

For each of these profiles, Piemonte Innova has drawn up a detailed job profile, which describes the specific skills to be possessed, what ETS needs the profile meets and the degree of social or technological orientation. An indication of the level of seniority to be sought completes the profiles.

The forms have been shared with the representative bodies that are part of the project and can be requested by writing to info@piemonteinnova.it.

What is I3S

The I3S Project promotes digital transformation and the adoption of new business models for the third sector. It is supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and is part of the Tech4Good programme of the Turin Social Impact strategic plan, which also acts as director. It is led by Piemonte Innova, which also coordinates and enables the network of enterprises and experts. It is conceived and realised in collaboration with the representative bodies that adhere to the Social Entrepreneurship Committee: Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte and VOL.TO Volontariato Torino.

Biennale Democrazia, an international event dedicated to spreading the culture of democracy, now in its 8th edition, is back.

This new edition will be structured in three sections: Biennale Democrazia, Democrazia Futura and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare, and a presentation curated by Euricse.

Events curated by the TSI partners

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 – 2:30 P.M.

The New Boundaries of Business Freedom. Between ecology and sustainability
Palazzo Ceriana-Mayeri – Sala Toniolo corso Stati Uniti, 27, Turin
curated by Assoetica

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 5:30 pm
Freedom is participation. The “I decide” project
Vol.To via Giolitti, 21, Turin
curated by Vol.To ETS

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 7 p.m.
Freedom and Community. Open debate
Central Library of the Einaudi University College via Maria Vittoria, 39, Turin
Organized by Renato Einaudi University College of Turin Foundation

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 3:00 p.m.
Expressions of Freedom
Open Incet piazza Teresa Noce, 17, Torino
curated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 4:00 p.m.
Doing Responsible and Sustainable Business. New paradigms of freedom
Fondazione Educatorio della Provvidenza corso Trento, 13, Turin
Organized by Maurizio Maggiora Academy Foundation, LabNet, SAA – School of Management

SATURDAY 25
March 25 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

SUNDAY 26
March 26 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

Various events curated by Arci (with 12 Associations present)

The TSI Ecosystem Events

FRIDAY 24

March 24 – 6 p.m.
Enterprising Communities. New models of participation and local development
Central Civic Library – Conference Room via della Cittadella, 5, Turin
Organized by Euricse

March 24 – 21:00
Teatro Gobetti, curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare

 

Find out more

Read the previous news

20.06.22 / Biennale Democrazia 2023

Biennale Democrazia

Biennale Democrazia, an international event dedicated to spreading the culture of democracy, now in its 8th edition, is back.

This new edition will be structured in three sections: the Biennale Democrazia, Democrazia Futura and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design, and a presentation curated by Euricse.

Events curated by TSI partners.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 – 2:30 P.M.

The New Boundaries of Business Freedom. Between ecology and sustainability
Palazzo Ceriana-Mayeri – Sala Toniolo corso Stati Uniti, 27, Turin
curated by Assoetica

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 5:30 pm
Freedom is participation. The “I decide” project
Vol.To via Giolitti, 21, Turin
curated by Vol.To ETS

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 7 p.m.
Freedom and Community. Open debate
Central Library of the Einaudi University College via Maria Vittoria, 39, Torino
Organized by Renato Einaudi University College of Turin Foundation

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 3:00 p.m.
Expressions of Freedom
Open Incet piazza Teresa Noce, 17, Torino
curated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 4:00 p.m.
Doing Responsible and Sustainable Business. New paradigms of freedom
Fondazione Educatorio della Provvidenza corso Trento, 13, Turin
Organized by Maurizio Maggiora Academy Foundation, LabNet, SAA – School of Management

SATURDAY 25
March 25 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

SUNDAY 26
March 26 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

Various events curated by Arci (with 12 Associations present)

The TSI Ecosystem Events

FRIDAY 24

March 24 – 6 p.m.
Enterprising Communities. New models of participation and local development
Central Civic Library – Conference Room via della Cittadella, 5, Turin
Organized by Euricse

March 24 – 21:00
Teatro Gobetti, curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design

From Wednesday, March 22 to Sunday, March 26, Biennale Democrazia, a cultural event promoted by the City of Turin, conceived and chaired by Gustavo Zagrebelsky, returns to Turin and has been held under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic since 2009. Now in its eighth edition this year, whose title is ‘At the Boundaries of Freedom’, its goal is to return to a reflection on the complex relationship between freedom and democracy, inside and outside the borders of our society. The event welcomes more than one hundred meetings, more than two hundred and twenty Italian and international guests, five exhibitions and the contribution of about one hundred and fifty volunteers. The events will be recorded and made available on the event website every year.

In five days, a reflection starting from four thematic itineraries, four different perspectives to discuss and reason together around the significant issues concerning freedom, to which this year will be added the sections Democrazia Futura, dedicated to young people and schools of all levels, and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and a presentation by Euricse.

Find out more:

Read the next news

Read the previous news 

Biennale Democrazia

 

Coinciding with the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union, leading European players in the social economy are gathering in Gothenburg for a conference highlighting the role of the social economy in creating a stronger and more resilient Europe.

The conference, “Social Economy 2023 – Building a Stronger and Resilient Europe,” has been planned in close collaboration with European experts and stakeholders and will focus on the Social Economy Action Plan and its implementation. It builds on last year’s Strasbourg conference “Social Economy – Future of Europe,” which was included in the official program of the French presidency, and bridges to the equivalent event to be held under the upcoming Spanish presidency in San Sebastian, November 13-14, 2023.

The conference, organized by Coompanion in collaboration with Social Economy Europe, REVES, and CECOP, with support from the Västra Götaland Region, the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, and Fremia, also aims to highlight the state of the social economy in southern and northern Europe, thus providing a basis for the Council’s further work in this area.

For Torino Social Impact will be an opportunity to share the results of the Respondet project, an international consortium funded by COSME under social economy missions, dedicated to implementing local policies for improving the social economy in connection with the circular economy, with a focus on energy communities.

The Respondet project is led by Generalitat Cataluna and accompanied by REVES, which will also organize its annual meeting on the same days in the Swedish city.

Torino Social Impact participated in the first deadline of the Call for Pledges of the European Commission’s Transition Pathway for the Proximity and Social Economy, contributing several projects on stakeholder engagement, digitization of social economy actors, data for good, social procurement and networking.

The co-implementation phase of the EU Transition Pathway for the Proximity and Social Economy Industrial Ecosystem began on November 14 following a co-creation process. Stakeholders were encouraged to submit concrete commitments in the implementation of the dual green and digital ecosystem transition.

The initial deadline for submitting commitments was February 28, 2023. By that date, the European Commission collects and reviews the submitted commitments, although the call will remain open as the collection is done on a rolling basis.

This initiative is part of the updated EU Industrial Policy and the European Social Economy Action Plan. The purpose of the call was to collect pledges from stakeholders on the concrete actions they will take to help implement the shared action areas identified in the transition pathway.

Indeed, this is an important way to demonstrate stakeholders’ willingness to support the goals of this transition pathway and their commitment to work together to support the dual transition of the ecosystem and strengthen its resilience. Commitments will help fill gaps, pool resources to achieve common goals, and mobilize support at all levels.

The commitments collected will contribute to the co-implementation of the Transition Pathway. The Commission will work with stakeholders to support them in implementing their commitments by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and best practices.

All information on how to proceed is available at the following link.

A major European program for social enterprises engaged in paths of innovation and sustainability starts in Turin. EXTENDED TO 21 APRIL 12:00 (CEST)

Info – session on March 7 10 a.m. at link here

As part of the SocialTech for Europe for Resilient and Responsible Ecosystems (SocialTech4EU) project co-funded by the European Union in the framework of Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini Srl SB and Torino Social Impact, who are coordinating it, are launching a call aimed at social enterprises to undertake training pathways, and a call for stakeholders and suppliers interested in working in the social economy sector.

SocialTech4EU aims to strengthen the resilience, innovation, competitiveness and sustainability of the social economy ecosystem, start-ups and small and medium-sized social economy enterprises. As such, it represents the largest support and training program for social enterprises in Europe. The project is co-funded by the European Union under Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery (for more information click here). Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini srl SB is coordinating the SocialTech4EU project together with Torino Social Impact.

The project has published:

1. A call for social enterprises* that provides funds to undertake training in enterprise, digitization and technological and innovative management – deadline: extended to 21 April 12:00 (CEST). For information: click here. Organizations selected in this call will have the opportunity to compete for additional funds in 2023/2024 for:
   • Innovation: up to €20,000 per selected company (up to 20).
   • Acceleration: up to €35,000 for each selected enterprise (up to 10).
2.  An invitation, always open for stakeholders and suppliers interested in working in/for the social economy sector: training and/or research institutions, universities and other institutions of higher education, technology providers, incubators, and accelerators are invited to become part of a stakeholder and supplier register, which selected companies in the project will consult to establish collaborations to support their green and digital transition. For information: click here

 

*Social enterprises as defined by the European Commission, but also start-ups with a social mission/impact-for details on eligible enterprises, see the Guidelines for Proposers.

 

Discover more

SocialTech4EU

21.11.22 / SocialTech4EU: a survey to support European social enterprises kicks off

On the 27th of January, project “Fit4benefit” kicked off. The training and networking path, designed for the Benefit Corporations inside Torino Social Impact, will include 4 meetings dedicated to core issues about sustainability and impact. Amapola hosted the first workshop, regarding Stakeholder Engagement: a primary topic for those who want to create a positive impact on the inner and outer world.

Who are External Stakeholders? Which strategies should we adopt in order to engage them? And how can we involve Internal Stakeholders too? How to strenghten Participation? Which tools can we use? These the main issues discussed during the meeting.

During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to experiment some Facilitating Tools and Tecniques, a Method that helps groups to work together and achieve common targets by activating the Collective Intelligence and turning Conflicts into Enrichment.

Here the video story of the day:

15 ETSs will be able to experience the service provided by the partners of the I3S project with the activation of temporary innovation managers, learning by doing, and mentoring

The new service of accompaniment to the digital transformation and technological innovation of the I3S Project is about to start: on 6 February, the pilot project will begin, allowing the first 15 Third Sector organisations in our territory to bring out new ideas and possibilities for development, digital transformation and social innovation enabled by ICT technologies, starting from their real operational needs.

The ETSs that will participate in this experimentation have been identified among those belonging to the three partner representative bodies of the I3S Project: Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte and VOL.TO Volontariato Torino.

The offer of services is broad and distributed among the actors in the territory, aggregating the already available services provided by the representative bodies and the extended network of the project partners, in particular Piemonte Innova, Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Links Foundation and Legacoop Piemonte.

Advice can be obtained on the organisation of services and the optimisation of processes, systems and people, through to service design and the optimisation of currently active services. Basic literacy workshops and introductions to Office Automation and Microsoft technologies – both more commonly used, such as Office 365, and more sophisticated uses such as Microsoft Power Apps, Power BI, Power Platforms and Azure – are also available. ETSs will be able to make use of mentors on ICT topics and to identify funded opportunities for digital innovation, as well as to carry out assessments on cybersecurity and GDPR. In addition, important support will be provided for recruiting and bringing in young professionals from the digital world or working with thesis and PhD students, who can be useful to the organisation and help it grow in the long term.

This pilot is designed to bring value to the Torino Social Impact network, as it will test a new approach to the digitalisation of the Third Sector. In particular, from the questionnaires collected after the co-design phase, the potential of the project emerges in terms of the framing of the needs and skills required for the start-up of digitalisation paths by the organisations involved, the recognition by the organisations of the internal factors enabling digitalisation, the emergence of specific needs and peculiarities of the sector in terms of technological innovation (e.g. the need for implementation models applicable to the sector, sharing of experiences, tutoring and consultancy, etc.).

The validity of this approach will emerge in the medium term, thanks to an evaluation process from which results and limitations will emerge, providing the ecosystem with an effective digitalisation model.

The I3S project is supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and is part of the Tech4Good programme of the Turin Social Impact strategic plan, which also acts as a director. It is led by Piemonte Innova, which also coordinates and enables the network of enterprises and experts. It is conceived and realised in collaboration with the representative bodies that adhere to the Social Entrepreneurship Committee: Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte and VOL.TO Volontariato Torino.

The fourth meeting of the RESPONDET (Regional Social Economy Policies for sustainable community-Driven Environmental Transition) project, hosted in Turin on Jan. 24 and 25 by Città di Torino e Camera di Commercio di Torino, with Turin Social Impact, which welcomed European delegations from Belgium, Spain and Poland, concludes today.

The project aims to promote local and regional development in order to strengthen the social economy, making common management of resources the main element of social sustainability in the Green transition process, with a focus on circular economy and energy transition issues.

The theme of the fourth mission, “new models of cooperation and governance”, was explored by all project partners through intensive knowledge transfer work, which also included several study visits to the most significant impact economy places in the city, including Casa del Quartiere San Salvario, Via Baltea, Beeozanam, Open Incet, Centro Cultura Ludica “Walter Ferrarotti,” Casa nel Parco – Casa del Quartiere Mirafiori Sud.

In addition, some partners of Torino Social Impact were actively involved in the meeting through a structured networking moment with European stakeholders, offering them a space to compare, stimulate and reflect on social economy practices at the international level, in order to foster the growth of these initiatives in our territory.

Respondet’s partners are:

Generalitat of Catalonia. Business and Labor Department. Catalonia Region (ES) (lead partner), The Confederation of Cooperatives of Catalonia (ES), The European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy (REVES aisbl), Service Public de Wallonie Economie, Emploi, Recherche – Direction de l’économie sociale (BE), Concertation des organisations représentatives de l’économie sociale (ConcertE S) (BE), Malopolska Voivodship/The Regional Centre for Social Policy in Cracow (ROPS) (PL), Città di Torino e Camera di Commercio di Torino.

Read more:

Chamber of Commerce and City of Turin win RESPONDET European Project for Torino Social Impact

First meeting of RESPONDET | Torino Social Impact project partners

The event takes place in the form of a face-to-face meeting with industry stakeholders and entrepreneurs to learn about projects and technologies applied to the creative industry followed by in-depth one-to-one meetings.

B2B Meeting

At the end of the conference all participants will be able to request B2B meetings to learn more about Invitalia’s funding opportunities or get in touch with companies and stakeholders in the sector and activate useful synergies, networking and opportunities for future collaboration.

Participation is free of charge. Agenda and registration on Eventbrite.

Turin, the consortium leader, on Monday 9 January held the first meeting of SocialTech4EU, the project co-funded by the European Union, in the framework of the Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery, which aims to strengthen the resilience, innovation capacity, competitiveness and sustainability of social economy ecosystems, start-ups and SMEs, with a special focus on technology companies.

The meeting defined the modalities by which support will be provided in the coming months to social start-ups that will be selected through a special call for proposals. Grants, vouchers and professional services will be provided.

The consortium is formed by: Torino Social Impact represented by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini (consortium leader, Italy), Alaturi de Voi Romania Foundation (ADV Romania), Coompanion Örebro (Sweden), Silicon Vilstal (Germany), Asociacion investigacion, desarollo e innovacion en Aragon IDIA (Spain), European network of social integration enterprises ENSIE (Belgium/EU).

On 25 November 2022, the focus group ‘Ageing in Place’ proposed by the Turin-based start-up SensoArgento was held at the Circolo del Design in Turin. Led by industrial designer Andrea Strippoli and digital entrepreneur Marcello Chiesa, representatives of the social assistance ecosystem in the Turin area took part in a workshop with the aim of analysing the main issues related to elderly care and identifying possible actions to be implemented to improve the current care offer using digital tools.

There are about 14 million people over the age of 65 living in Italy, many of whom enjoy good health conditions and a good level of autonomy: this age group is becoming increasingly significant due to its growth, which is not compensated by a corresponding increase in the number of under-15s, who have instead decreased by 400,00 since 2010. The 2017 Auser research ‘Domiciliarity and Residential Care’ shows that more and more people prefer to receive care at home rather than turn to facilities. This gave rise to the idea of analysing the current situation in which families live and understanding which problems they have to face, which are solved and which still need to be solved or at least mitigated; most of the services offered in the elderly care landscape are outdated, do not make sufficient use of digital and innovative tools and rely entirely on the direct help of caregivers. Thus, a strong imbalance has arisen between the demand for care by the elderly population, the ability of families to respond on their own, and the supply of care services, generating strong imbalances and situations of severe disadvantage for some of the weaker segments of the population.

Using the classic Design Thinking method of convergence and divergence, the focus group participants first set out everything that came to their minds when talking about the care of an elderly person and then filtered and grouped the problems into 2 macro-areas:

• Emergencies
  Routine problems

Subsequent analysis by the SensoArgento team revealed a further 5 sub-categories into which the issues emerged can be divided (for the full analysis download the attached report):

1. Problems related to physical decay
2. Problems related to mental decay
3. Problems of psychological nature
4. Problems related to maintaining routine and personal well-being
5. Problems of a social nature

Based on the problems collected, possible solutions were generated. Some of these are already present in some form in the area while some are not yet present in the current offer, e.g. the use of video games to alleviate the sense of loneliness in a similar way to some youth groups was proposed, together with the use of augmented reality to make the person relive his or her old home.

Innovative solutions such as these are fertile ground for teams of innovators and disruptors who can leverage their ability to innovate in the technological and social fields. Exploiting the potential of new technologies to solve social problems in order to give added value to the elderly is the goal of SensoArgento, a start-up that was born in Fondazione CRT’s Talenti per l’Impresa project and now seeks to collaborate with local authorities to improve its non-invasive monitoring system.

For more information, visit sensoargento.it or contact marcellochiesa@sensoargento.it.

Here you can download the report

EpiCura, the first digital home care provider in Italy that aims to simplify and innovate the personal care sector, and Young Platform, the Italian fintech platform that simplifies access to the world of cryptocurrencies, are the ex-aequo winners of the “Start-up of the Year I3P” 2022 award, assigned by the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino to the young companies that have most distinguished themselves for their achievements after three years of incubation.

The awards were presented during the annual “Festa delle Startup I3P” event, held in its 23^rd edition, which provided an opportunity to present the case histories, innovative products and services of the 25 new start-ups that joined the incubation program during 2022 and to launch those who have “graduated”, ready to face the market having successfully completed their path of entrepreneurial growth at I3P.

The winning start-ups

Founded in 2017 by Gianluca Manitto and Alessandro Ambrosio initially to offer physiotherapy services, epiCura‘s project later focused on home care, through on-call service, to support the clients for short periods or specific needs, and full service for long periods. EpiCura takes care of the entire placement process, along with the contracts and any in-person replacements, while also providing psychological support to the family of the assisted person. There are more than 70,000 contacts of carers throughout Italy on the platform, and more than 80,000 hours of assistance are provided on average in a month.

Investors are also believing in the project: in 2021, with a major funding round worth a total of €5 million, EpiCura closed its third capital raising operation and reached a total of €11 million. Thanks to these resources, the start-up has been able to work on its strategy to simplify a long-standing industry such as the health and social care sector, which, even today, is not very flexible and responsive to the needs of patients and family caregivers. Finally, in 2022, EpiCura inaugurated its new headquarters in Turin and its first two “epiStores” in Milan and Turin, strategically placed to facilitate contact from potential customers about the services offered and to optimise the recruiting processes of professionals.

Young Platform, founded in 2018, aims to simplify access to the world of cryptocurrencies through a platform of digital products and intense educational activity and awareness of blockchain technology and its applications. Among the top three cryptocurrency trading platforms in Italy with 36% market share, the company had over 1 million users at the end of the first quarter of 2022, 11 times last year’s figures, and aims to become a smart digital bank with a focus on new digital services.

After raising €3.5 million in 2021, in 2022 Young Platform closed a €16 million investment led by Azimut, in which a pool of investors including Banca Sella and United Ventures took part. With the new raised capital, Young Platform intends to support its development plans, which include expanding its team – from 41 units to 110 by the end of 2022 – and expanding into new markets such as Spain and France.

“EpiCura and Young Platform deserve this recognition as they have been able to invent and reinvent themselves over time, also in line with the needs of the market,” commented Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P. “For example, with its solutions epiCura is positioning itself at the centre of the healthcare innovation process, while Young Platform, with its crypto exchange features, is operating in a sector that is constantly evolving and is thus able to address the new generation of investors. At I3P,” Scellato concludes, “we are proud to have supported these start-ups on their path to growth: our goal is to continue to be a point of reference for innovation in Italy, supporting and promoting ideas and projects with high technological potential that work on services with a direct impact on the lives of citizens.”

The festive season, as we know, is a time of great turmoil for businesses and all organisations.
Deadlines, closures and preparation management lead us to have to review our priorities in the run-up to the Christmas break.

It is precisely for this reason that the Cottino Social Impact Campus and the partners of the Impact Prototypes Labs programme have decided to postpone the deadline for applications to 31 January 2023 in order to give companies and all representatives of organisations interested in the route more time to submit their sustainable project ideas.

We believe that the festive season, with the serenity and spirit of change it brings, can be an opportunity for reflection and inspiration for all those who want to make their companies more sustainable.

All information is always available on the dedicated page Impact Prototypes Labs 2022/2023 and it will be possible to arrange a direct, no-obligation interview with one of our tutors by emailing iplabs@cottinoimpact.org no later than Tuesday 24 January.

Find out more about IP Labs

Following the success of the previous editions, the University Course for Professional Advancement (CUAP) “Social Impact Assessment” is back. Pre-registration is open from 5 December 2022 to 13 January 2023.

The course, supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce as part of the Turin Social Impact Strategic Plan, is being delivered by the Department of Management of the University of Turin with the Turin Polytechnic University (members of the Social Entrepreneurship Committee), the Ordine dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili di Torino, the Piccatti Milanese Foundation, Cottino Social Impact Campus, Tiresia, the training organisations of the Centrali Cooperative (Consorzio Il Nodo for Confcooperative Piemonte Nord and Inforcoop Ecipaa Piemonte for Legacoop Piemonte) and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.

CUAP is among the activities proposed by the Centre of Competence for Social Impact Assessment based at the Turin Chamber of Commerce.

The course will start on 6 February 2023 and foresees weekly appointments of 4 hours on Monday afternoons for a total of 40 hours of frontal lessons (the remaining 85 hours are individual and group activities and preparation of project work).

The lessons will be delivered exclusively online, with live teaching. At the end of the course a certificate of competences “Social Impact Assessor” will be issued, after verification of the same and in addition the OPEN BADGE digital certificate issued by Bestr.

The objective of this course is to develop Impact Management strategies and cognitive processes necessary for social impact assessment and NRP-related projects. The CUAP is aimed at organisations and all those who wish to enhance and deepen their knowledge on this topic.

More information on the structure can be found on the relevant page on the Department of Management website > Continuing Education > A.A. Courses 2022-2023 > University Professional Development Course > Social Impact Assessment 4th edition and at the following e-mail address: socialimpact.management@unito.it

Réseau Entreprendre is an international network present in 11 countries and counting more than 14,500 entrepreneurs, socially committed to supporting of new entrepreneurs and the creation of new jobs.

In Piedmont the association is active throughout the region with local sections in Turin, Alessandria, Alba and Cuneo, Biella and Ivrea.

In the last 2022 episode of Bench-Mark, we find out with Lisa Orefice, director of Réseau Entreprendre Piemonte, about the impact of this project on the region.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

Strolling through the Valentino park in Turin, it is difficult not to notice a particular villa that seems to have come straight out of a fairy tale: it is Villino Caprifoglio, the former reading garden of the philanthropist Alberto Geisser built at the end of the 19th century. It is a special place due to its architectural peculiarity, which will now become the headquarters of the “base camp” project of 1 Caffè, the first digital non-profit organisation set up to support small Italian non-profit associations by spreading the culture of the gesture of giving. Among the founders is the Turin actor Luca Argentero.

Francesco Antonioli spoke about it with Silvia Meacci, general manager of 1 Caffè.

 

Watch previous episodes here.

The City of Turin intends to respond to the Call for Proposal European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions (EUI-IA) with a deadline of January 19, 2023 as the lead partner and intends to identify the best project proposals and partnership for the subsequent co-design of the application. It has therefore published a Public Notice to seek partners with whom to participate in the EUI-IA Call.

Project proposals should focus on the theme of rediscovering and revitalizing historic villages in post-industrial cities through concrete and tangible actions and interventions centered on the three core values of the new European Bauhaus: sustainability, inclusiveness and aesthetics.

The objective of the projects should be to contribute to the rediscovery, enhancement and promotion of the historical value of the two Boroughs of the City of Turin, supporting their cultural/economic/artistic/social vocation by integrating local participatory development actions, cultural animation, accompaniment and social innovation and interventions to improve the quality and usability of public space.

Torino Social Impact is a lead partner with Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini of the SocialTech for Europe for Resilient and Responsible Ecosystems (SocialTech4EU) project, co-funded by the European Union, within the framework of the “Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery“.

This project is aimed at strengthening the resilience and innovation capacity, competitiveness, and sustainability of social economy ecosystems and of start-ups and SMEs of the social economy, with a special focus on technology social ventures. As one of the largest European social-venture startup programs, the project will provide them with support in the form of grants, vouchers and professional services.

So, we are sharing a survey that aims to understand the needs and blockers preventing Social Enterprises (SEs) to innovate, making the most of digital transformation, embracing the twin digital & green transition, and becoming more resilient.

Please find the link to the survey here. The deadline is February 28, 2023.

We appreciate how precious your time is and we would like to reward your effort:

• You get an invitation to join a European cluster of Social Enterprises and the European Map of Social Enterprises, so you can connect with other social enterprises across Europe, as well as other stakeholders in the social economy ecosystem (e.g. training and tech providers, incubators/accelerators, Universities;)

• You will get informed when the project will launch the Calls for vouchers/grants described above.

For any questions about the survey or the project SocialTech4EU, please contact info@torinosocialimpact.it

Discover more

SocialTech4EU

14.02.23 / SocialTech4EU seeks businesses and experts for the social economy

Introduction

Agenzia Nazionale Giovani, in collaboration with Ashoka Italia, promoted in 2021 the Gen C: Generation Changemaker call. Torino Social Impact is a partner of the initiative.

The project aims at fostering youth leadership by establishing a community of young people, aged 13 to 25, actors of change (changemakers), supported in this experience by Mentors aged between 25 and 35. The project is supported by a broad partnership of over 50 organisations.

In the second phase of GEN C (May 2022-July 2023) several initiatives will be implemented to promote youth empowerment through 5 pillars of work: engaging, capacity building, ecosystem building, policy-making and storytelling. Within these pillars, some specific initiatives will be carried out. Particularly in the first pillar of work, a new call for young changemakers has been opened and events dedicated to the youth network will be realised.

Objectives of the event

The event has multiple objectives. Specifically:

• Celebrating youth leadership;
• To award the 50 new young changemakers;
• To build an identity of young changemakers;
• To promote the exchange of ideas and projects between young people and partners;
• To guarantee visibility to the most innovative proposals;
• To offer a platform for cultural exchange on GEN C themes (ecological transition, digital transition, transition towards autonomy).

The target audience of the event

More than 100 young people will be involved. Specifically:

• Young changemakers who participated in the GEN C initiatives in phase 1 and the GEN C call phase 2;
• GEN C partners;
• ANG network representatives: EuroPeers, ANG InRadio;
• ANG Beneficiary Association representative.

The theme: DECISIONS

Sirene Kierkegaard: ‘Men are always at a crossroads […]’. 

It is hard to accept the idea that everything we do involves the exclusion of something else.  Start afresh. Even the simplest and most mundane actions like walking while balancing on the edge of a pavement on the way to work, trying to guess what a passer-by is thinking, giving coins to a beggar or smiling at someone, can change us, others and the world.

Even if we don’t notice anything, with every step we take something happens: we are able to INFLUENCE what is around us.

It takes COURAGE to change things. Making decisions forces us to confront Fear: the fear of making a mistake, of choosing a road that is too winding, of not being up to it.  By choosing the path with the fewest obstacles, however, we always prioritise the option with the fewest worries. In this way, our decisions are fixed a priori and we live not only an unfree life but also an uninspiring one.

Today’s volatile and rapidly changing world constantly presents us with new crossroads.  However, the path of change cannot be imposed, it is about one’s own being and one’s own life purpose. Choosing, taking one’s PASSIONS into account, allows one to be an active protagonist of one’s life and to find one’s FREEDOM.

What decisions have we had to make on our path to change? And how can we, as changemakers, make decisions that are fair and forward-looking, for the good of all?

Programme

9h00 – 09h30 – Arrival and registration/accreditation

09h00 – 10h00 – Welcome & Networking

10h00 – 10h30 – Plenary. Institutional greetings and presentation of the day

• Lucia Abbinante – Director General National Agency for Young People
• Federico Mento – Director Ashoka Italy
• Andrea Abodi – Minister for Sport and Youths (TBC)

10h30 – 11h15 – Plenary. Deep connection

In a session dedicated to connecting participants, we will explore the theme of “decisions” through participatory methodologies that will allow participants to discover each other, get to know each other and dialogue in small groups.

11h15 – 11h45 – Coffee break

11h45 – 12h30 – Enabling youth leadership
In dialogue with:

• Alessia De Iulis – International Association for Cooperation and Education in the World;
• Alessia Garofalo – EuroPeers;
• Amaya Vizmanos – Young Changemaker Ashoka Spain; – Ena Peeva – Ang InRadio Networking.

12h30 – 13h30 – Inspiring talks – Young people and adults generating change together

• Davide Mazzanti, Italian volleyball coach and head coach of the Italian women’s national team;
• Susanna Croci – Generation Changemaker;
• Massimo Vallati – Ashoka Fellow.

13h30 – 15h00 – Lunch

15h00 – 16h00 – Plenary. Award ceremony for young changemakers.

16h00 – 17h30 – Parallel sessions. Workshop

In these sessions, the young people will be given the opportunity to take part in panels where different speakers and panelists will guide the participants through specific topics.

The workshops will be led by selected young changemakers

17h30 – 18h00 – The floor is given to the Gen C Partners.

Conclusions

Sloweb Association for 2022 proposes the fourth edition of the Digital Ethics Forum, two days with conference panels and special events to explore some of the most pressing issues concerning ethics in the design, production, distribution and use of digital technologies.

“What to do” is the focus that this edition wants to pursue. A popular, informative and experiential event, during the Forum we will ask what is happening in offices, companies and institutions to understand what is being done to accept, adopt and include digital in an ethical and sustainable way in everyday life.

For this year’s edition we have set up a division of interventions that follows a conceptual scheme whereby the ‘playing field’ of digital ethics involves three main subjects: institutions, companies, citizens. For each subject – which we ideally place in a triangular playing field, in fact – we want to address issues relating to the application of ethics in the digital domain.

We will therefore have three sessions

• the first (23rd afternoon) dedicated to what institutions do/should do, with a special focus on education and health;
• the second (24th morning) on companies, digital or not, including information companies;
• the third (24 afternoon) to citizens, and what is happening around responsible digital consumption

In addition, space has been dedicated to English-language speeches by experts in the field outside the Italian ecosystem to share best practices at an international level.

Last but not least, the Digital Ethics Forum is a free event and this year it has expanded from Turin to Rome as well, as a clear sign of growth.

Programme:

23 November

13-14 “Introductory speech”, Luciano Floridi
14-16:30 “Institutions: regulations and essential services”.

24 November

9-11:30 “Organisations: sustainability, identity, trust and data quality”.
14-16:30 ‘Users: from consumers to responsible citizens’.

For more than twenty years, Progetto Tenda has been working in the Turin area with people in difficulty and at risk of fragility, to strenght autonomy and promote encounters between people of different backgrounds. Understanding diversity is indeed the key to building a more peaceful, more open and fairer society.

With Cristina Avonto and Valentina Melchionda – respectively president and vice-president of the cooperative – we discover why welcoming is a key element of the impact economy.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

Raising capital is key for any start-up. One important aspect of it is certainly choosing the right partners but, on the other hand, it is also key to negotiate terms and conditions in the interest of the founders and shareholders, providing for the right protections and incentives to foster the company’s growth. Clear, effective and balanced commitments by the investors and founders, governance terms, exit rights are very important for the success of the start-up. For this purpose, the legal advisor shall be a proactive partner in the start-up’s growth.

This seminar, organized by ESA BIC Turin in collaboration with RP Legal & Tax, will provide key tips on legal aspects in raising capital such as legal nature of the main documents (term sheet, LOI, investment agreement), due diligence, main important clauses of the term sheet and investment agreement.

The speakers at the webinar will include:

• Marco Gardino, Partner at RP Legal & Tax
• Luca Egitto, Partner at RP Legal & Tax
• Leo Italiano, Program Manager at ESA BIC Turin

The event will be fully held in English language.

How to participate

The event, free of charge, will be held in presence in I3P’s headquarters in Turin, Italy. In order to attend in person, registration is required on Eventbrite.

In compliance with current safety regulations, the seats available in the event venue, I3P’s Sala Agorà, are currently limited to a maximum of 70.

About the organizers

RP Legal & Tax is a full-service law firm, founded in 1949, with over 150 professionals, 6 offices in Italy and partnerships with leading international firms. The firm is proud to offer innovative and valuable legal solutions across 25 practice areas – including one specifically devoted to start-ups and venture capital – through close-knit teams. For more information, visit the official website of RP Legal & Tax.

ESA BIC Turin supports entrepreneurs and start-ups in transforming their space-related projects into successful enterprises, offering financial incentives, strategic business consulting, scientific and technological support for the development of products and services, and direct access to a wide network of highly qualified industrial, financial and scientific partners. ESA BIC Turin is managed by I3P with the technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation. For more information click here.

I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, supports the creation and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, founded both by university researchers and students, and by external entrepreneurs, providing strategic consulting services, coaching, mentoring, fundraising support and spaces. For more information click here.

The Global Social Business Summit kicked off on Monday, November 7, in Turin. For two days in the Centrale della Nuvola Lavazza, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006 and ‘father’ of microcredit, brought together the global social business community for the annual event he founded in 2009, which this year came to Italy for the first time. In front of an audience of around 500 people from 45 countries around the world – including over 300 social entrepreneurs as well as exponents of global politics and economics, managers and scholars, representing about fifty international organisations – this Summit edition laid the foundations of a culture of peace through business to develop a three-zero economy: zero unemployment, zero poverty and zero CO2 emissions.

The day before the Summit started, Muhammad Yunus visited the Sermig Arsenal of Peace, welcomed by its founder Ernesto Olivero. The day at Sermig ended with the appointment “Cultivating a culture of peace with social business” a meeting with Turin’s young people, the 3 Club Zero and the Young Challengers. We talked about it here.

The opening ceremony on November 7 marked the official begin of the 2022 Summit. After the institutional greetings, it was Muhammad Yunus himself, together with Lamiya Morshed, executive director of the Yunus Centre, and Hans Reitz, CEO of The Grameen Creative Lab, who opened the proceedings, articulated through a series of thematic panels. The opening greetings also included a speech by Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Turin Chamber of Commerce, a long-standing promoter of TSI.

The first day’s meetings focused on topics such as energy, food, new financing instruments with social impact, technology, sport, and a focus on the coffee market in view of Agenda 2030, to continue the next day with further discussions on microfinance, social entrepreneurship, green mobility, public health, and circular economy. To access the full programme, and watch panel recordings, click here.

Many TSI’s partners attended the Summit: among them, Links Foundation and PerMicro brought their testimonies to the stage.

Also on November 7, the establishment of a Social Business Research Centre at the University of Turin was announced at the Yunus Social Business Academia Forum. For more details, read the news.

Those were all valuable opportunities to share ideas and results, create connections and learn good practices from the protagonists of local and global social business ecosystems, but also to spread public awareness on these issues, stimulating debate on the need to tackle inequalities in our society and promote the common good.

The Global Social Business Summit – which so far has been hosted in various countries around the world, from Mexico to Austria, from Malaysia to France, from Germany to Kenya – is promoted by The Grameen Creative Lab and the Yunus Centre, with the organisational support of the Italian tech media company TMP Group spa, which proposed Turin as the location. A choice that rewards an internationally recognised model in the social business sector also thanks to the work carried out in the area by Torino Social Impact, partner of the event together with the Turin Chamber of Commerce, City of Turin, Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, Sermig, Tourism Turin and Province, University of Turin, Talent Garden and other Italian and international players such as Quid, Neoma Business School x KPMG, H-Farm, Circ, Az.imut. To these are added, in the role of sponsor, the Lavazza Group, which played a leading role in the event as well as hosting it, and the initiative’s historical partners: BNP Paribas, present with a large delegation also involving the Italian structure of its subsidiary BNL, and the organisations of the network created by Professor Yunus Friends of Social Business, Yunus Sports Hub, Yunus Environment Hub, YY Ventures.

THE ‘YUNUS SOCIAL BUSINESS RESEARCH CENTRE’ IN TURIN

The Social Business Research Centre of the University of Turin will soon be established. The announcement on Monday 7 November 2022, on the occasion of the Yunus Social Business Academia Forum held in the Aula Magna of the ‘Luigi Einaudi’ Campus. Five University Departments are involved in the establishment process: Economics and Statistics “Cognetti de Martiis”, Culture, Politics and Society, Economic-Social Sciences and Mathematics, Law and Management and the School of Business Administration (SAA). The planning phase is now open to define the objectives and topics of interest of the Turin centre, which will have the function of enhancing and coordinating the many research and public engagement activities in the field of ethical finance and sustainable economy.

“The willingness of researchers to set up a Social Business Research Centre in our University is a novelty that makes the entire academic community proud,” says Rector Stefano Geuna. “The centre will be part of the prestigious network established by Professor Muhammad Yunus, whom I sincerely thank for this extraordinary opportunity and for his presence at the University of Turin. We are grateful to Professor Yunus because with his studies he showed a way and then, with his work, opened up new perspectives in the field of social enterprise and ethical finance.
The birth of this centre represents a concrete opportunity for growth, both for the University and its strategic activities, and for our territory. I am convinced that we are thus actively investing in a new business culture, to trace new development trajectories that our city and our region deeply need”.

Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC)

A Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC) is a hub for social business in universities around the world, following the principles of Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. YSBCs are created in collaboration through an agreement between the Yunus Centre and the university with the aim of spreading the concept and practice of social business among university students and researchers. YSBCs conduct research, teaching, academic programme and curriculum development, action research, and knowledge-sharing events in social business such as competitions, workshops and seminars, among others. YSBCs also find new and innovative means to expand the concept of social business among students and researchers and also outside the university, in the community and in the region.

The event occurred on the occasion of the Global Business Summit 2022.

Vasté impresa sociale is glad to announce the opening of its new restaurant, the Vasté Bistrò San Salvario. 

Vasté Bistrò San Salvario is a relaxing and familiar place, where you can have breakfast with croissants and cakes of our production, enjoy a delicious lunch break or have a snack with our homemade ice creams and other surprises for young and old.

The official opening will take place next Friday 11 November in via Berthollet 13, in the new venue born from the commitment to the local area and to the people of Vasté Impresa Sociale and the social cooperative Progetto Tenda.

It will be an opportunity to try the delicacies of our menu, which combines our two gastronomic souls, Piedmont and the world. You will find many different dishes, including appetizers and first courses, and homemade desserts, without forgetting our craft beverage.

An opportunity to meet and get to know each other, and celebrate together the birth of our new bistrot in San Salvario, a place that welcomes everyone, always open to the cultures of the world.

The event will start from 17.00 until 22

“I Breathe Poetry” is the capsule collection of VANNI sunglasses designed by artist Catalin Pislaru- winner of the VANNI #artistroom prize at Artissima 2021. A collection of exploratory eyewear, drawing from the visual universe of the young Moldovan artist. The bi-dimensionality of a design on canvas meets the tri-dimensionality of a pair of glasses, united by a taste for courageous colours pairing.

An international jury judged his work capable of offering an original perspective on reality, and on eyewear design. And so it is: Catalin conceptualises a pair of shield sunglasses, in unisex and women’s models, constructed with layers of coloured acetate—just like his paintings, stratifications of symbols and colour on wood or aluminum.

“The project “I breathe poetry” is the metaphorical synthesis of every project that I’ve undertaken. As far back as when I was a student at the Academy in Monaco, I had written that phrase with a marker on the door of the studio: for me it was a motto to follow, and even today it continues to be a reference point for my research.

Collaborating with designers for an eyewear project has been incredibly enjoyable; I’ve had the opportunity to learn much about the world of design, as compared to the art world. I decided to design sunglasses for their introverted nature, because they hide the eyes, the gaze, intended for a young audience, belonging to a rebellious musical subculture like Trap, or hip-hop.”

The collection “I Breathe Poetry” is created entirely in Italy, in a limited series of 200 pieces, available on VANNI Showroom in Turin or online

THE VANNI #ARTISTROOM PRIZE

Alessandra Girardi, promoter of the prize, recounts: “The VANNI #artistroom prize at Artissima will complete its second edition in 2022. It was born with the intention of exploring the possible contaminations between the genius of contemporary art and eyewear design, and awards the winning artist, apart from a cash prize, the opportunity to inspire a capsule collection of auteur eyewear. It is an occasion for us to bring new stimuli into the eyewear sector, letting creativity flow with a process that is more typical of art, but which we then bring into the industrial framework of design to render it replicable. We’ve been keeping an eye on the art world for over 15 years, with interest and curiosity: in 2019 VANNI opened its collaboration with Artissima, the contemporary art fair in Turin, completing its first capsule collection of auteur eyewear with Christian Chironi.”

The capsule collection and the exhibition by artist Catalin Pislaru can be visited at the VANNI showroom from 5 November to 3 December 2022.

What are the needs related to the care of the elderly? What opportunities for innovative solutions on issues that affect us all?

On Friday 25 November from 4.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. IST partner SensoArgento proposes a guided Focus Group activity with the aim of collecting feedback, ideas and suggestions expressed by a heterogeneous group of individuals from the world of elderly care.

The group will be invited to freely and spontaneously discuss a selection of useful and significant vertical issues for the improvement of home care for the elderly. The ideas generated by the discussion will then be translated into concrete actions to help families in need.

Led by industrial designer Andrea Strippoli and digital entrepreneur Marcello Chiesa, each of the discussion tables will highlight the main issues in elderly care and collaboratively propose solutions.

Each table will consist of families, caregivers, doctors and entrepreneurs.

The Focus Group will take place in the premises of the Circolo del Design, Via S. Francesco da Paola 17, Turin.

Let’s do something concrete for our future and that of our loved ones: let’s participate in the realisation of a new vision and new solutions for the third age by sharing experiences!

PARTICIPATE

From 24 October to 6 November kicks off the first edition of Diffusissima, the off-site event of Torino Art Week that brings contemporary art to city spaces, involving people in events, workshops and vernissages throughout the territory.

With the support of the City of Turin, the Chamber of Commerce and Torino Social Impact, Diffusissima is the offspring of Artàporter, the matching platform between artists and businesses, and makes its objective to rethink the commonplaces of art, imagining a new way of experiencing it. Far from being just another contemporary art fair, it is a project that takes works and emerging artists out of the canonical places and into the ordinary places, understood as those frequented every day by people to meet them in their daily lives, giving anyone the chance to fall in love with a work of art and take it home immediately, whether it is on the wall of a bar or in a hotel lobby.

A new map for the Turin of art

Bringing art outside museums and art galleries also means creating new inclusive and unusual tourist routes, following in the wake of the MAUs, which involve above all a young tourism that, according to data for 2021, spends twice as much as the flows to which Turin is accustomed.

Finding your way is easy, with the map in digital and paper format that allows you to find your way around the numerous hosts and events. More than 100 commercial activities (hosts) are involved in the exhibition of 100 emerging artists, while 25 venues have been chosen for events and vernissages.

Some prestigious locations are important touch points, venues for events involving internationally renowned artists, such as debates, exhibitions and concerts. The Super Hosts of Diffusissima 2022 are the Porto Urbano (Murazzi del Po), Otium Pea Club in Lingotto, Pos.to and Wellness Creative in Pozzo Strada, the Innovative Square Center in Mirafiori and Open Baladin in Piazzale Valdo Fusi.

The inauguration of Diffusissima was held on 24 October at Eataly with guests Andrea Concas, who presented his NFT project, and Alvin with his new art projects, including Artoy, on a day when Catawiki representatives also discussed the current situation of online art, together with new start-ups in the art field.

Not just partners, but co-creators

Alongside Artàporter’s historical partners, such as Baladin and Lefranc Bourgeois, the auction house Catawiki joins Diffusissima by launching two thematic auctions, one of which is offline for the first time: simply scan the QR code next to the work on display to enter the site and place your bid.

Driatec and Affini are also joining Diffusissima, along with Distillerie Subalpine, which has launched a Call for Artist with Artàporter to create the new Turin Dry Gin label.

Call for Artist

For the occasion, several Call for Artists were launched in collaboration with Knowhere Studios and Lefranc Bourgeois in the fields of photography and painting to allow new artists to exhibit at the first edition of Diffusissima. In addition, Artàporter has activated a Funding Pitch on Patreon and the fees collected will allow emerging artists to receive scholarships to participate in master classes and finance artistic residencies to develop their creative projects.

The Diffusissima programme and map are available here.

After a successful online edition in 2020, this year the international space hackathon ActInSpace® is back in more than 70 cities around the world, including Turin, Italy. The event will be hosted on November 18^th and 19^th, 2022 by I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, in collaboration with the global organizers: the French Space Agency (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Operational execution will be supervised by ESA BIC Sud France, led by Aerospace Valley.

ActInSpace is a global innovation contest uniting space enthusiasts across 5 continents. Designed for students but open to everyone, ActInSpace aims to cultivate new entrepreneurial initiatives: participating teams will have 24 hours to imagine and design innovative services and products derived from space technologies and data. Local juries of experts and professionals from the space industry will then select the best projects, which will be awarded in local competitions and brought to compete in the international finals, which will take place in France in February, 2023.

The local event in Turin – the only Italian host city for this edition of ActInSpace – will be held in presence at the I3P headquarters within the Campus of Politecnico di Torino. The event will welcome all participants at its venue on Friday, November 18^th, from 2:00 to 2:30 PM CET. After introduction and team composition, the hackathon will start at 4:00 PM and participants will have 24 hours to work in groups on their projects, with assistance and useful advice from local mentors. During the event, the “space hackers” will also have the chance to get in touch with ESA BIC Turin, the incubation program managed by I3P with the scientific and technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation, who offers funding opportunities and a wide range of business and technical services to boost the development of space start-ups.

In fact, ActInSpace is a marathon of creativity and innovation created to foster entrepreneurship in the space sector, especially among young people, where participants from a diverse range of backgrounds and with expertise in a variety of fields collaborate in small teams to take up one of more than 20 challenges set up by CNES, ESA and their international partners. The challenges are divided in four main categories: “Be a new space player”, “Business in everyday life”, “Space for Earth and humanity” and one new theme for 2022 “Fly to the moon and beyond”. Notably, ActInSpace proposes challenges based on either CNES or ESA patents, or on data supplied by event partners such as Pléiades, Copernicus, EGNOS, Galileo. The initiative aims to consolidate the vibrant image of the space sector, and to show how space technologies are supporting applications that reach into all areas of our daily lives.

The final part of the hackathon will take place on the afternoon of Saturday 19^th. The teams will pitch their projects to the local jury to win one of the local prizes offered by event sponsors. The best teams from each host city will then access the worldwide finals, and compete for several global prizes – for instance, a parabolic flight aboard a Zero-G Airbus A310.

Participation in ActInSpace is free of cost and open to all those who would like to try their hand at an innovative space-related project: students, developers, engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, logistics experts, marketers and communicators can all register to take part in the hackathon. Registrations to Turin’s local event are already underway, with limited places available: application forms must be filled out on the official ActInSpace international website.

“We are honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate with CNES, ESA and Aerospace Valley for the latest edition of ActInSpace, a Europe-born hackathon now spread all over the world. We’re especially proud to host this special event since it is aimed at fostering entrepreneurship in the space sector, a mission which is fully shared by the ESA BIC Turin incubation program”, said Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P and Coordinator of ESA BIC Turin. “Mentors and consultants from our Incubator are more than ready to meet the teams and to assist them in shaping their innovative projects using current space technology and space-acquired data to develop what could become the core idea for a new successful start-up.”

The winning artists of the TSI Art Award will exhibit their works at Artissima from 4 to 6 November and will be the protagonists of a moment of dialogue between art and social innovation, in collaboration with La Stampa.

Talk at the Artissima Meeting Point
Saturday 5 November, 6:30 pm

The social impact of art
Turin through the eyes of artists

Speakers:

• Federico Pozuelo and Natália Trejbalová, winning artists
• Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini, founders of the art project Treti Galaxie and tutors of the third edition of the prize
• Guido Bolatto, Secretary General, Turin Chamber of Commerce
• Francesca Gambetta, Head of Mission Creating Attractiveness, Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation

Moderator: Cesare Martinetti, journalist, La Stampa

A potential ally and driver of social innovation, art can offer unexpected visions capable of breaking down stereotyped social constructions, giving a voice even to those who risk being excluded from contemporary production systems.

For the third year, Artissima and Torino Social Impact are promoting the Torino Social Impact Art Award in collaboration with Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, a project that aims to foster emerging talents from multicultural and migrant backgrounds. Focusing on the space that multiculturalism has in today’s society, the award aims to propose new relationships and open up unexpected scenarios through the languages and gaze of the winning artists. Also important is the role of the Turin Chamber of Commerce, promoter of Torino Social Impact, which has always supported Artissima, of which it is co-owner.

The two winners of the third edition of the competition – Federico Pozuelo (Madrid, 1992) and Natália Trejbalová (Košice, Slovakia, 1989) – were selected by the “Torino Social Impact Art Award” Committee composed of Luigi Fassi, director of Artissima, Mario Calderini, Politecnico di Milano and Spokesperson for Torino Social Impact, Alberto Anfossi secretary general of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, president of Fondazione ICA Milano, Ilda Curti, president of Associazione IUR Innovazione Urbana Rigenerazione, Matteo Bergamini, editor-in-chief of Exibart, and Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini, founders of the art project Treti Galaxie and tutors of the third edition of the award.

From 27 June to 27 July, the two artists were hosted in the Piedmontese capital at Combo to create two video works inspired by the theme of the 2022 call for entries, Rebellions and Rebirths: the creative potential of confrontation: an invitation to reflect on the theme of social conflict in its various manifestations and latent forms; a tangible and concrete phenomenon that has always found in art a peaceful means of expression, but at the same time one with a strong potential for denunciation. Guided and supported by Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini, the two artists recounted through their works the contemporary society of Turin as emblematic of a country in transformation, confronting their own multifaceted and unprecedented points of view with the stimulating context of the city and its most significant cultural and social expressions.

The videos produced during the residency period will be presented at Artissima 2022 in a dedicated space.

Federico Pozuelo presents a film project that aims to investigate the different historical narratives of Northern Italy, through the language of detective and horror, focusing on Turin, from the 1970s to today.

Natália Trejbalová investigates the network of underground spaces, time capsules and archives of human and non-human traces, in a journey through a parallel world to discover the hidden face of Turin.

The talk The social impact of art starts with an analysis of how art is able to provide tools and physical spaces for questioning the social urgencies of the contemporary world, and broadens its gaze to other tools that can produce social innovation. More information here.

On November 7 and 8, the Global Social Business Summit, promoted by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and of which Torino Social Impact is a partner, will take place in Turin.

Before launching the Summit, on the of 6th November, Prof. Yunus will visit Sermig with the Yunus and Grameen delegation from Bangladesh and the social businesses. He will have a special conversation with the young people of Turin and the 3Zero Club, the global network of young changemakers created by Prof. Yunus with the vision of creating a world of 3 zero (zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration for ending poverty and zero unemployment by unleashing entrepreneurship in all) starting from one simple power: the power of youth!

The dialogue is co-organized by The Grameen Creative Lab and Sermig- Arsenale della Pace.

Register for the event here.

The full capacity of the Auditorium will be of 250 seats . A streaming possibility will be offered in the Sala del Dialogo as well (400 seated places).

Dai Senso al Profitto – Give meaning to profit, is the Bocconi’s project created to stimulate students whom are studying management to deepen the topic of social impact for a different business model.

In this context, Pasquale and Alessandro, enrolled in Bocconi, are part of the FLY University Project Team for two months. While with us they will develop the first sustainability report of the non-profit organization and will support fundraising and communication activities.

For more information on the students click here
For more information on the project click here

Turin is the custodian of great and small hidden treasures: among them, the courtyard of Palazzo Costa Carrù della Trinità, home since 2019 of the Circolo del Design.

After an initial start-up phase lasting four years, the CDD is now a point of reference for designers and companies that want to design on and for the territory.

We discover more about this reality with Sara Fortunati, director of the Circolo del Design.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

The Global Social Business Summit is the annual gathering of the social business community around Nobel Laureate Prof. Yunus.

Would you like to be a part of THE GATHERING of the social business community and help us organize it? The Grameen Creative Lab, organizer of the event, is looking for volunteers!

By becoming a volunteer at the Global Social Business Summit 2022,  you will play a key role in supporting the organization of the conference and you will have at the same time the opportunity to join the Summit and interact with thought leaders and professionals from the social business ecosystem and hear about impact best practices from around the world.

What we offer:

• A basic conference ticket for free and will be able to interact with the social business community
• Meals are provided on all days
• A certificate signed by Prof. Yunus for having supported the organization of the GSBS that can be used for your professional purposes
• No economic compensation will be given

What is required:

• You will have to be in Turin from the 5^th -9^th November 2022.
• Before the event some onboarding calls will be organized from the 20^th October
• You can take care of accommodation and travel expenses on your own.
• You have a good knowledge of English to interact with guests and the team
• You have a passion for social impact topics and are motivated to join a fast-pace working environment

Candidates already in Turin will be preferred due to logistic matters, but we are open to explore candidates that want to go the extra mile and join us in Turin.

If you are interested in volunteering fill in this form with your brief profile (CV), language skills, availability in Turin and your motivation.

We hope to see you in Turin and can’t wait to meet you!

Find out more about GSBS 2022:

• The GSB is looking for volunteers for the Summit in Turin
• Website
• Tickets