On September 25, 2026, at the headquarters of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts of Turin, Professionals for the Social Economy 2030 was presented: the first innovative integrated training pathway accredited by the Professional Orders involved and developed within the OP4Impact Community of Practice, with the aim of building new skills and approaches to support the social economy and local development.

Feeding the future of a territory means bringing together skills and developing new responses for the social economy. This was the vision behind the event “Social Economy: Feeding the Future with New Integrated Visions”, organised as part of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026, with the aim of reflecting on future perspectives capable of connecting the economy, sustainability, communities and the common good, starting from the Torino 2030 Metropolitan Social Economy Plan.

The event was organised within the OP4Impact – Professional Orders for Impact Community of Practice, created by Torino Social Impact and developed with Cottino Social Impact Campus. Supported by the Torino Chamber of Commerce, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and the four Professional Orders, for the past three years the project has brought together accountants, notaries, lawyers and labour consultants to develop new integrated skills and responses to social challenges.

The event was opened by Salvatore Regalbuto, President of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts of Turin — the Professional Order that hosted the event — who highlighted the need for an integrated approach capable of connecting different dimensions, from the social economy to sustainability.

Starting precisely from the concept of sustainability, Paolo Di Croce, General Director of Fondazione Slow Food ETS, recalled how Carlo Petrini, who passed away in 2025, had understood well in advance the need to move beyond a purely economic interpretation of phenomena and to consider the ability to concretely change people’s lives as a fundamental indicator of impact.

This approach was also shared by Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Torino Chamber of Commerce, who recalled the Chamber’s commitment to connecting different worlds, with particular reference to the experience of Torino Social Impact and the work of OP4Impact.

Serena Milano, Director of Slow Food Italia, then brought the discussion back to biodiversity, stressing that change cannot be limited to superficial interventions but must address the deeper structures of the development model. Biodiversity is one of the resources through which we can respond to current transformations and build solutions for future generations.

The reflection continued with Silvio Barbero, Member of the Executive Committee of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, who stressed the need to question current economic models. This requires rethinking the hierarchy of values, moving beyond a vision in which profit is the only parameter and placing the economic, social and environmental dimensions on an equal footing.

The Role of Professionals in Complexity

Caterina Soldi (Cottino Social Impact Campus), OP4Impact Coordinator and moderator of the event, highlighted the value of dialogue as the ability to create synergies by enhancing different areas of expertise and building intersections between professional disciplines. This is the perspective underpinning the work of Communities of Practice, which are called upon to create and structure new integrated skills at the service of social economy actors and the ecosystems in which they generate value.

As she explained, “the OP4Impact Community of Practice aims to be a space where we can transform the way we think and act together with other professionals, through an integrated approach capable of responding to the needs of social economy actors, according to a generative rather than extractive logic.” OP4Impact is no longer simply a community: it is increasingly becoming a competence centre capable and willing to provide responses to support the evolution of governance and strategic and operational models.

Starting from this mission, Davide Barberis (Order of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts of Turin) reflected on the relationship between people, resources and governance, highlighting the need for professionals to develop a vision capable of supporting organisations over time. Impact measurement, he observed, should not become an end in itself, but should be integrated into decision-making and project design from the outset.

Luigi Gili, Turin Bar Association, also focused on the transformation of the professional role, particularly in light of digitalisation and its growing complexity. In today’s context, professionalism increasingly involves discernment, critical thinking and interpretation. These functions carry significant social value and require continuous training capable of integrating technical expertise and culture within a collaborative approach.

Gabriele Gili (Notarial Council of the United Districts of Turin and Pinerolo) highlighted the value of networks and multidisciplinarity: bringing together different areas of expertise does not mean giving up the specific characteristics of individual professions, but making them complementary in order to generate value that no single area of expertise could produce on its own. Networks therefore become an operational necessity as well as a value, particularly in working with Third Sector organisations.

Finally, Luca Furfaro (Fondazione Studi dei Consulenti del Lavoro di Torino) highlighted the need to look beyond numbers, learning to interpret them and understand what lies behind data and regulations: people, families and communities. Demographic transformations, changes in welfare, work-life balance and the persistence of phenomena such as exploitation all demonstrate the social dimension of professional work and the need for Professional Orders to act as drivers of change.

Professionals for the Social Economy 2030: Six Seminars to Build New Skills

It is from this collective vision that the Professionals for the Social Economy 2030 project was created, with the aim of contributing to a cultural and systemic transformation of the role of professionals and strengthening the ability of Professional Orders to support social economy organisations in processes of growth, innovation and impact generation.

The pathway, accredited by the Professional Orders, will take place across different venues and will begin on October 27, 2026 at the headquarters of the Notarial Council of the United Districts of Turin and Pinerolo, with a first session dedicated to Governance & Partnerships.

The other topics at the heart of the training pathway will be:

• Social Procurement | November 20, 2026
• Social Impact Finance | January 26, 2027
• Skills, Young People and Development | March 23, 2027
• Social and Labour Inclusion | June 9, 2027
• Innovation, Networks and Digital Transformation | September 23, 2027

The project represents a genuine innovation in interprofessional collaboration and consolidates the positioning of OP4Impact as a true Competence Centre and a point of reference at both territorial and national level.

For more information on the programme and how to register for the “Professionals for the Social Economy 2030” training pathway, please consult the following document.