There is time until February 28th to participate the Circular4Recovery call launched by Marzotto Venture Accelerator to select, reward and support business projects focused on developing innovative technologies, solutions and services with a low environmental and social impact in 5 Key Focus Areas of the Circular Economy.

Challenges
The Five Key Focus Areas identified by the Call are:

• Circular Bioeconomy
  Enhancement of agro-food waste, new models of sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
• Circular Water Economy
  Treatment and valorisation of wastewater, smart water and wastewater management systems.
• Circular Energy Economy
  Energy transition, smart energy management systems, sustainable and circular materials management models in the energy supply chain.
• New Circular Life Cycles
  Circular and sustainable solutions, technologies, and processes in the plastics and WEEE supply chains management.
• Circular City & Land
  New integrated and circular approaches and models for the sustainable development of cities and rural/inland areas.

Awards
Twenty projects, distributed among the 5 Key Focus Areas, will be selected by the MVA Acceleration Team to participate in a Pre-Acceleration Program, lasting up to 12 weeks.
At the conclusion of the Pre-Acceleration Program, up to 10 projects will be selected to be included in the next phase of the Acceleration Program, lasting between 12 and 24 weeks.

Pre-Acceleration Program

• credits for each selected Project – up to a maximum of Euro 25,000 – to be used for technological and entrepreneurial empowerment services, provided by the Organizers and the Corporate Partners network, within a maximum overall cap for all winning projects of Euro 500,000,00;
• dedicated physical spaces in the Phygiwork S.p.A. Business Centers located in the territory of the Municipality of Rome.

Acceleration Program

• credits for each selected Project – up to a maximum of Euro 70,000 – to be used for technological and entrepreneurial empowerment services, provided by the Organizers and the Corporate Partners concerned, within a maximum overall cap for all projects eligible for the acceleration phase of Euro 700,000,00;
• equity, quasi-equity, forms of guarantee and co-guarantee on medium-long-term debts, to be used in co-investment with third-party resources, within the limits of a maximum overall plafond made available by MVA and the Corporate Partners concerned, amounting to Euro 10,000,000.00;
• dedicated physical spaces in the Phygiwork S.p.A. Business Centers located in the territory of the Municipality of Rome.

For more information: circular4recovery@marzottoventure.com

“Working online together, in the new normal”, a training opportunity organized by Scuola Capitale Sociale in collaboration with Avventura Urbana Srl, Genius Loci, Florence School of Dialogue and MAGESCO, the new Master in Consensus building and mediation of the University of Florence and University of Turin.

Starting on March 2nd, the course focuses on how to cooperate and learn from each other while working in online groups, as well as in real sessions, improving relationships and producing results. The course will be held by Gerardo de Luzenberger, professor of participatory project management at the University of Trento and organizer of #FACILITA, the Italian facilitators conference; and Iolanda Romano, expert in deliberative processes and public consensus building and mediation, former government commissioner for the Terzo Valico railway line.

Course enrollment ends on February 22^nd. For further information, please write to: segreteria@scuolacapitalesociale.it.

The photographic exhibition #impresecheresistono – Artisans vs Covid-19, the lockdown in Turin in April 2020 – Faces and stories of an Italy that does not give up, is set up in the spaces of Collegio Artigianelli, in corso Palestro 14. The initiative promoted by Cna Torino, and supported by the Turin Chamber of commerce, wants to be a message of positivity for the Made in Italy and the young artisans of the future.

30 shots, taken by Virgilio Ardy, illustrate the faces and the suspended spaces of laboratories, offices and working environments of as many artisans and entrepreneurs from Turin in the difficult weeks between April and May 2020. Men and women who, despite everything, did not give up and reopened their activities, after the forced hiatus, with greater determination than before.

The #imprecheresistono project also includes the creation of a docu-film to be released in May, shot partly in the company’s locations, partly in the Artigianelli theater, Le Musichall.

The photographic exhibition will be open until the end of May 2021 with free admission.

Here’s the first edition of 2021 of the Mercato della biodiversità Googreen organised by Giardino Forbito. Like every second Sunday of the month, the Sambuy Gardens come back to life and become a perfect city oasis where we can celebrate the beauty of nature and the goodness of our local products.

• From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Googreen producers selected by Giardino Forbito will be back, as always, to represent seasonal excellence.
• At the “spazio delle idee”, set up with ivy thanks to the Vivai Giani, Marzia Gullino, entrepreneur and creative farmer, will bring her garlands to life, teaching us how to weave willow branches into hearts to give or hang on our doors.
• Anna Fantini will introduce us to BanAnna Kitchen, her food delivery project active from November 2020, and will contribute to the #cifailaspesa fundraiser with the sale of her picnics.
• The Amado Association will propose love poems to the public, silently read by Silent Book Torino and street artists supported by Arthecity will animate our gardens.
• at 3 pm we’ll meet Tobees. The musical project conceived by Marna Fumarola, violinist and beekeeper, Alessio Mosti, electronic composer and Azzurra Fragale, director and sound designer, to develop soundtracks for biodiversity.
• The lowered shutters of the Sambuy gazebo will remain to support the small but precious exhibition curated by Giardino forbito and created by the students of class 5E of the Liceo Regina Margherita in Turin for the “FAI parlare la città” project.

Perfect clothes to support a job interview, but used.

A second hand fashion available to those who are about to face an interview and do not have the right dress.

This is the simple idea at the base of the new initiative called “A tool locker” launched by ABITO, a project of clothes exchange and inclusion activities to fight poverty and promote integration, promoted by the Associazione San Vincenzo de Paoli.

“In this delicate economic context, in which so many people are looking for a new job – tell Elisa Valenti and Giorgio Ceste, coordinators of the ABITO project – we asked ourselves how we could give our contribution with a project that combines our social vocation with our values of sustainability”.

This is how the idea of “A tool locker” was born, an initiative in which sharing and giving are not only acts of care for others, but are also tools to reduce our environmental impact, putting in circulation those clothes that often lie unused and almost new in our closets, but which can be precious for those about to be interviewed. ABITO, in fact, is a model of self-sufficient circular economy able to collect 1.5 tons of clothes per month and support over 700 people in need per year.

For all these people, “A tool locker” wants to be the wish that many job offers, a closet full of possibilities, come in this period of great changes.

But “A tool locker” is just one of the many activities of this vibrant project based in Turin, via Santa Maria 6/i: since its inception in 2019, ABITO has opened a social clothing emporium and started a tailoring workshop for migrant women that regenerates damaged clothing.

ABITO is part of the 15 regenerative welfare projects of Torino Social Factory, the measure of the Programma Operativo Nazionale Città Metropolitane 2014-2020 (PON Metro Torino), promoted by the City of Torino and implemented as part of Torino Social Impact.

The 10th edition of FOUNDAMENTA, the acceleration program for social impact startups by SocialFare, has ended!

Selected through the call FOUNDAMENTA#10, the teams of JoJolly, Freedome, and Aqura/Mosaic have completed the path and presented themselves to the network of investors during a fully online event.

The event was introduced by the panel “IMPACT MAKING. Investing in social impact enterprises: national and international scenarios” moderated by Laura Orestano, CEO of SocialFare, with guests:

• Vincenzo Durante (Head of Employment Area Invitalia)
• Giovanni Ravina (Chief innovation officer of Engie Eps)
• Sertac Yeltekin (Fund Manager of ZingForce, Singapore)

Here is what the presented startups are all about:

• JoJolly [SocialTech] counteracts undeclared work and tax evasion in the restaurant sector – whose peaks of work are particularly subject to periodic fluctuations – through a platform that simplifies the management of “extra” human resources by facilitating and incentivizing the stipulation of regular contracts even in the case of occasional services.
• Freedome [Sustainable Tourism] enhances the Italian naturalistic heritage by aggregating and promoting quality outdoor sports and recreational activities, offering support and market access opportunities to small local operators who work in close contact and in positive synergy with their own territory.
• Aqura [EdTech] has created MOSAIC, a kit of smart objects designed to promote school inclusion for children with disabilities with a focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder, through a proposal that combines in an innovative way technological objects with training methods designed ad hoc.

In the meantime, the analysis of the 186 applications received for the FOUNDAMENTA#11 call is proceeding: in spring the names of the teams selected to access the next edition of the acceleration program will be known.

Info: https://socialfare.org/foundamenta/ 

DRC Italia offers a Project Coordinator position in the Turin office.

DRC as an employer

By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees in 40 countries. We pride ourselves on our:

• Professionalism, impact & expertise
• Humanitarian approach & the work we do
• Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution
• Culture, values & strong leadership
• Fair compensation & continuous development

DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please visit drc.ngo/about-us/job-and-career/support-for-job-seekers.

APPLY FOR POSITION

DRC Italia reports an open position within the Turin offices.

Programme Coordinator – Maternity Cover

DRC as an employer
By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees in 40 countries. We pride ourselves on our:

• Professionalism, impact & expertise
• Humanitarian approach & the work we do
• Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution
• Culture, values & strong leadership
• Fair compensation & continuous development

DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please visit drc.ngo/about-us/job-and-career/support-for-job-seekers.

APPLY FOR POSITION

Context elements

Since last March, society has suddenly found itself in a new context marked by prolonged social distancing. This condition has put a double emphasis on those places that act as civic and cultural principals spread throughout the territory, both those present and active for years and those born in recent times. We are talking about New Cultural Centers, Independent Cultural Centers and Civic Aggregation Centers. All of these realities will assume a primary role in the process of re-initiating relationships of proximity, but they are still paying a very high price and are under stress both in financial terms (today) and in terms of organizational model (tomorrow) because in all likelihood they will have to reinvent the dynamics of operation and economic sustainability.

These spaces represent the response to collective needs not always considered and often absent from policies; those who manage them and the communities that form around these realities activate citizens and contribute to welfare and well-being, helping to counter growing inequalities and cooperate in mending social cohesion.

For this reason, in April 2020 the Culture Objective of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation proposed “Rincontriamoci”, an emergency call for proposals to support all those centers created by the autonomous initiative of individuals or associations that play a role of territorial protection, present in the cities, provinces and inland areas of the Northwest. A total of 1.5 million euros was thus allocated to 147 centers in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta.

The analysis conducted on the data collected, developed thanks to the contribution of the cheFare Association, reveals a panorama with great potential, not without new lifeblood in terms of innovation, with a recognizable civic, social and cultural role, characterized by different models of microeconomics and sometimes of non-profit enterprise. A sector, however, not yet well defined and not treated in a systemic way by specific policies, despite the fact that these spaces generate social value with a strong impact. Managers make significant investments in activities of public utility, often in favor of real estate assets owned by local or state administrations, but with the closure dictated by the regulations to contain the epidemic, the damage is falling on individuals and communities.

For these reasons, the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation has decided to continue supporting this sector by inaugurating a three-year program that places these structures at the center of the Participation Mission of the Culture Objective.

Aims and objectives

The call is aimed at SPACES (i.e., permanently organized physical places), open to citizens with a constant frequency, managed or co-managed by entities eligible for grants from the Compagnia (see paragraph “Eligible entities”) that function as cultural and civic centers dedicated to a specific area or community and therefore characterized by a strong relationship with those who frequent them; spaces of cultural and social inclusion, multifunctional, possibly open to spontaneous and informal use by the inhabitants of the area, managed according to criteria of economic sustainability and interested in strengthening it.

With the call SPACE the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation wants to financially support the spaces and contribute to the strengthening of management models and skills of the managers and co-managers of the principals also through training and consulting.

The call aims to identify:

1. the spaces that already represent an innovative and functioning model of the sector;
2. spaces that show potential and on which an investment can generate a sustainable social impact over time.

The Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, in collaboration with the Snam Foundation, launches a call for social innovators to find scalable and sustainable solutions with which to tackle energy poverty.

Energy poverty represents a major challenge for society.
It has economic and environmental repercussions that require a transversal approach to promote innovative and sustainable solutions, in order to generate a broad social impact as quickly as possible.

This is why the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation has decided to launch this call, born from the collaboration with the Snam Foundation, with the technical contribution of the Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino I3P and the scientific contribution of Ashoka Italia. In fact, the Inclusive Energy call promotes an approach to energy poverty that intends to involve social innovators in order to find solutions – also with entrepreneurial potential – capable of generating a broad and widespread change at the system level.

Background

Energy poverty is defined as a situation in which a household or individual is unable to afford adequate energy services to ensure a decent standard of living, such as heating, cooling and lighting. The cause can be a combination of low income, poor energy efficiency in the home, high energy costs and low awareness.

Several factors affect energy poverty. These include climate change, which influences household energy demand. It should also be remembered that the phenomenon can take two forms: overt energy poverty, when families are unable to meet their energy bills, and hidden poverty, when, despite managing to pay their bills, families find themselves having to opt for a self-reduction in consumption.

This problem, according to the indicator adopted by the Italian government in 2017, afflicts 8.8% of Italian households.

However, energy consumption is not only determined by the technical characteristics of appliances and the energy performance of homes but also depends on the way people consume energy.
For this reason, in addition to structural actions for the energy efficiency of buildings, it is necessary to promote actions of behavioral change and energy innovation, disseminating information on energy saving, good practices and more sustainable consumption patterns.

The proposed intervention

It is to meet this challenge that Accelerare l’Innovazione and Proteggere l’Ambiente Missions of Obiettivo Pianeta have designed the Inclusive Energy Call.
A call that aims to identify, select, support and accompany innovative and creative solutions with the potential to scale their impact, promoted by social innovators throughout the country to combat energy poverty. Initiatives aimed at a paradigm shift in addressing the phenomenon, combining scalable and environmentally sustainable innovations.

Participation

Fifteen finalists will be selected and will benefit from a personalized and specialized accompaniment process, managed by I3P, which will make use of Snam‘s corporate expertise and that of other subjects, with the aim of implementing a development strategy to broaden the impact of the project.

At the end of the accompaniment process, the winners will be selected from the finalists (maximum 5 projects) who will receive an economic contribution (from 10,000 € to 50,000 €) to support their project, in addition to the value of the specialized accompaniment.

The projects

Projects may be implemented throughout the country and must address one or more of the following areas:

• Training and awareness
• Energy Efficiency
• Measurement systems
• Energy consulting
• Mapping
• Behavioural change
• New financing models
• Skills and job development
• Cross-sector collaboration

Explore

Description

It offers a multi-disciplinary basic knowledge on social impact.
The aim of the module is to enable you  to develop an Impact Vision,
a theoretical-practical horizon to structure your own path towards social impact actions.

The module deepens experiences and practices of those who have undertaken a track oriented to the construction and promotion of impact culture in their organization, practice and transformative motivation.

How it works

• 3 online sessions
• Finale collaborative workshop + testimonials in one full day at the Campus.

For whom

For those who realize that a new world vision should be explored first in its diversity, richness and complexity: explore, in order to understand and learn new languages, tools and practices. For those who want to acquire basic knowledge to introduce social impact in their own personal and professional realty.

Goals and methods

The aim of the module is to offer a widespread and extensive knowledge of the impact ecosystem: from the definitions of social entrepreneurship to the typical social innovator’s mindset. Learning methods are manifold: lectures, group discussions, national and international case studies, and a final collaborative workshop for identifying your Impact Vision.

Learning Journey With:

Description

Impactware is the original, systemic and multidisciplinary program dedicated to social impact designed by Cottino Social Impact Campus. Just like a software is the set of languages and logical components enabling the functioning of a machine, Impactware is the set of concepts, tools and languages enabling individuals and organizations to design and build a (new) world oriented towards social impact.

Impactware is made of 4 modules, with clear and well-defined objectives:

EXPLORE: Build your Impact Vision
It offers a multi-disciplinary basic knowledge on social impact. The aim of the module is to enable you to develop an Impact Vision, a theoretical-practical horizon to structure your own path towards social impact actions.

UNDERSTAND: From Impact Vision to Impact Goals
It is devoted to realizing the Impact Vision in a personal and organizational goal through the acquisition of specific tools: from the Theory of Change (ToC) and design thinking to social impact management and evaluation, in order to define your own Impact Goal.

DEFINE: From Impact Goals to Impact Action
It is the advanced module to design your own impact action, making it effective and participated.
It combines both theoretical and structural phases to define your own impact action.

CHALLENGE: From Impact Action to Impact Transformation
This is the space for individual and organizational transformation, where you will be exposed to disruptive impact experiences which will drive you to make your action tangible in the world and in society.

How it works

• Full Program: 4 modules
• Single modules: Explore, Understand, Define, Challenge
• Customizable journey: ad hoc editions for your organization

For whom

Impactware is held twice a year. The Spring edition is dedicated to young professionals, neo-entrepreneurs and start-up funders; the Autumn edition is for entrepreneurs, senior managers in various company functions (CSR, Change Management, Strategy, HR), both from the profit and nonprofit world.

For those who want to play a role in creating a new vision of the world.
For leading organizations from theory to practice through the identification of a social impact path.

Turin, February 1, 2020 – Wiseair is a project created by 5 young engineers of the Politecnico di Milano with the mission to allow citizens to access clear and transparent information about air quality and through this information promote a new attitude aimed at bringing clean air in our cities.

The secret ingredient of the project is Arianne, a balcony pot that monitors the concentration of particulate matter in the air. Starting from the data provided by the Arianne housed on the balconies of the so-called Ambassadors, all citizens can learn about the air quality in their neighborhood via App, stimulating the birth of communities of aware citizens who can lead the change.

After deploying a network of over 100 sensors in the city of Milan, Wiseair has launched a new community project dedicated to the city of Turin. The first 20 Arianne sensors were distributed free of charge by selecting the citizens of Turin who most closely reflected the values and spirit of the project. After more than 1000 applications received, the Ambassadors have been selected and the sensors have been installed on their balconies!

Currently, therefore, the first network of 20 sensors is widely distributed in the Piedmontese capital and all citizens can access the data collected in real-time. To know the air quality in Turin just download the application Wiseair directly from the store. Starting from the data collected by the city sensors, the application is able to show the air quality in every point of the city, also showing the daily, monthly, and yearly historical trend.

The project doesn’t stop there. The goal is to use this information to create a conscious movement, helping the administration in addressing the problem of pollution. The community is gathered on the Facebook group ITALIA ARIA PULITA | Wiseair community, which today counts several thousand citizens and two large subgroups, Milano Aria Pulita and Torino Aria Pulita, the two cities that first joined the Wiseair project.

The Torino Aria Pulita project has been supported by many local realities that are giving their support, including Comitato Torino Respira, Bike Pride, and Dott. This is the beginning of a collaborative project that has the ambition to address the issue of pollution in a concrete and active way. Starting directly from the civic spirit of the citizens themselves.

For more information about the Torino Aria Pulita project and the startup Wiseair: www.wiseair.vision/community

The second edition of the university course for professional development (Cuap) “Social Impact Assessment” – supported by the Turin Chamber of commerce and realized within the framework of the Turin Social Impact Strategic Plan – is now underway. The university course, organized by the Department of Management of the University of Turin with the Polytechnic University of Turin (members of the Social Entrepreneurship Committee), the Piccatti Milanese Foundation, Cottino Social Impact Campus, Tiresia, the training bodies of the Cooperative Centres (Consorzio Il Nodo for Confcooperative Piemonte Nord and Inforcoop Ecipaa Piemonte for Legacoop Piemonte), and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, has seen a boom in enrolments. “We are delighted – comments Professor Paolo Biancone, scientific director of the course -: the high number of enrolments shows that the topics addressed are of interest to the territory.

The CUAP is one of the proposals put forward by the Competence Center for Social Impact Measurement, based at the Turin Chamber of commerce and available to all public and private, profit and non-profit organizations in the area.

The aim of the course is to learn social impact assessment methodologies in line with the Chamber of commerce‘s Social Entrepreneurship Committee Guidelines.

Through a hybrid and highly innovative teaching approach, the CUAP blends theoretical and practical guidelines to identify impact management strategies and measure them. A final business case completes the sharing of learning among participants. The course deals with social impact assessment as applied to projects for accessing European, national or local funding, and extensive local, sporting, cultural and conference events. It starts from the assumption that every event or every systemic action brings about a change that can be measured and assessed with specific techniques, mastered by impact assessors.

The novelty of this edition is the completely online formula. Given the current pandemic situation, the entire course has been designed remotely, also taking the opportunity to bring the culture of impact assessment beyond the borders of Turin with nationwide dissemination.

At the end of the course, it will be possible to obtain certification, issued by Cepas, a third-party certification body, and registration in the national register of Impact Assessors.

“We are very satisfied – comments Professor Paolo Biancone, scientific director of the course – the high number of registrations shows that the issues addressed are of interest to the territory. The first edition had certified 84 impact evaluators. The novelty of this edition is the completely online formula. Given the current pandemic situation, the entire course has been designed remotely, taking the opportunity to bring the culture of impact assessment beyond the borders of Turin with a national spread”.

“The Cuap is one of the proposals put forward by the Competence Center for Social Impact Measurement and is available to all public and private, profit and non-profit organizations in the area,” says Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Turin Chamber of Commerce, headquarters of the Center. “We are creating a center to strengthen evaluation culture and practices through guidance, methodological support, training, updating and alignment with international methodologies”.