Sustainability: how and why
Research published by Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University maps out the information required to understand a complex and delicate issue
Sustainability. A word that is now used and abused by many. The term encompasses a commitment to both the environment and to people, respect for the local area and markets, and corporate responsibility towards communities where companies operate. ‘Imprese e mercato: sfide e opportunità negli anni del Green Deal’ (Businesses and the Market: Challenges and Opportunities in the Green Deal Era’), a broad piece of research by Pietro Lanzini published in Ca’ Foscari’s Studi e ricerche, pins down several concepts that help us better understand the subject.
Lanzini takes a step-by-step approach as he focuses on the roles of companies and the market in relation to sustainability. First, however, he breaks down the topic from an institutional perspective before addressing the instruments resulting from the policies that have been implemented. He then turns his attention to the tools available to companies and the ‘responsible role’ that consumers play. The research goes on to explore two case studies: the energy transition and the automotive industry and mobility. In this section, Lanzini effectively illustrates the delicate interplay between the different pillars of sustainability and day-to-day business.
Summing up his research, the author writes that the common thread running through sustainability ‘is the awareness that it represents a challenge requiring a systemic and integrated approach that can only be accomplished by ongoing and shared commitment through synergic collaboration between the various players’. Three themes emerge clearly from the Ca’ Foscari research: firstly, that ‘sustainability goes far beyond mere environmental protection, representing instead a delicate balance between economic, social and environmental needs in an interconnected system where every action has knock-on effects’; secondly, the need to be truly ‘educated about sustainability’; and, finally, the ‘crucial role’ that everyone can play.
Pietro Lanzini
Ca’ Foscari Editions, 2024
Research published by Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University maps out the information required to understand a complex and delicate issue
Sustainability. A word that is now used and abused by many. The term encompasses a commitment to both the environment and to people, respect for the local area and markets, and corporate responsibility towards communities where companies operate. ‘Imprese e mercato: sfide e opportunità negli anni del Green Deal’ (Businesses and the Market: Challenges and Opportunities in the Green Deal Era’), a broad piece of research by Pietro Lanzini published in Ca’ Foscari’s Studi e ricerche, pins down several concepts that help us better understand the subject.
Lanzini takes a step-by-step approach as he focuses on the roles of companies and the market in relation to sustainability. First, however, he breaks down the topic from an institutional perspective before addressing the instruments resulting from the policies that have been implemented. He then turns his attention to the tools available to companies and the ‘responsible role’ that consumers play. The research goes on to explore two case studies: the energy transition and the automotive industry and mobility. In this section, Lanzini effectively illustrates the delicate interplay between the different pillars of sustainability and day-to-day business.
Summing up his research, the author writes that the common thread running through sustainability ‘is the awareness that it represents a challenge requiring a systemic and integrated approach that can only be accomplished by ongoing and shared commitment through synergic collaboration between the various players’. Three themes emerge clearly from the Ca’ Foscari research: firstly, that ‘sustainability goes far beyond mere environmental protection, representing instead a delicate balance between economic, social and environmental needs in an interconnected system where every action has knock-on effects’; secondly, the need to be truly ‘educated about sustainability’; and, finally, the ‘crucial role’ that everyone can play.
Pietro Lanzini
Ca’ Foscari Editions, 2024