On 5 February, the first session of the Community of Practice dedicated to Benefit Corporations took place. The initiative was promoted by Torino Social Impact and organised in collaboration with Unione Industriali Torino, co-designed with the Benefit Corporations Amapola, BDFL Torino S.T.P. SRL, Futura Law Firm and Mercato Circolare, and supported by the Camera di commercio di Torino and the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.

Now in its third edition — and the first Community of Practice launched by Torino Social Impact — the initiative brought together 27 participants from the TSI ecosystem and Unione Industriali, including Benefit Corporations and companies interested in understanding the model and its long-term operational implications.

The theoretical session provided an overview of the Benefit Corporation model, with particular attention to common benefit objectives and their integration into the Impact Report. Participants explored how these objectives may evolve over time in line with organisational growth and strategic development.

The second part of the session engaged organisations in a guided workshop on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on defining the objectives to be included in the Impact Report.

The regulatory and cultural framework of Benefit Corporations

During the meeting, Emanuela De Sabato (Futura Law Firm) retraced the origins of the model in Italy, introduced through the 2016 Stability Law, which expanded companies’ corporate purpose to include common benefit goals alongside profit-making objectives.

Being a Benefit Corporation does not mean carrying out philanthropic activities. Rather, it entails pursuing profit in a responsible and transparent manner, systematically assessing impact on stakeholders and committing to reduce negative effects while amplifying positive ones.

It was emphasised that the Impact Report is a legal requirement, approved by the board of directors and attached to the company’s financial statements. The Benefit model requires a cultural and organisational shift capable of translating values into concrete practices.

Testimonials: from formal compliance to substantive commitment

The experiences shared by participating organisations offered different operational perspectives.

GreenMar, through the testimony of Emanuela Barreri, highlighted the challenge of translating the statutory Benefit purpose into concrete practice, noting that many SMEs still perceive the model more as a regulatory obligation than as a strategic lever.

Va Lentino, represented by Umberto Ascheri, described a process of integrating common benefit objectives into a five-year strategic plan grounded in a theory of change approach, with actions focused on space regeneration, social inclusion and cultural innovation.

The testimonial session concluded with a guided analysis of a Benefit corporate purpose to identify critical issues and opportunities for improvement.

A practical workshop to define objectives for the Impact Report

The final part of the meeting was dedicated to a hands-on workshop. Organisations were divided into three working groups, each assigned the profile of a Benefit Corporation with statutory purposes inspired by the SDGs.

Starting from these profiles, participants analysed the statutory provisions to identify concrete annual common benefit objectives to be included in the Impact Report, discussing strategic coherence, measurability and operational feasibility.

The activity fostered an exchange of perspectives and tools, highlighting both the challenges and the opportunities involved in translating statutory commitments into actions and results that can be monitored over time.