For 15 years, the Fabermeeting in Turin has been bringing together young digital creatives from all over Italy and companies in the sector. Through co-designing content, it explores all possibilities for collaboration, which often turn into employment, as well as addressing the new social and cultural needs anticipated by this particular sector.

Giving a voice to companies and young individuals who make things happen, as its name suggests, the Fabermeeting has anticipated many of the themes that have become mainstream in recent years: from machine learning to web 2.0, from mobility technologies to blockchain, from crowdfunding to making, and from virtual reality to gaming.

This year, 50 young individuals under 35 from all over Italy will participate in the Fabermeeting, having developed 35 works selected by 60 partner companies through a call that closed last July.

The program, co-designed with partners over 9 months, includes 16 closed-door workshops, 6 working groups, 6 talks, and is rich in moments open to the public, including the presentation of winning works and a Keynote speech by Matteo Rostagno, one of Italy’s most important creative directors in Extended Realities (XR), a term referring to all combined real and virtual environments and human-machine interactions generated by information technology. Two discussions: “Designing for the Silver Wave: the potential of the Silver Economy on the UX of the future“, bringing together major national players on inclusive design, and “City in Transition: the empowerment of creative communities and their Social Impact“, addressing the social impact of the so-called “creative class,” featuring experiences such as Turin Stratosferica and Graphic Days, with Paolo Venturi, Stefano Mirti, and Fabrizio Ghisio.

However, the themes proposed by Fabermeeting partner companies, which this year officially opened up to third-sector companies interested in creativity and innovation, are many. In the workshops, there is innovative and generative marketing proposed in various ways by Zandegù, Merakyn, and So Simple; there’s data to be interpreted with Top-IX and told with Bianco Tangerine, but also a new way of designing with Domino, Francesco Bombardi, and Fablab Turin; the new variations of AI with Eggers and Valentino Megali, and game thinking by Synestesia, as well as the productive experience of a successful series, such as that of Zero Calcare, told by those behind the scenes.

At the working tables, the world of digital creativity looks in the mirror without reservation, addressing challenging topics such as gender issues, work organization, and forms of precariousness. Above all, it aims to emancipate itself from the image of a para-artistic bohème, which has become a symbol of the new “knowledge work” and, as such, itself generates new social needs, attempting to address these through discussions on social innovation and impact.

Registration is mandatory through this link.

The Fabermeeting is curated by Carlo Boccazzi Varotto and organized by Weco with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, as part of Turin Social Impact.

The program of events open to the public:

• Friday, November 17, 3:00 PM-4:00 PM | Keynote speech – Matteo Rostagno
• Friday, November 17, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM | Designing for the Silver Wave: the potential of the Silver Economy on the UX of the future with Chiara Fissore and Francesco Milanesio (Triple Sense Reply), Andrea Gaiardo (Stellantis, Hackability), Andrea di Salvo (Polytechnic University of Turin), Stefano Moro (City of Turin).
• Saturday, November 18, 12:00 PM-1:30 PM | Presentation of winning Faber works – Session I
• Saturday, November 18, 3:00 PM-4:30 PM | Presentation of winning Faber works – Session II
• Saturday, November 18, 4:30 PM-5:45 PM | City in Transition: the empowerment of Creative Communities and their Social Impact with Paolo Venturi (AICCON), Laura Martini (TurinStratoferica), Fabrizio Ghisio (Confcooperative Piemonte Nord), Stefano Mirti (Fondazione Milano), Fabio Guida (Graphic Days)
• Saturday, November 18, 6:00 PM-6:30 PM | Awards, mentions, and special prizes.

As part of the initiative InnoSocialMetro, the Metropolitan City of Turin has launched a call for micro and small enterprises with social innovation projects in need of financial suport.

The measure InnoSocialMetro, a combination of training and financial support, aims to increase the ability of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem to generate through its for profit activity, socially desirable impacts.

The Call, with availbe resources of around 1.200.000 €, will provides two independent forms of financial support:

• an interest subsidy, in the face of a bank loan subscribed by the enterprise to finance the project,
• a grant, to repay 50% of the amount invested by the enterprise in the project.

The beneficiaries will be micro and small enterprises of the Turin metropolitan area that, after having completed the training, will be able to present and implement a project with a definable and measurable social impact.

The micro and small enterprises interested in the program must contact one of the trainer providers selected by the Metropolitan City, whose list can be found at the following link.

The Metropolitan City chose wide social challenges that it wants to target, in order to encourage the evolution toward a more resilient, sustainable and fair economic model. That’s why the projects that will be admitted to the financing scheme will have to have positive repercussions on the commuity, relating in particular to one of the following challenges:

1. Employment preservation an job creation, especially through the inclusion of vulnerable individuals and disadvantaged groups;
2. Environment protection, improvement of the environmental sustainability of business activities, particularly through decarbonization, reuse and use of recycled materials, products and by-products from production cycles as an alternative to virgin raw materials, reduction of waste production, ecodesign, reduction of plastic use and replacement of plastics with alternative materials, support for green and digital transition processes;
3. Urban regeneration, restoration of facilities, promotion of new local economies;
4. Sustainable tourism, preservation and enhancement of historical and cultural heritage, trades and local productions;
5. Well-being and quality of life of communities, improved access to public services including through digital tools.

The call is available on Finpiemonte‘s website, at this link.

Listening Event: Metropolitan Forum

November 10, 2023, from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Location: Metropolitan City

The Metropolitan City of Turin invites the entire community to participate in the public listening event for the purpose of the participatory process aimed at defining the new Metropolitan Strategic Plan (MSP) 2024-2026.

The objective of the event is to initiate collective reflection to define a shared framework of the current state of affairs and the needs that the new planning must address. In particular, the event aims to begin with a discussion of what has been achieved with the MSP 21-23 and subsequently reflect on the new needs that the upcoming planning should address.

As the Guidelines for the 2024-2026 planning document, approved by the Metropolitan Council, confirm the overall structure of the current Plan, the event will be structured by dividing the audience into six thematic tables related to the Strategic Axes of the MSP: Axis 1 (Digitalization, Innovation, Competitiveness, and Culture), Axis 2 (Green Revolution and Ecological Transition), Axis 3 (Sustainable Mobility), Axis 4 (Education and Research), Axis 5 (Inclusion and Cohesion, Attractiveness), Axis 6 (Health). The discussion sessions will be facilitated by experts who will report the results of the discussions to the plenary session.

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Instructions for Participation in the Event

To participate in the discussion and dialogue, attendance in person is required. In this regard, it is necessary to fill out the registration form at the following link. The event will take place at the headquarters of the Metropolitan City, at 7 Corso Inghilterra. Please arrive on time.

Listening to the Plenary via Zoom

For those who cannot attend in person, there will be an option to remotely listen to the plenary introduction to the proceedings and the feedback from the discussion sessions. In this case as well, it is necessary to fill out the registration form at the following link.

Once your registration is confirmed, a unique link for accessing the conference will be sent to the email address provided in the form. To effectively participate in the event, it is recommended to connect via a PC/Mac using the latest version of the Zoom platform, which can be downloaded from the platform’s website. Upon access, you will be asked to authorize the platform to use the camera and microphone.

Torino Social Impact, in collaboration with the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Cottino Social Impact Campus, and in partnership with API Torino and Unione Industriali Turin, has conceived the event ‘The Benefit Company Model for Generating Social Impact‘: Monday, November 27th at 4:30 PM at the Cottino Social Impact Campus, located at Corso Castelfidardo 30/A, Turin.

This event provides a moment of reflection and discussion on the benefit model, catering to those actively involved and those interested in delving into current studies and engaging in a productive dialogue with the benefit groups of Torino Social Impact, API Torino, and Unione Industriali Torino to draw inspiration from their experiences.

Program:

16:30 – Introductory Greetings

• Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce of Turin

16:35 – Territorial Experiences in Comparison

• Grace De Girolamo, Communication Manager at Torino Social Impact in dialogue with Micol Burighel (Amapola), Emanuela De Sabato (Futura Law Firm), Federica Fugiglando (FL20 Studio), Andrea Toso (Synesthesia)
• Pierangelo Decisi, Coordinator of the Benefit-ESG Group at API Turin
• Marco Piccolo, Vice President of Small Industry at the Industrial Union of Turin with a focus on Sustainability

17:30 – Being a Benefit Company Today: Scenario, Profiles, and Skills

• Mario Calderini, Spokesperson for Torino Social Impact, Scientific Advisor at Cottino Social Impact Campus, Professor at the School of Management, Polytechnic University of Milan
• Nicoletta Alessi, Co-founder of Goodpoint SB
• Caterina Soldi, Development & Program Manager at Cottino Social Impact Campus

The event is organized to conclude the networking and training journey of the Community of Practice of Benefit Corporations of Torino Social Impact, a project made possible thanks to the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Torino and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.

This event is aimed at the local Benefit Corporations and companies interested in embarking on this path. Seats are limited, so registration is required on Eventbrite.

Autumn has arrived, and the city is shrouded in a distinctly noir atmosphere as the mist makes its appearance – the perfect setting for the return of Dora Nera, the city of Turin’s Festival of Noir, Mystery, and Crime.

For three days, from November 10th to the 12th, there will be roundtable discussions, readings, musical performances, and film screenings. All of this will take place in the baroque and spectacular setting of the Oratorio San Filippo Neri, just a stone’s throw from the Egyptian Museum.

The festival’s program is, as always, very diverse: many guests, debates, screenings, and presentation moments, spanning from literature to art, from music to comics.

Among the numerous events, there is the meeting with a great Italian film director, Enzo Castellari, and the screening of “La polizia incrimina, la legge assolve” fifty years after its release.

This year, there will be a suspense-focused lecture by the renowned Davide Longo, sponsored by the Astra Onoranze Funebri Cooperative, because “We love suspense, but we know how it ends…“.

During the Career Award presentation to Carlo Lucarelli, sponsored by Aurora Penne, you can watch the film “Lupo Mannaro” (2000) in the presence of Carlo Lucarelli and Gigio Alberti. You can also toast with Italian noir writers while tasting cocktails offered by Zoppi Distillery.

Once again, music will take the spotlight on Saturday evening of the Festival with “Black Is Black” Pop narration by Maurizio Blatto, with music by Valeria Sturba. The “dark” songs that take on a noir quality in terms of lyrics and anecdotes. From “Man in Black” Johnny Cash’s “San Quentin” to Kurt Cobain’s rendition of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” passing through “Black Is The Colour Of My True Love’s Hair” enriched by Nina Simone, and many more songs and musicians.

Discover the complete program and reserve your spot for free HERE.

See you in Turin at the Oratorio San Filippo Neri auditorium, Via Maria Vittoria 5, for the 3rd edition of the festival.

May the #noir be with you!

HR FOR IMPACT: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. The leading role of human resources.

Innovate people management strategies

In this Conversation Meeting we will talk with Laura Zanfrini, Scientific Director of the Cottino Social Impact Campus pillar and Istud Business School “DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” and Full Professor at the Catholic University of Milan, Caterina Soldi, Development & Program Manager Cottino Social Impact Campus and some guest companies committed to supporting the values ​​of diversity, equity and inclusion through the adoption of business processes, organizational structures and management initiatives: including AB Holding Spa, AIDP Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta and Reale Mutua Assicurazioni.

When? Tuesday 7 November
At what time? 12.00 – 13.00
Where? Live on LinkedIn ISTUD social media and on the ISTUD Business School and Cottino Social Impact Campus websites

To participate you must register HERE by Monday 6 November:

Torino Social Impact is now part of Diesis, one of the widest networks specialised in supporting social and solidarity economy and social enterprises, covering more than 20 countries through major national federations and support networks associating over 90,000 organisations and 1.2 million jobs.

More info here

Within the Torino Social Impact ecosystem, there is an innovative project striving for a more sustainable future through the disposal and recovery of electronic components: RaeEvolution Piemonte, founded by Giuseppe Curci in 2022.

But what is the secret behind this revolutionary project? Let’s find out with this young entrepreneur who has joined TSI to share his ideas for the good of the environment and to build a greener future for all.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

The SAA School of Management and the Consulta per la Persone in Difficoltà are organizing an event titled “Management and Disability: Perspectives and Future Scenarios.”

This conference, held under the auspices of the Disability Agenda, will take place on December 5th starting at 5:00 PM and will feature the participation of representatives from the business world and institutions.

Together, we will discuss equal opportunities, diversity, and inclusion with the aim of collectively building a new corporate social responsibility, embracing differences, and fostering innovation.

Due to limited capacity, registration is required via the following form.

On Thursday, September 26, the first training event titled “Social Enterprise: How to Strengthen Market Presence” was held at the Beeozanam Community Hub, as part of the Buy Social for the Social Economy project.

The European project Buy Social was launched in May 2023 with the mission of enhancing commercial collaborations between social enterprises and traditional businesses to improve the market for products and services of social enterprises.

The first training was aimed at 10 partner organizations of Torino Social Impact, with a total of 21 participants, including social enterprises and social cooperatives (according to the definition of the European Commission), as well as start-ups and benefit corporations with a social mission/impact, engaged in the circular economy with experiences related to textile recycling, fashion, or eco-design.

After the greetings from Torino Social Impact and the Consorzio Nazionale CGM, the morning began with a presentation by Daniele Consoletti, an expert in contracts, privacy, and compliance, focused on “Contractual Matters for Social Enterprises and Cooperatives.” Subsequently, Alberto Baccari delved into the topic “Market Approach Strategy,” drawing on his decades of experience as an entrepreneur and an expert in sustainable innovation, business design, and digital transformation.

In the afternoon, the presentation “Effective Communication: A Brief Guide” followed, delivered by experts Alberto Marzetta and Micol Burighel from Amapola Srl Società Benefit, a communication agency specializing in corporate social responsibility, institutional and environmental communication.

Finally, Laura Gallo shared the experience of Coffeefrom, an innovative start-up with a social vocation (SIAVS) that transforms used coffee grounds from the food industry, promoting the circular economy and creating social impact.

Thanks to the presence of industry experts, the event provided participants with tools and skills to strengthen their competitiveness and presence in the B2B market.

In the fourth episode of “VOCI,” Amapola delves into the continuously growing phenomenon of foreign entrepreneurship in Italy, giving voice to an immigration story from Syria. Raiaan Dobosh, a Syrian restaurateur in Turin, and Anna Bertrand, the president of the Paìs Association, share their experiences with the S.T.A.R.C.I. project, highlighting the challenges and satisfactions.

An Interview in Two Voices

Raiaan Dobosh is a woman of Syrian origin who sought refuge in Italy in 2018. In 2022, thanks to the S.T.A.R.C.I. project, she and her family opened the Italo-Syrian restaurant, Eria-Cinque Petali, in Turin.

The Paìs Association – Pathways for Accompaniment and Social Inclusion has been working on projects since 2019 aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of individuals at risk of social marginalization in the city of Turin. The S.T.A.R.C.I. project, discussed in this interview, was funded by the Municipality of Turin and aims to provide support, including financial assistance, for the establishment of entrepreneurial activities by people of foreign origin within the city.

The stories shared by Anna and Raiaan shed light on the strength of the associative network in Turin, the motivation and enthusiasm of those determined to build a new life, but also the obstacles imposed by the banking system, among others, on projects that effectively enrich and innovate the landscape of commercial activities in our region.

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. The playlist with all the interviews is available on YouTube.

In a few days, the annual event of Sport Innovation Hub dedicated to innovation in the sports world will take place in Turin. This year, an interesting networking session at the Palazzo delle Feste in Bardonecchia has been added as well.
Check out the event program and don’t wait to reserve your spot (limited capacity).
We look forward to seeing you with CONI and CIP Piemonte, Turin Chamber of Commerce, Piedmont Region, Bardonecchia Municipality, and Enterprise Europe Network!

More info here

The DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission has commissioned a Study on State aid for access to finance for social enterprises and the recruitment of disadvantaged workers in the form of wage subsidies. The purpose of the study is to assess to what extend the current State aid rules as set by the GBER (General Block Exemption Regulation) facilitate access to finance for social enterprises. The second objective of the study is to assess the same in respect to the recruitment of disadvantaged workers.

Surveys is anonymous, complete it should not take longer than 30 minutes.
Deadline for the EC is October 30^th.

You can respond to the survey here.

Social Tides, a European incubator and accelerator for social entrepreneurship managed by INCO with the support of Google.org, announces the opening of the call for applications for the Grow AI accelerator.

GROW AI offers a 6-month equity-free program aimed at startups and social enterprises that utilize Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for social or environmental impact. The program aims to provide a valuable opportunity to scale one’s impact and, for the selected startups, it includes:

• Training and mentoring from AI experts at Google For Startups Accelerator and other industry leaders in the INCO network
• Networking and visibility opportunities
• Access to a grant of up to $250,000

Applications are open until December 8, 2023, and the online program will commence in February 2024. Further information is available on the program’s website, in the FAQ section, or by contacting the email socialtides@inco-group.co.

The 19^th edition of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta, the competition for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, is drawing to a close: come and discover the year’s most deserving new innovative projects at the awards ceremony on Thursday, November 9^th, 2023 in Turin!

The ceremony will see the participation of 10 finalist projects, selected from over 150 business ideas submitted to the competition, competing for prizes and special mentions offered by the Partners and Promoters with the aim of supporting the birth of new innovative start-ups and promoting the economic development of the territory.

The most promising innovative projects compete for the overall prize money of more than €65,000, in cash and services, and the special mentions Equal Opportunities, Social Innovation, Open Innovation / Industrial Spin Off, Green & Blue, and Sustainable Technologies.

The top six projects will also participate in the PNI – Italian National Innovation Award 2023, to be held in Milan on November 30^th and December 1^st, and will challenge the winning projects of the other 15 regional Start Cups.

Register now on Eventbrite to reserve your place in attendance at the event, which will take place from 09:30 CET in the Auditorium of the Department of Humanities in the Aldo Moro Complex of the University of Turin (via Sant’Ottavio cornering via Verdi, Turin), and meet the upcoming protagonists of the world of innovative entrepreneurship!

Agenda

09:30 | Participant registration

10:00 | Opening institutional greetings

• Stefano Geuna, Rector of the University of Turin
• Fiorella Altruda, President of 2i3T, the Incubator of the University of Turin
• Francesca Boccafoschi, Delegate for Start Up, innovative supply chains and technology transfer, University of Eastern Piedmont / Enne3 Incubator
• Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino
• Moderator: Giuseppe Serrao, Director of 2i3T, the Incubator of the University of Turin

10:30 | Elevator Pitch of the 10 finalist projects

11:30 | Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta 2023 award ceremony

• Presentation of winning certificates by Supporters and Partners of the competition

13:00 | Concluding remarks

Special guests

The Piedmont Regional Councillors Elena Chiorino, Councillor for Employment, Vocational Training and Right to University Studies, and Andrea Tronzano, Councillor for Economic and Financial Planning, Heritage, Development of Productive Activities and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, are invited to the ceremony.

Representatives of the numerous institutions, foundations and sponsoring companies that have contributed to the realisation of the 2023 business plan competition are also expected to attend: Piedmont Region, Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta, Turin Chamber of Commerce, City of Turin, Turin Metropolitan City, Finpiemonte, Aosta Valley Chamber of Commerce, CTE Next, Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation, Jacobacci & Partners, LINKS Foundation, Laura & Franco Beltramo ETS Foundation, Michelin Development Foundation, Piedmont Aerospace Cluster, Unicredit, AIFI, Invitalia.

Experian, the Microlab Association, and FEduF (ABI) launch “Include Me at School,” a financial education project aimed at high schools to promote independence and economic inclusion.
800 students from Piedmont, Lombardy, Lazio, Campania, and Puglia are engaged in a multidisciplinary and interactive journey based on gamification.
At the heart of this joint effort is the achievement of various UN sustainability goals related to economic growth, quality education, and reducing inequalities.

Experian, the world’s leading global information company, in collaboration with the Microlab Association and FEduF (ABI), announces the launch of the “Includimi a Scuola” project aimed at educating Italian students on financial literacy, with the goal of promoting financial inclusion and economic independence among the youth.

The dissemination of financial education in classrooms is entrusted, from a multidisciplinary perspective, to teachers from different subjects, and to encourage the contribution of all teachers, the “Includimi a Scuola” project presents itself as an interdisciplinary program that integrates financial education into even the most traditional curriculum subjects.

The “Includimi a Scuola” project, carried out within Experian’s United for Financial Health program, offers a range of tools that enable students to acquire the necessary skills to interact consciously with the economic system. Through the use of digital platforms, the support of experts, and gamification methodologies, 800 high school students from five regions – Piedmont, Lombardy, Lazio, Campania, and Puglia – will be guided through a comprehensive financial literacy journey. This journey covers everything from understanding technical terms like IBAN, interest rates, and inflation to using banking and financial tools to support their personal goals.

Engaging students is essential to ensure that the topics presented are not perceived as distant from their life experiences and can be easily understood. Thanks to a financial entertainment approach aimed at minimizing the limitations of more traditional financial education through engaging and interactive training methods, Experian, the Microlab Association, and FEduF offer the economic game “Embark on Your Journey”. This game challenges students to manage an annual budget with the goal of saving €5,000 to spend Christmas in New York. Designed for students in their final years of high school, “Embark on Your Journey” offers a cash prize of €500 to students who rank in the top three in the special competition for the most meritorious.

Through “Includimi a Scuola”, students can access a financial video glossary designed to explain complex financial terms in simple language, created by Experian experts and business mentors from the Microlab Association.

Finally, Experian, the Microlab Association, and FEduF (ABI) have provided support tools for teachers, starting with the digital meeting “Gamification at School for Financial Education: the “Includimi a Scuola” project“, which will take place on Wednesday, October 25th, to facilitate optimal understanding and integration of the project into the normal curriculum.

The “Includimi a Scuola” project contributes to achieving several UN Sustainable Development Goals related to the spread of well-being through quality education (Goal #4), sustainable economic growth (Goal #8), and reduction of inequalities (Goal #10).

“We have received positive feedback from our past financial education projects, which demonstrates that this is a particularly sensitive issue in the market and in society. Today, we are pleased to announce a step forward in our commitment to the financial inclusion of young people, with the goal of providing them with the tools to be more aware and independent for their future,” says Armando Capone, General Manager of Experian Italy. “We thank the Microlab Association for their ongoing support and are excited to have FEduF on board in this important awareness-raising journey.”

“Guiding young people into the economic and financial world has always been a central theme in our activities, both in terms of training and mentoring,” declares Andrea Garello Cantoni, President of the Microlab Association. “Thanks to the support of Experian and the “Includimi a Scuola” project, we offer students the opportunity to get involved and find solutions that will be useful to them in the years to come. In addition, with our mentoring service, we provide one-to-one guidance to students to help them make future career choices and achieve economic independence.”

“Financial education is an area where gamification is starting to spread with interesting projects like ‘Includimi a Scuola'”, comments Giovanna Boggio Robutti, General Director of FEduF. “Thanks to projects like the one proposed by Experian in collaboration with the Microlab Association, we emotionally engage participants, thus addressing the main limitations of traditional financial education through interactive interaction methods that motivate students to engage in the learning process.”

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The Foundation for Financial Education and Savings (FEduF) was established at the initiative of the Italian Banking Association to promote financial education from the perspective of informed citizenship and economic legality. The Foundation’s goal is to involve all parties interested in promoting a new culture of economic citizenship, valuing various initiatives, overcoming individualism, and sharing experiences in the interest of the community. It works closely with the Ministry of Education and School Offices at the local level and disseminates innovative educational programs in schools of all levels, using innovative forms and content, including the organization of events for students, teachers, and parents. The Foundation focuses on bridging the cultural gap between complex content and simple and effective dissemination tools. Its initiatives also target adults in collaboration with Consumer Associations.

Experian is the world’s leading global information service company. In life’s important moments – from buying a house or a car to covering university expenses for children to developing one’s own business – we help consumers and our clients manage their data with confidence. We assist individuals in controlling their finances and accessing financial services, help businesses make better decisions, enable credit institutions to lend more responsibly, and aid organizations in preventing identity fraud and crime. With 22,000 employees operating in 32 countries, we invest daily in new technologies, advanced skills, and innovation to help all our clients maximize every opportunity. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is listed in the FTSE 100 Index. Learn more on the website

The Microlab Association, since 2003, promotes social inclusion by supporting self-entrepreneurship, job orientation, and financial education through business mentoring and training. Microlab business mentors provide free support to those who want to embark on an entrepreneurial path, those who already have a business but are facing difficulties, or those who are confronting the world of work and personal budget management for the first time. Business mentors are driven by the desire to give back to the community some of what they have received in terms of knowledge and work experience to help those who want to take on challenges and need a helping hand to do so. Website

Giving Meaning to Places, Reinterpreting, and Rewriting Them – DIFFUSISSIMA® Returns to Turin

From October 22nd to November 5th, Turin once again becomes the stage for DIFFUSISSIMA®, a contemporary art exhibition conceived by the innovative start-up Artàporter. Over 75 locations will transform into stages for more than 100 artists, including national and international guests, offering a rich program of exhibitions, installations, performances, workshops, and collective works.

In 2023, DIFFUSISSIMA® expands beyond the city center through collaborations with the MAU Museo d’Arte Urbana in Turin and CioccolaTò. For the second consecutive year, Banco Azzoaglio, a private and independent bank founded in Piedmont in 1879 with a strong commitment to culture and education, continues its support as the main sponsor of DIFFUSISSIMA®.

The common thread of this event is the use of art as a medium for storytelling, aiming to redefine the city’s meaning and spaces. Art thus becomes the primary tool for creating a storytelling of Turin, focusing on city rebranding, urban revitalization, and a post-human perspective, capturing the spirit of the times to establish a shared culture through the universal language of art.

The 2023 edition of DIFFUSISSIMA® opens new urban spaces to create fresh meanings through art, as seen in the exhibition “Post-Umano l’Ulteriorità” taking place from October 22nd to November 15th at Scalo Vallino. This phygital collective, the result of the collaboration between digital and physical artists, explores the futuristic trajectory of humanity. The project is curated by Simone Sensi, with artistic direction by Alyona Kosareva and Massimo Gioscia of Artàporter.

As Massimo Gioscia, CEO and Co-Founder of Artàporter, points out: ‘The event, with its unique vision, aims to make art accessible to everyone by breaking down barriers between artists and the public. Through exhibitions like “Post-Umano,” spectators will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in an interactive and engaging artistic experience. In the context of urban regeneration, spaces in Turin will be transformed and enhanced through performances and artistic installations. Places like Scalo Vallino and Scalo Valdocco will become the vibrant heart of this transformation, breathing new life into forgotten areas. Additionally, the futuristic vision of the event motivates artists to explore new frontiers and challenge traditional boundaries of art. Moreover, with artists like Lawrence Malstaf and his performance “SHRINK 01995,” the audience will get a taste of the art of the future. DIFFUSISSIMA is not just an artistic event; it is also a celebration of emerging technology. The participating artists will employ cutting-edge tools and techniques to create works that challenge our perception of reality.‘

OPENING OF DIFFUSISSIMA 2023 AT GREEN PEA, with Nina Zilli, Alvin and Raptuz

The 2023 DIFFUSISSIMA® opens at Green Pea with an opening event on Sunday, October 22nd, at 6 PM, featuring Nina Zilli, Alvin, and Raptuz. Their exhibition, “MIRACOLO A MILANO,” explores Milan as a crossroads of stories and people, representing the city of dreams, actions, and possibilities. The event will take place at The Place within Green Pea. Attendees will have the opportunity to pick up DIFFUSISSIMA® maps, meet the artists and organizers, and enjoy an aperitif provided by the Consorzio Tutela Roero and the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Gorgonzola, Galup, and La Perla di Torino.

This collaboration among three artists with diverse backgrounds and training underscores their unity through art. The exhibition will be open daily with free admission starting on October 23rd.

DIFFUSISSIMA FOR URBAN REGENERATION: AT SCALO VALLINO, A REFLECTION ON POST-HUMANITY

What do we want to be? How could we imagine ourselves?

DIFFUSISSIMA® addresses urban revitalization through an exhibition at Scalo Vallino, titled “Post-Umano l’Ulteriorità,” from October 22nd to November 15th. This exhibition, curated by Simone Sensi, explores humanity’s unexpected evolution, as humanity enters a new era of consciousness.

Post-Umano and its Ulteriorità represent an egalitarian shift, connecting humanity with the animal, plant, mineral, extraterrestrial, and technological worlds. This re-animalization is seen as a form of transition art, a focus on the future of Scalo Vallino through the exhibition titled “Post-Umano l’Ulteriorità.”

The exhibition features renowned artists, including Lawrence Malstaf, Federico Clapis, Matteo Lucca, MiTch Lurenzana, Francesco Niccoli, and Martina Fontana. Their works provide insights into their interpretations of Ulteriorità.

Federico Clapis, the main artist of the event, offers a digital and dystopian vision of post-humanism, focusing on technology as a core element. His work is a deep inner journey, exploring the intimate conditions of the human soul.

Matteo Lucca, an established sculptor, explores life and matter, ideas and dreams, the organic and inorganic, the present and the past, the unconscious and ancestral, reality and artifice, myth and mystery, leaving a sense of abstraction.

MiTch Lurenzana, a phygital artist, presents his Ulteriorità through artificial intelligence, creating (in)HUMAN entities that blend in with humans, taking on human forms.

Francesco Niccoli‘s Ulteriorità is a fusion of elements, blending human and plant forms into a primordial liquid, with esoteric symbols evoking fragility and uniqueness.

Martina Fontana, a multidisciplinary artist, immerses humanity in an animal dimension, transforming life into a ceremony filled with emotions and relationships, dismantling the boundaries of the physical and mental worlds.

Scalo Vallino, a historic building dating back to the late 1800s, has been the subject of vandalism and neglect over the years. Only after 2014 did BIESSE INVESTMENT COMPANY SRL, one of DIFFUSISSIMA’s partners, take steps to recover and revitalize this historical building, along with the adjacent area. BIESSE INVESTMENT COMPANY SRL’s commitment to revitalization brings the “Post-Umano l’Ulteriorità” project to this evocative space rich in history and with a strong focus on the city and culture’s future.

Opening Hours:
October 22 – November 5, 2023
Monday to Thursday: 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Free Admission

AN INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE BY LAWRENCE MASTALF AT DIFFUSISSIMA (Scalo Valdocco)

Renowned international artist Lawrence Mastalf will be one of the highlights at Scalo Vallino, and for the first time in Italy, on November 4th at Scalo Valdocco, he will perform “Shrink1995.” Lawrence Mastalf straddles the line between visual and theatrical arts, creating installations and performance art that explore movement, order, chaos, and the roles of physics and technology.

DIFFUSISSIMA® will feature Lawrence Mastalf’s renowned performance “Shrink1995.”

Banco Azzoaglio is the main sponsor of DIFFUSISSIMA®, supporting the event since its first edition. The event is under the patronage of the City of Turin and has the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Turin and Torino Social Impact. Other sponsors include Consorzio Tutela Roero and Rocca di Arignano. DIFFUSISSIMA’s partners include Galup, Centro Commerciale Lingotto, Consorzio Tutela del Formaggio Gorgonzola, Feelthebeat, Affini Distillerie Subalpine, La Perla di Torino, Cioccolatò, Atmosphère, Principi ADV, Ascom, To-Be Company, Copernico, and Delivery Valley.

 

DIFFUSISSIMA PROGRAM

You can find the DIFFUSISSIMA program and map on the official website.

All events at DIFFUSISSIMA® are free and can be reserved on Eventbrite via this link.

Over 20 free events are scheduled, offering accessible art at the heart of the city. This includes collective and solo exhibitions, vernissages, DJ sets, workshops, and charity exhibitions. The event details are easily accessible on the official event website or through a dedicated map.

Once again, DIFFUSISSIMA® brings widespread art to Turin.

For the first time, DIFFUSISSIMA® extends to Rocca di Arignano, a virtuous example of archaeological recovery located on the outskirts of Turin and bordering the Monferrato area. The exhibition features the personal work of entrepreneur and influencer Maurizio Rosazza Prin, titled “Cioccolato delle Meraviglie.”

The vernissage for the “Cioccolato delle Meraviglie” exhibition will officially open CioccolaTò on the evening of October 26th, during an inauguration cocktail event hosted at the Principi Adv communications agency on Via Antonio Banfo. The exhibition is part of the Cioccolatissima OFF format and will showcase selected works from the creative contest for emerging artists organized by Artàporter, dedicated to the art of chocolate. The ten selected artists will be hosted in ten locations in Barriera di Milano and will be featured at the closing party of CioccolaTò at Edit Torino.

Lastly, for the first time, artist and presenter Alvin will create a commissioned work that will be presented at a special event in Puff Store at Via Lagrange 21 in Turin.

On October 10th, at the Sala Colonne of Turin’s City Hall, the first Local Green Deal was signed with the goal of implementing a sustainable and circular food system in the city. On this occasion, an Action Plan was also presented, designed to guide third-sector organizations through a ‘green’ transition process and provide them with the tools to move in the direction of this change.

The agreement was signed by Chiara Foglietta, the Assessor for Ecological Transition, Giacomo Portas, the President of Environment Park, Guido Cerrato, a manager from the Turin Chamber of Commerce representing President Dario Gallina, and representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises and startups. They contributed to the creation of these two documents as part of the twin projects SME4 GREEN and RESPONDET, funded by the European COSME program. These documents, along with other initiatives and tools, including their strategic commitments, actions, and planned investments, will be included in the Climate City Contract.

Torino Social Impact also collaborated by providing a wide ecosystem for preliminary consultation in the drafting of these documents. Both the Local Green Deal and the Local Action Plan will be incorporated into the Climate City Contract, the document that will guide Turin towards climate neutrality by 2030.

Sustainability is participation. The action of a company  based on sustainability criteria also relies on stakeholder engagement, in order to reduce distances and achieve its ESG – environmental, social and governance- objectives through involvement. To delve deeper into this increasingly crucial topic, on Wednesday 25 October at 12.15 pm Amapola, communication agency specialising in sustainability, is organizing an Amapola Cafè dedicated to stakeholder engagement and management on its LinkedIn page.

Stakeholder engagement: from theory to case studies

For organizations, today’s context has deeply changed. Learning to manage relationships with stakeholders, involving them and engaging them, becomes a strategic challenge to consolidate the relationship with customers, partners, communities and territories. This is precisely what stakeholder engagement and management activities are for: building relationships based on dialogue, listening and participation and therefore based on mutual trust and collaboration. During the online webinar organized by Amapola, Alberto Marzetta, partner of the agency, and Micol Burighel, Communication Manager, will talk about changes in the scenario, enabling factors, stakeholder engagement tools and management techniques, delving into some concrete examples of organizations that are already going down this road.

To register: go here and click on participate.

You can catch up on the previous appointment dedicated to sustainability reporting HERE.

Impact economy needs contamination, bridges that connect diverse knowledge.

In this episode of Bench-Mark, along with Alberto Ferrari, founder and president of the cultural association Club Silencio, we explore how the fusion between culture and new contemporary languages are reshaping the way we think and live within the social and economic fabric of our territory.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

The City of Turin is defining its new City Masterplan, one of the main tools to govern the spatial transformation of the municipal territory. It works on the physical dimension of the city, but can contribute to rethinking the future Torino in many other aspects: greenery, mobility, economic development, citizen services, housing policies, social and welfare policies.

Preparing, approving and adopting it is a long-term process that has to comply with regional legislation, its timing, procedures and constraints. As for now, the preparation of the City Masterplan is in its second phase, which will lead to the drafting of the Preliminary Project.
A legal tool, and a bureaucratic process, the Plan concerns the entire community: for this reason, it is important that the content, objectives and tasks that the Plan foresees are shared with those who live in Torino, use it and take care of it.

For these reasons, starting from June 2023, Urban Lab and the City of Torino have promoted a set of initiatives to listen to the territory. Through meetings, workshops, presentations, activities in the districts, and moments of discussion in neighboring municipalities, we are imagining what the city of tomorrow will be like.

October in the 8 Districts

From 20 to 22 October the engagement process stops by the 8 City Districts: participating is an important opportunity for citizens, communities, stakeholders and organizations to have a say about Torino’s future. No particular expertise in urban planning is required: what is needed instead is the desire and willingness to listen and discuss.

How to participate

• filling out the online survey dedicated to anyone who lives, studies or works in Turin;
• joining one of the public events in the 8 Districts;
• visiting one of the 8 information points, to receive information regarding ongoing initiatives, to know about the next steps of the engagement activities, to ask questions and offer comments, critiques and proposals.

Jointly with the outcomes of the previous (and following) phase of the engagement process, all observations and suggestions collected during the “Districts days” will feed the development of the preliminary draft Plan.

On the 28th and 29th of October 2023, Giardino Forbito returns to the Rose Garden of the Royal Castle of Moncalieri for “FIORILE | Orti&Fiori in mostra – Autumn 2023”.

A careful selection of specialized nurseries, agricultural producers, artisans, and designers will bring the Rose Garden of the Royal Castle of Moncalieri to life, telling the story of the seasonality and excellence.

As every year, the charming porticoes of the Rose Garden will host the “Giardino d’Inverno”, with an exhibition of sustainable craftsmanship, manual skills, and creativity, and the “Angolo dei Saperi e dei Sapori”,  with immersive experiences in the worlds of design, art, taste, and food awareness.

PRODUCERS

Local producers and nurseries, selected for seasonality and excellence, will narrate autumn and the changing of the seasons in all its splendor, with a contextualized program that pays attention to art, history, traditions, nature, literature, and biodiversity, starting from the local area and its heritage.

LOCAL VITAL

Following the thread of the continuous rediscovery of the Moncalieri spirit, a place of honor will be given to the typical production of these lands, the saffron, the golden flower. A plant of ancient beauty, it plays different roles around the world. While in Italy, it represents a tribute to death, in the East, it celebrates love and life. With Ana Cristina Vargas, scientific director of the Ariodante Fabretti Foundation and an anthropologist, we will delve into the concept of death, the cycle of life, and its end in relation to nature. Surrounded by the scenery of dried summer flowers created by the skilled hands of florist Marzia Gullino, we will discover together that learning to die is learning to live.

WINE TASTING

On this occasion and in collaboration with Vendemmia a Torino – Grapes in Town, we will explore Piedmontese wine through its territory and winemaking excellence with special insights into the wine world, including meetings and masterclasses dedicated to tastings and sensory experiences.

LABORATORY

In the backdrop of ecosystems and biodiversity, the educational corner, as always curated by the Metropolitan Pollinators and Beesù, will represent the marvelous and essential world of bees. Delving into the positive and negative aspects of these precious insects. The space, as always dedicated entirely to education, will host an experiential meeting with Fulvio Piccinino, the well-known Vermouth ambassador, who, in his role as the author of the book “Il re era una regina – storia, biologia e curiosità sulle api” (The king was a queen – history, biology, and curiosities about bees), published by Graphot editions, will lead a multisensory workshop. An experience that will allow you to look at a spoonful of honey with different eyes.

SAVORY OF ALIMENTATION

In the company of chef Marco Massaia from the Radici Mura Mura restaurant in Costigliole d’Asti and the critic and writer Luca Iaccarino, we will revisit excerpts from an old, now out-of-print book: “Frattaglie” – a journey of culinary and biographical memories by the late Egi Volterrani. This exploration will reveal the profound respect found in the recovery, particularly in the culinary world, and the ethical approach to the enhancement of every part, whether animal or vegetable. From humble foods to planet-saving menus.

LITERATURE

The time dedicated to reading also welcomes the publishing house Neos this year, with a book that perfectly fits into a program dedicated to the environment and the territory. In the company of the curator Riccardo Marchina and the author Franca Rizzi Martini, the collection of stories “Di Castello in Castello” will be presented.

TOUR GUIDE

In collaboration with the management of Moncalieri Castle, the rooms dedicated to the exhibition “Oltre il ventaglio. Haiku e Haiga” will be exceptionally open in the evening on Saturday, October 28th, accompanied by the cultural association AregoladArte. The visit will conclude with a tasting by Vendemmia a Torino – Grapes in Town.

ART SPACE

To delve once again into the profound connection between the human and plant spheres, the art space will host the works of Maura Banfo this time. With evocative polaroid photos featuring a floral theme, she will exhibit the works from her latest project. This represents the perfect synthesis of a Turin-based artist deeply immersed in life and profession, centered around the concepts of care, environment, and ecology.

JAZZ

In collaboration with Moncalieri Jazz 2023, the music returns this year as well with the spectacular “Duo Cora/Picchioni,” featuring the vocals of Carola Cora and Marcello Picchioni on the piano.

We are pleased to invite you to the Mobile Culture Forum, an unmissable event that will take place on October 18, 2023, from 9:15 AM to 4:15 PM at the Open Incet premises, located at Piazza Teresa Noce 17, Turin.

The event is an integral part of the Mobile Culture project.

During the event, we will primarily discuss how new technologies are entering the world of art, culture, and adult education.

There will be three keynote speeches with exceptional guests, a buffet, and a dedicated networking panel, as well as workshops where you can experience three technological scenarios from the project firsthand, and an opportunity to test some products created by the startup. It will be an interesting and enjoyable occasion!

Here are the reasons why you can’t afford to miss this opportunity:

• Explore how new technologies are transforming art, culture, and education, with three keynote speeches by special guests.
• Discover innovative educational products, including scenarios on artificial intelligence, escape boxes, card games, and more, which could revolutionize the way we learn and appreciate culture.
• Enjoy a delicious free buffet to recharge your energy.
• Participate in networking and design sessions with representatives from cultural organizations, educational institutions, public and private entities, opening the door to possible future collaborations.
• Gain access to an online course designed to further deepen the concepts and skills discussed during the event.

At the end of the Mobile Culture Forum, you will receive a certificate of participation as recognition of your contribution to this important dialogue between technology and culture.

To confirm your attendance, we invite you to register by clicking here.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Mobile Culture Forum and sharing this unique experience with you.

If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact Valentina Crepaldi at valentina.crepaldi@escape4change.com.

Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion SAS joins the capital of Homes4All S.r.l. Benefit Company B Corp and subscribes to a participatory financial instrument (SFP) of €450,000.

Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion SAS, a new investment company launched with an anchor investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) through InvestEU funds and Phitrust Partenaires, a pioneer in impact investing, and Homes4All S.r.l. Benefit Company B Corp, a company dedicated to managing and designing innovative housing models like dispersed social housing with a special focus on those in housing emergencies, are pleased to announce the successful completion of an important deal that will strengthen and expand Homes4All’s activities. Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion SAS has subscribed and paid for a capital share that entitles it to appoint Cyrille LANGENDORFF as a Board Member and has also subscribed and paid for a Participatory Certificate (SFP) of €450,000.

For over 16 years, Phitrust Partenaires SAS has been supporting businesses that, through innovative and impactful proposals, address the needs of future generations. Phitrust chooses to “invest to act and contribute to the growth of companies that integrate human development and environmental protection into the core of their strategy.” With the launch of Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion and in line with its investment thesis, the company has seen in Homes4All an opportunity to create positive changes in community well-being while ensuring a fair financial return. Phitrust has also recognized Homes4All’s potential to scale its model nationwide.

Through the participatory financial instrument provided by Phitrust, Homes4All has introduced the “Quota G,” which grants the holder various property and administrative rights as provided by law, along with some special rights, including the right to appoint a member of the Board of Directors, distribution rights, withdrawal rights, and pre-emption rights.

Cyrille LANGENDORFF, Chief Investment Officer of Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion SAS, states: “Our company has chosen to invest in Homes4All to enable it to implement innovative housing solutions. Phitrust has already invested in social housing projects in France and sees opportunities to exchange expertise and best practices.”

Giorgio MOSCI, President of Homes4All S.r.l. Benefit Company B Corp, commented: “On behalf of the company, I express great satisfaction with this financial transaction, which allows us to consider ourselves, in all respects, a structured company with development objectives consistent with our original mission. Achieving this milestone was made possible with the help of some partners, and we would like to thank the Fondazione Ufficio Pio and Sefea Impact SGR in particular for their assistance in coordinating with legal counsel in drafting the agreement.”

“An important milestone that consolidates our extensive network of partnerships and alliances,” adds Mario MONTALCINI, CEO of the company. “Phitrust is indeed an international partner, recognized for its seriousness within the European Union, and the ‘Phitrust Inclusion Fund’ has the European Union among its funders. Our partners are important because they believe, with seriousness and commitment, in impact entrepreneurship and have decided to bet on Home4All and the challenge it has launched in addressing housing issues with a private-sector approach and the ability to collaborate and co-design with the non-profit sector and public entities.”

Notary Andrea GANELLI of Leading Law handled the notarial aspects of the transaction, and Attorney Nicola CARÙ of RP Legal & Tax provided legal assistance to Phitrust for the contract closing.

Turin, September 2023

For more information:

Phitrust
Stéphanie de Beaumont
Deputy General Director
stephanie.debeaumont@phitrust.com
+33 1 55 35 32 65

Homes4All
Mario Montalcini
Vice President and CEO
m.montalcini@homes4all.it
+39 347 4971188

Homes4All
Homes4All is an innovative startup and B Corp benefit company with a high social impact, reducing the housing emergency by promoting urban regeneration through its network of private investors sensitive to sustainability principles. Its activities involve acquiring, renovating, and managing socially oriented properties from the pool of non-performing assets within both the city of Turin and nationwide. In this way, it creates an ecosystem where needy families find dignified and affordable housing while investors make ethical and profitable investments. Homes4All directly intervenes in the territory, focusing on specific areas of the city with high potential for redevelopment, thereby activating urban regeneration and social innovation processes.

Phitrust
Phitrust, a management company founded in 2003, invests to make a difference. Phitrust invests in large listed companies to promote change in their ESG practices (Phitrust Active Investors) and in innovative social enterprises to provide them with the financial and human resources they need to expand and leverage their impact (Phitrust Partenaires). Two activities, one mission: to be an engaged shareholder in impact. Phitrust is a member of the community of mission-driven companies.

Phitrust Partenaires
Phitrust Partenaires, a pioneering social impact investment company in France, was launched in 2006, followed by Phitrust Partenaires Europe in 2016 and Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion in 2023. As a patient venture capital fund, it invests in over 30 innovative social enterprises that place inclusion at the heart of their business model (LemonTri, La Varappe, Les Alchimistes, Alenvi, BeCode, Sea Ranger, etc.). Phitrust Partenaires combines funding and support from investors and a unique network of executives, past and present, involved in capital, governance, and project monitoring. By mobilizing private and institutional investors in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium for innovative, committed, and inclusive entrepreneurial projects, Phitrust seeks to create a network of experts and committed investors around entrepreneurs who will accompany them over the long term to multiply their impact on society.

Within the BUYSOCIAL program of the Torino Social Impact Master Plan, a new European project, Buy Social Future for the Social Economy!, has been underway since May 2023. This project aims to strengthen commercial collaborations between social enterprises and traditional businesses to enhance the market for products and services offered by social enterprises. The project specifically focuses on sectors related to the circular economy, such as textile recycling, fashion, and eco-design.

To this end, we will host a training session tailored to social enterprises and cooperatives (according to the European Commission’s definition), as well as startups and benefit corporations with a social mission/impact involved in the circular economy. The session will provide participants with valuable tools and skills to enhance their competitiveness and presence in the B2B market. The training modules will be conducted by industry professionals.

Date: Thursday, October 26th, from 9:15 AM to 4:30 PM

Location: Beeozanam, Via Foligno, 14, 10149 Turin TO

Agenda:

• 9:30 – Introductory Greetings and Presentation of the BUY SOCIAL Project
• 9:40 – Contractual Aspects for Businesses and Social Cooperatives
  Daniele Consoletti, an expert lawyer in contracts, privacy, and compliance
• 11:10 – Coffee Break
• 11:30 – Market Approach Strategy
  Alberto Baccari, entrepreneur and expert in sustainable innovation with over 10 years of experience in business design and digital transformation. As an administrator of benefit corporations and B Corps, he has developed impactful business tools and models by collaborating and supporting the growth of entities such as EcorNaturaSì, Fastweb, Almaviva, Be Consulting, ENI, and other national and international SMEs and corporations.
• 13:00 – Light lunch
• 13:30 – Effective Communication. A Brief Guide.
  Alberto Marzetta, Micol Burighel, Amapola SB
  Amapola Srl Benefit Company is a communication agency specializing in corporate social responsibility strategies, institutional and environmental communication projects.
• 15:30 – Testimonial from Coffeefrom

If your organization is a cooperative or a social enterprise operating in the circular economy sector, please register by October 18th by filling out the following online form.

Participation in the course is free and open until available seats are filled. Two additional training sessions are planned for January and February 2024.

The Buy Social project is funded by the European Innovation Council and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EISMEA) under the SMP-COSME-2022-BUYSOCIALB2BMARKET call. You can find more information about the project at this link.

What does the magical world of Oz have to do with impact economy?

In this new episode of Bench-Mark, together with Marco Canta (director and vice president of CasaOz), we discover how this special house, situated at the very heart of Turin, is contributing to restoring normalcy for children and families facing illness near hospitals.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

Wednesday, October 11th and 18th, 2023, starting at 5:45 PM, two free training sessions will take place at Rinascimenti Sociali, located at Via Maria Vittoria 38, Turin, aimed at non-EU citizens on the topic of financial education.

Program of the sessions:

• October 11th – Banking Services: How and why to open a bank account, make payments, apply for a credit card: advantages, costs, risks, rights, and responsibilities.
• October 18th – Loans and Microcredit: Advantages, opportunities, costs, risks, rights, and responsibilities for those borrowing money.

The sessions will be interactive, featuring games, examples, stories, and opportunities to ask questions to learn how to make the most of these tools.

Participation is free with mandatory registration: click here to register. Limited spots available.

This year Drimlab will have the pleasure of participating in Milano Digital Week, an event held from October 6 to 9, 2023, which proposes as its theme “The Development of Limits, for an inclusive, sustainable and ethical digital transition and technological innovation.”

We will participate by proposing a digital experience entitled “Smart Social City: the future in the present“, which consists of an interactive and immersive journey within the virtual representation of a smart social city, that is, a city of the future, to which we have given the name Drimcity, made smart and innovative from a social as well as a technological point of view.

The experience takes place on Spatial.io, the platform we used to build this simulated environment, and involves both free and autonomous navigation in the space at any time of the day and participation in some predetermined panels. In the latter, we will have the opportunity to discuss the role of a social dimension within a smart city, by having guest speakers with different professional backgrounds who will contribute according to their own perspective and sensitivity on the topic.

For more information on how to access the virtual space for an independent scouting tour and/or to follow the panels, please refer to the dedicated page on our website, where the link to enter Spatial, a short tutorial to facilitate navigation in Drimcity and the agenda of events planned on our space during the digital week are collected.

If we have intrigued you, but you are frightened by the idea of entering Spatial, don’t worry: we would like to have you equally among us during the events and we therefore invite you to follow them live on our YouTube channel or on the dedicated page via live streaming.

We hope to see you soon in Drimcity or on related channels!

Only a few days left to enroll in the free offerings for schools and families, as well as the general public, provided by CICAPUI, in collaboration with the Iter Remida Center.

You can reserve activities from Wednesday, September 13, 2023 (at 2:00 PM) until Monday, October 9, 2023 (at 6:00 PM).

“With the start of the school year, as tradition dictates, we are inaugurating the 2023-2024 edition of ‘Growing in the City,’ the catalog of educational and training offerings from the City of Turin and ITER. ‘Growing in the City’ has been a cornerstone for Turin’s schools, as well as associations, universities, public and private entities, non-profit organizations, museums, and cultural institutions for decades. This year, it offers approximately 1300 activities (over 300 more than last year) catering to all age groups, from 0 years to adulthood. The ‘Growing in the City’ catalog is a collection of educational and training activities presented by the City of Turin and ITER at the beginning of each school year, targeting children, teenagers, adults, and students of all levels.”

FREE WORKSHOPS OPEN TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The AL CICAPUI ASD and APS association has been selected through a call for proposals by the Metropolitan City of Turin to present their laboratory activities within the multi-year project “Growing in the City.”

AL CICAPUI has submitted three types of co-designed and collaborative projects with the Creative Reuse Center Remida, located at Via Modena 35 in Turin, which specializes in repurposing and recycling end-of-life products. The projects offered by the association involve providing various categories with cost-free activities.

APPLIED ART AND HANDLING OF NOBLE REUSED MATERIALS – SUSTAINABLE CIRCULARITY LABORATORIES

Targeted audience: Primary schools, suitable for individuals with mild sensory/cognitive and motor disabilities. Objectives include integration, socialization, communication, sharing, learning through fun, and stimulating creativity as an emotional and expressive outlet through the creation of artistic artifacts. It also aims to practice manual skills by refining basic abilities.

WORKSHOPS OPEN TO FAMILIES, ADULTS, AND THE PUBLIC

Glass art course with a circular economy perspective – Glass re-creation for families and the public (workshop aimed at adults) not suitable for individuals with disabilities.
The innovative aspect of the proposal lies in approaching a traditional and specific art form like glass art, decontextualizing it, and transposing it onto repurposed materials to offer new expressive languages and new forms of working with glass materials from a sustainability and circular economy standpoint. This not only guarantees an immersive laboratory experience but also serves as a starting point for environmental education and creative use of processing waste.

Thanks to the collaboration network and the opportunity provided by the Metropolitan City of Turin, these workshops can be activated in the November-May 2023-2024 period.

WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS – EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER (CE.SE.DI)

In addition to this opportunity, the association has been selected through a call for proposals to appear in the Regional School Catalog managed by the EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER (CE.SE.DI.). This catalog offers various training opportunities for teachers and students to complement both curricular and extracurricular education, as well as tools for educational design and support services for educational autonomy. The catalog includes activities with no cost for teachers and others that require a reduced participation fee from participants. In some cases, course fees may also be paid through teacher cards.

All teacher training courses in the catalog are recognized for in-service training for school personnel, as the CE.Se.Di. was accredited by the Ministry of Education in 2020 in accordance with Directive 170/2016.

Registrations must be received by October 20, 2023, by completing the following online form

Finally, in addition to these opportunities, the AL CICAPUI association offers personalized creative-manual and artisanal workshop pathways for the 2023-2024 season at the co-working space at Piazza Vetta d’Italia. These pathways are tailored to the needs of those who wish to enroll.

For information, please contact us via email at: CHIARA@ALCICAPUI.IT

SOCIAL IMPACT FINANCE: AN INEVITABLE PARADIGM FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

In the new economic landscape, social impact finance emerges as an essential driver alongside the funds from the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) to respond to the increasingly stringent demands for social and environmental sustainability set by the European Union. This growing need has led the “Valter Cantino” Department of Management at the University of Turin to launch the first edition of the CUAP (University Course for Professional Updating) in “Social Impact Finance.” This initiative was conceived in collaboration with the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Center of Competence for Social Impact Assessment within the framework of Turin Social Impact, involving 37 new enrollees.

In the current economic landscape, understanding the dynamics of social impact finance is not just a competitive advantage but a necessity. In response to new funding programs from supranational institutions like the European Union, which aim to increase financing in the social and environmental sectors and leverage funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), numerous organizations are introducing specific tools oriented towards both profit and socio-environmental impact. This theme engages the “Valter Cantino” Department of Management at the University of Turin through the first edition of the University Course for Professional Updating (CUAP) in “Social Impact Finance” [1].

Supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and offered within Turin Social Impact, this educational journey will take place from October 9, 2023, to November 27, 2023. Thirty-seven selected participants from public, private, and third-sector companies (e.g., Centrali Cooperative) will be trained in the specific use of social impact finance tools (e.g., green bonds, social bonds), new markets and operators (e.g., social stock exchange), and reporting methods (e.g., social balance sheet, sustainability report…).

The CUAP program will blend theoretical and practical approaches in identifying strategies for social impact investment (i.e., impact investing). The teaching will be conducted online and synchronous on Monday afternoons starting at 2:00 PM. In addition to traditional lectures, the learning journey will be completed with a final project work to facilitate comprehensive knowledge sharing among the participants themselves.

What does it mean to enter the era of social impact finance? “It means preparing not only for a new economic paradigm but also a key factor in building a more sustainable future. Social impact finance goes beyond mere financial returns,” explains Professor Paolo Biancone, “it constitutes a set of tools aimed at generating tangible benefits for society, actively involving investors in achieving both financial returns and a positive impact on communities and the environment. This requires study and a change of mindset, both on the part of companies and capital providers.”

What are the premises that led to the creation of the CUAP in social impact finance? “Turin has always been a vibrant hub for launching and positively promoting new training projects. Since 2019, we have been pioneers in launching the training program on ‘Social Impact Assessment,’ which has trained over 210 people and currently boasts five editions. From October 9th, we will do the same with a specific focus on investments and tools to ensure that our local fabric and companies are increasingly oriented towards issuing new instruments and choosing new financing markets,” explains Silvana Secinaro. “We will do this together, for the institutions of the region, primarily the Turin Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Center of Competence for Social Impact Assessment within Turin Social Impact, as well as central cooperatives such as Consorzio Il Nodo for Confcooperative Piemonte Nord and Inforcoop Ecipaa Piemonte for Legacoop Piemonte.”

[1] The Research Team of the “Valter Cantino” Department of Management at the University of Turin is led by Professors Paolo Biancone and Silvana Secinaro, Full Professors of Business Economics.

On October 5th at 6:00 PM, at the SAA School of Management, a roundtable discussion titled “Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace: Promoting Equal Opportunities and an Inclusive Mindset” is scheduled to take place.

This initiative, organized as part of the ASFOR Master Day, an annual event that brings together ASFOR-accredited master’s programs for a day of presentations and discussions, will involve prominent managers, university professors, human resources experts, and representatives from the business community.

It will be an opportunity to collectively discuss the current state of affairs and potential developments in the field of Diversity & Inclusion within organizations.

To participate, please fill out the following form.

Today marks the launch of the SEER program (Seeking Economic Empowerment and Resilience for refugees and migrants), initiated by YBI, Youth Business International, an international network of organizations dedicated to supporting young entrepreneurs. This program encompasses training and guidance initiatives aimed at facilitating employment and business development, thus fostering economic and occupational inclusion for young migrants and refugees under the age of 35 in Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden.

Within this program, Microlab is committed to supporting approximately 400 young migrants and refugees in Italy over the next 12 months. This support will include free training and business mentoring to empower them with the confidence, knowledge, and skills necessary to secure formal employment or embark on entrepreneurial endeavors.

The European program will be executed by four members of the YBI network and aspires to assist 1,500 young migrants in overcoming the challenges they face in achieving economic independence, whether through traditional employment or entrepreneurship.

In Italy, there are over 5 million foreigners, comprising 10.4% of the national workforce. Furthermore, more than 600,000 active businesses, constituting 10.6% of the total, have been founded by migrants. Despite the relatively high employment rate among the migrant population, various risks of economic and social marginalization persist. These risks stem from fragmented labor relationships, low wages, and informal employment, which are characteristic of sectors where migrants are predominantly employed.

The SEER pilot program also aims to identify common challenges and best practices in supporting young migrants and refugees in Europe. This effort will result in the creation of a toolkit of resources to be shared within the global network of Youth Business International.

To achieve this goal, collaboration with various organizations in the refugee assistance and entrepreneurial sectors is planned. Among these organizations is TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network), facilitating a fruitful exchange of expertise to better support young entrepreneurs from migrant and refugee communities in different contexts and geographical areas.

For more information, please visit the website.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From February to November 2023 – Combo Torino

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The speakers are key visionary and impact thought leaders.

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

Read more

What is the GSG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The route

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

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

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

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

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

Agenda

14:00 – Welcome coffee

14:30 – Institutional introduction

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

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

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

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

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

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

15:50 – Networking coffee

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

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

But what is Personae?

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

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

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

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

But what are the requirements to apply?

Your project must have

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

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

The Acceleration Programme

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

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

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

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

The Programme

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

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

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

The scenario

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

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

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

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

Social Impact of PerMicro

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

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

Statements

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

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

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

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

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

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

Organised by PerMicro as part of the Empower project.

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

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

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

Register here to participate!

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

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

The professionals will be available at these times:

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

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

Inhabiting change

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

The second edition of Meet the CSR Leaders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A WEBINAR TO GAIN CLARITY ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

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

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

For registrations: Eventbrite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 DISCOVER THE MASTER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OPEN DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

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

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

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

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

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

 

For further information:

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

Follow SOUxTorino on Facebook and Instagram

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

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

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

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

What to expect:

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

How to participate:

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

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

Together we can make a difference, step by step!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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?

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

 

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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

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.

 

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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