Research discussed at the University of Padua focuses on rules, tools and pathways for integrating immigrants into businesses

Diversity management is based on growth through capitalising on different cultures, and becoming richer by sharing rather than separating.  This concept applies to both society and the economy. In theory, this approach is straightforward and effective, but in practice, it is often more challenging. In her thesis, discussed at the University of Padua, Victoria Chitoroaga explores one of the most controversial aspects of the issue and summarises her findings.

The title of the study is ‘Gestione interculturale delle risorse umane: inserimento e sviluppo del personale straniero in Italia’ (Intercultural human resource management: integration and development of foreign personnel in Italy), and, as explained above, it addresses ‘the issue of intercultural human resource management in Italy, focusing in particular on strategies for the integration and development of immigrant personnel’. This topic is highly important because it forms part of a current debate involving the business world, institutions, civil society, and the education system, and it offers food for thought on the relationships created within social and productive systems dealing with immigrants.

However, Chitoroaga adds another element to her reasoning: the ‘strategic relevance of diversity in an increasingly interconnected society’, and therefore the importance of multicultural resources in addressing current problems and opportunities.

The work’s main objective is to identify and analyse the most effective strategies for integrating and enhancing immigrant personnel within Italian organisations, and Chitoroaga seeks to achieve this by identifying long-term inclusive and developmental practices.

The work begins with an overview of immigration rules in Italy, before moving on to the central theme of intercultural human resource management, and therefore methods for integrating immigrants into the workforce, and levers for promoting their professional development. The author specifically analyses existing barriers, from cultural prejudices and language difficulties to limitations in the recognition of skills, and proposes solutions to overcome them.

Gestione interculturale delle risorse umane: inserimento e sviluppo del personale straniero in Italia

Victoria Chitoroaga

Thesis, University of Padua Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies Master’s Degree Course in Government Sciences and Public Policies, 2025

A newly published book helps us to understand the tools of innovation

Many manufacturing organisations (and, ultimately, most modern companies) seem to be experiencing innovation that outpaces innovation. It is not just a question of the pace at which research progresses, but also of the timetable for accepting and applying its results. As always, careful consideration is required to understand this phenomenon, which is also evident in the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence.
In his recently published book ‘La macchina che si autoprogramma. In quali mani finirà l’innovazione?’ (The self-programming machine: in whose hands will innovation end?), Francesco Maria De Collibus begins his reasoning from these considerations. Within the confines of a limited space, he attempts to clarify the relationship between two pivotal components of innovation: Artificial Intelligence and information technology.
According to De Collibus, it is Artificial Intelligence that is devouring software today. In just a few months, we have gone from a time when programming required years of study to a new reality where we only have to describe what we want in everyday language to see the code write itself. What might the outcome be? The reader is taken on a two-stage journey to learn about this technological transition. First, the focus is on what computers and programming are. Then, there is an in-depth look at the characteristics of Artificial Intelligence. De Collibus, a philosopher and computer scientist with extensive experience in information technology, touches on events in Silicon Valley and the activities of major companies such as GitHub Copilot, as well as emerging companies such as Cursor and Replit. The aim is to show not only how the role of programmers is changing, but also what it means to create technology today.
While the book does not provide solutions for every situation, it does provide tools to help readers better understand and respond to a series of questions whose answers must become part of our collective awareness. Questions on how to think about our time, how to think with totally new tools and how to make sense of the vast amount of information and suggestions offered every day.

La macchina che si autoprogramma. In quali mani finirà l’innovazione?
Francesco De Collibus
EGEA, 2025

On 4 December 2025, at the Pirelli Headquarters in Milano Bicocca, the two finalist shortlists of the fifth edition of the Campiello Junior award were selected. The literary prize, created through a collaboration between Fondazione Il Campiello, the Pirelli Foundation and Pirelli, celebrates works of Italian fiction and poetry written for children aged 7 to 10 and young readers aged 11 to 14.

The selection of the finalist works was entrusted to the expert jury, chaired by Pino Boero, a distinguished former professor of Children’s Literature and the Pedagogy of Reading. The members were Chiara Lagani, an actress and playwright; Michela Possamai, a lecturer at IUSVE University in Venice and former member of the Campiello Giovani Technical Committee; Emma Beseghi, former professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Bologna; and Lea Martina Forti Grazzini, an author and screenwriter for Rai radio and television.

After carefully reviewing nearly a hundred submissions, the three finalists for the 7–10 age group are: Album per pensare e non pensare by Mariangela Gualtieri (published by Bompiani), Il seminatore di storie e altri strani mestieri by Michela Guidi (published by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli editore) e Un fratellino. Storia di Nanni e Mario di Rosella Postorino (published by Adriano Salani editore).

For the 11–14 category, the three contenders for the prize will be: Il talento della rondine by Matteo Bussola (published by Adriano Salani editore), Segui la tigre by Luisa Mattia (published by Piemme) e Adelmo che voleva diventare Settimo by Daniele Mencarelli (published by Mondadori).

The event, hosted by Giancarlo Leone, also featured contributions from Antonio Calabrò, Director of the Pirelli Foundation, and Stefania Zuccolotto, member of the Premio Campiello management committee.

The baton now passes to the 240 young readers of the Popular Jury. They will be able to read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourite, helping to determine the winners. The final announcement will be made at the Teatro Comunale in Vicenza on Thursday 16 April 2026. The event will be presented by Armando Traverso from Rai Radio Kids, and directed by Davide Stefanato, to attend click here.

Thanks to the partnership between Campiello Junior and the Turin International Book Fair, young visitors to the 2026 edition will also have the opportunity to meet both winners.

For all the latest on all Campiello Junior activities, visit www.fondazionepirelli.org or follow the social media channels of the Pirelli Foundation and Premio Campiello.

Recently presented research study looks at the application of new marketing tools in the context of business narratives

 Telling your story with your brand is a  corporate marketing strategy and a tool for sharing your history, often in a genuine way.  This has become increasingly important in an age where brands play an increasingly central role in cultural and media narratives, and are no longer confined to promoting products through traditional advertising. Understanding how a brand is used in this context can therefore be important for understanding a company’s production culture,  which is what Carmine Palumbo attempts to achieve in his research project, ‘La narrazione del brand nel contesto audiovisivo.  Il caso E. Marinella’ (Brand Narration in the Audiovisual Context: The Case of E. Marinella), which was later developed into a thesis for the Master’s Degree Course in Economics and Management, Digital Marketing and Sustainability at Vanvitelli University.

Palumbo argues that modern marketing techniques, particularly product placement and brand storytelling, are strategic tools that can build meaning, convey values, and establish long-lasting symbolic connections with the public. This research aims to analyse these tools in their theoretical and practical dimensions, focusing specifically on the role of Mediterranean heritage and identity in the communication campaigns of a particular company (E. Marinella), as depicted in audiovisual narratives. First, the research defines the vocabulary and concepts, then delves into the tools of brand storytelling and product placement, before presenting a business case study.

Although limited to a single case study, Carmine Palumbo’s work contributes to a deeper understanding of an important and widespread topic in today’s business management.

La narrazione del brand nel contesto audiovisivo. Il caso E. Marinella

Carmine Palumbo

Thesis, University of Campania, Department of Economics, Master’s Degree Course in Economics and Management Digital Marketing and Sustainability, 2025

‘We must educate in the language of respect,’ says President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, emphasising the need for a commitment from institutions, cultural organisations, schools, families and the wider community to try to stop the increasing violence against women. This political and moral commitment is presented as a long-term strategy and a basic condition of civil coexistence and, therefore, of a full democracy founded on the combination of freedom and responsibility.

Anniversaries such as the celebration of 25 November, the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’,  are fundamental in raising public awareness, and initiatives in this vein are therefore welcome,  such as the ‘minute of noise’ organised in Piazza della Signoria in Florence by Quotidiano Nazionale/La Nazione,  which is the opposite of the fearful silence of the victims and the often complicit silence of many others. Other examples of events in Italian cities include the ‘red wave’ of ten thousand women in Milan’s square (accompanied by many men)  and the recent protests against a ‘rape list’, which appeared on the walls of the boy’s toilets at ‘Giulio Cesare’ high school in Rome just the day after the 25 November anniversary.

However, we must go beyond the symbolism of designated days  and insist on fundamental choices that will reverse the increasingly serious, dramatic and intolerable climate of violence and rape, including femicide (77 cases in 2025 according to the NonUnaDiMeno Observatory), harassment, verbal insults and hate speech online, manipulation and discrimination. We need to work on education, culture and norms, and indeed on  ‘educating in the language of respect’  and caring about feelings.

Parliament has addressed this issue with a law that was unanimously approved by the Chamber of Deputies. This law introduces the crime of femicide and defines consent in sexual acts as ‘free and current’, meaning it must be evident at every moment of the act. ‘Only yes means yes’, as Il Sole24Ore summarised on 25 November. But progress ground to a halt in the Senate on the anniversary of the protests against violence towards women due to resistance from Lega, who held back the centre-right and the government. ‘Missed opportunity’, read the headline in La Stampa on 26 November.  The parliamentary majority assures that it will be discussed again  in January.

Setting aside political manoeuvring, it is worth heeding President Mattarella’s advice to raise our eyes.  The law is important, of course,  but enforcement alone is not enough. We continue to be confronted with deep divisions in society regarding gender equality. This was recently exemplified by a government minister’s statement that ‘there is a resistance to gender equality in man’s DNA’.  This divide affects rights, labour, wages, incomes and the values that characterise a civilised society.  The goal  must be to promote female independence,  including economic independence.

Let’s talk about language. La Stampa (25 November) ran a headline reading  ‘The violence of words’ for an article by Massimiliano Panarari documenting how ‘hatred flows every day, especially against women’, and how  ‘from politics to sport, even language becomes a weapon to crush those perceived as weaker’. Words are stones, not because of their solid, incisive importance (in the sense of Carlo Levi’s beautiful literary synthesis) but because they are capable of striking, hurting and upsetting.  In male-dominated and patriarchal societies, stoning is used as a form of punishment against women.

The context is one of degradation. For years, we have been facing an increasing impoverishment of language: a drying up of vocabulary (everything is ‘cute’, ‘cool’, ‘extraordinary’ or ‘fantastic’), and emotions are being reduced to basic social media tools such as ‘likes’ and emojis. So, crude expressions that open the door to love/hate dynamics.  Tribal and clan logic (friends and enemies).  And violence.

However, feelings, even those concerning affection, are a complex mix of often conflicting emotions.  Accurately representing them requires words and images capable of doing justice to their rich complexity. As evidenced by the verses of the Song of Songs and the Greek lyricists, as well as the contrasting works of Catullus and Ovid (‘I can live neither with you nor without you’) and Prevert (‘Young people in love embrace standing up, leaning against the gates of the night’), not to mention the countless songs that speak of love (‘…empty is the city if you are not there’ by Mina), love is a universal theme.

Educating on love and feelings is essentially educating on language,  and the richness, variety and strength of words.

Looking again at Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, with Portia’s legal trickery and romantic twist that reverses the fortunes of Antonio, the debtor. Then Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with Zerlina’s emotional turmoil and Donna Elvira’s torment and redemption.  These are extraordinary women who deserve our attention and respect.  Then there is Leopardi with his Silvia.  Then Szimborska’s ‘Love at First Sight’: ‘Every beginning, in fact, is only a continuation, and the book of events is always open in the middle’.  And Alda Merini: ‘Last night was love, you and I, fugitives and runaways…’.  Listening again to Schubert’s music and Brahms’ compositions dedicated to his beloved Clara Schumann. And thinking about great works of art,  like Antonello da Messina’s depiction of the face of the Annunciation, with her hand stretched forward to ask the Angel with gentle firmness to stop time and thus allow her to understand what that act of love, that conception, of which she had just been made aware was (the model for that Madonna was the woman intensely loved by the painter).

Working with words and stories told through images that evoke intense feelings and values,  insisting on the importance of emotions, even in the inevitable cycle of love and pain, waiting and meeting, ecstasy and mourning.  In recognising that all love is imperfect because we are all imperfect, men and women alike,  and that in the intertwining of feelings, truth is a fire that burns away the dross of silence and misunderstanding, opening up new, unexplored paths.

A lesson in literature, art and everyday life. It is an unusual and surprising way of life that overturns apparent oxymorons.  Lucio Piccolo, the elegant and melancholic poet and cousin of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, wrote, ‘Even the bramble had its bends of sweetness, even the plum tree had its whiteness.’  It is about learning to look beyond the banality of appearances.  Knowing that even in the worst moments, there is hope for change,  the ‘sweetness of the bramble’, as it were.

The emotional, sexual and relational education that schools are asked to provide is just that: far from a rigid manual on gender,  it is the thoughtful reading of the classics and current affairs (the reasons of the heart, even plumbing the depths of the ‘heart of darkness’).  It is a cultural and  civil education. Words indicating the quality of relationships are emphasised:  kindness, for example; listening; gentleness; the attitude of ‘taking charge’; the ability to recognise ‘the other’s gaze’ and thus recognise oneself;  the habit of using ‘we’ instead of the egocentric ‘I’ in love stories.

And so, we should avoid the unhappy and mournful myth of Narcissus (unfortunately so fashionable today, especially among powerful men).  Instead, we should reflect on the myth of Ulysses, a man capable of loving knowledge and a woman,  Penelope,  and the other precious women who have given meaning to our lives.  My patient grandmother was a teacher, for example.

There it is: education in the language of feelings,  and the ability to come to terms with one’s emotions; to understand, process and renew them; and to keep them alive.  It means avoiding the intoxication of success, and accepting the heaviness of defeat and the loneliness of night, as in every human story.  It means going ‘beyond fragility’ and taking an example from the Japanese art of kintsugi: repairing precious things with a golden thread and giving them life again. Trying to find harmonies in our lives and relationships,  with patience and perseverance.  Love is passion and impetus, of course,  but also the careful cultivation of feelings and bonds.

Life, even love life, is a sense of limits,  of falling  and recovering. ‘The daring descents and the climbs,’ sang the lovable musical poet, Lucio Battisti.

It is in this complex wealth of values that we must build and strengthen the ‘family lexicon’, in order to cope with violence against women and  to understand the meaning of love that is not based on domination, prevarication, manipulation or violence,  but on care and respect,

good manners and consideration,  from childhood onwards,  at school and  in workplaces and  in society as a whole.

This is precisely the ‘language of respect’ of which President Mattarella speaks.  It is up to each of us to build and strengthen this language, as a social, cultural and civil duty and responsibility, starting with ourselves as individuals.

(Photo Getty Images)

A book that is essential for understanding social and economic action is republished

Understanding the concepts behind words  is always necessary, especially when it comes to the social and economic systems in which we operate.  Returning to classics such as Giovanni Sartori’s ‘Democrazia e definizioni’ (Democracy and definitions), first published in 1957 and reprinted several times since, is a good place to start.

In his book, the author, who was just over thirty years old at the time of writing, tackles the fundamental problems and essential, perennial issues of democracy with logical rigour. He begins by emphasising the importance of precisely defining the meaning of the linguistic terms used.

However, as we continue reading, we delve into an examination of democracy in which the descriptive and normative dimensions become closely intertwined. Indeed, the entire book can be summarised in the opening lines of the preface (correctly reproduced in the newly published edition). The author writes,  ‘This book is not intended to be technical and therefore does not discuss “definitions” in the technical sense of the term.  By “definition”, I simply mean the need to establish the meaning or meanings of a linguistic term with a certain clarity and precision:  in our case, that of democracy’. But why? The answer is given immediately:  ‘Definitions are important because our judgements and our corresponding behaviours depend on the definitions to which they refer.  We are anti-democratic, democratic, or hyper-democratic depending on our conception of democracy’. This is where we move from definitions to behaviours and then to rules:  ‘Within a democratic experiment, we want a certain kind of democracy and reject another, measuring reality against a yardstick made up of definitions,’ as Sartori points out. These are the cornerstones from which Sartori proceeds in his writing and which the reader encounters, starting, of course, with ‘defining democracy’ (in the first part of the book) and moving on to the history of democracy (in the second part) through the analysis of the different ways (and therefore rules) in which this concept has been put into practice over time.

Taking into account what the author writes, ‘An investigation into democracy ends up being democratic.  I mean that it is not intended for a specialised circle of readers’, Giovanni Sartori’s book is certainly dense and must be approached with great attention. This is not because it is difficult for most people, but because it should be a tool of knowledge and culture for the reader.  A tool to be used in numerous areas of social and economic activity.

Democrazia e definizioni

Giovanni Sartori

il Mulino, 2025

The Montessori school experience at Falck

It’s called corporate welfare today.  A company focusing on its people. Caring for the well-being of those who work in the factory and offices. While this is certainly not common to all companies, it is widespread enough to find examples of it in a number of significant cases.  One such case is that of the Falck steelworks and ironworks in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, which promoted the application of Montessori pedagogy in schools for the children of its employees between 1952 and 1993.

Irene Pozzi (of the University of Bologna) writes about this experience in her article, ‘L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck’ (The application of Montessori pedagogy in the schools of the Lombard Falck steelworks and ironworks) (1952–1993), which was recently published in Nuova Secondaria.

Based on unpublished company sources (publications and archive documents), the article describes the educational initiatives implemented at Falck. These initiatives were made possible thanks to the collaboration between Maly Falck (wife of the company chairman at the time, Giovanni Falck) and Giuliana Sorge, a renowned disciple of Maria Montessori. On the one hand, the Falck Montessori schools were an extremely significant educational experiment for the company, and on the other, they were an important centre for Montessori education in the post-war period.

Therefore, the research has the characteristics of both pedagogical analysis and historical and corporate culture analysis. Irene Pozzi begins her investigation by focusing on the initiative’s educational approach and historical origins. She then moves on to its growth and consolidation in the 1960s, which culminated in a crisis in the steel industry and the closure of schools due to a decline in the school population and the steel crisis.

IIrene Pozzi’s narrative – because it is indeed a narrative, given the language used – guides the reader through an important experience that is an expression of a corporate culture whose memory must not be lost.

L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck (1952-1993)

Irene Pozzi

Nuova Secondaria – No. 2, October 2025 – year XLIII

The relationship between digital technologies, development and humanity

The development model that dominated at the turn of the century no longer holds sway.  So how do we keep an increasingly large and fragmented society together when it is discarding traditional moral order in the name of personal freedom? This is a very important question that everyone must answer, with the level of intensity growing according to one’s individual responsibilities within social systems. This question is successfully answered in ‘Macchine celibi.  Meccanizzare l’umano o umanizzare il mondo?’ (Celibate machines: Mechanising humans or humanising the world?), a book co-authored by sociologist and media anthropologist Chiara Giaccardi and sociologist Mauro Magatti.

So, how can we do it? The solution seems to lie in digital technologies, which offer themselves as an antidote to the disruptive impulses of our age. However, they also prove to be a powerful catalyst for new problems. The two observe that the result is paradoxical: maximum efficiency and maximum communication chaos are achieved with digital technology. While intelligent machines are becoming more human-like, humans are in danger of becoming ‘celibate machines’, i.e. isolated, high-performance individuals capable of great things, but lacking bonds and unable to recognise others. In other words, as Giaccardi and Magatti put it, ‘To move forward, it is necessary to think of digitisation not as a means of standardising and controlling, but as a way of nurturing the vital intelligence of people and groups. Technology alone cannot provide us with guidance; we need a new way of thinking that transcends the limitations of modern rationality.’ We need a ‘new way of thinking’ that restores fundamental principles of existence and human coexistence. This must start with the rediscovery of a ‘politics of the spirit’ that can give our societies meaning, connections and a future. The way forward lies in reviving what modernity has marginalised:  dialogue, thought and spirit.  After all, happiness is not celibate — nor is freedom.

The book takes the reader through several stages on a journey with a destination.  First, the concept of ‘digital rationalisation’ is clarified. Then, the many aspects that this rationalisation determines, from narcissism to aggression, are explored in depth. Finally, a way forward based on thought, complexity, plurality and dialogue is outlined.

Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti emphasise that we are at a crossroads.  It is up to us to choose the right path, otherwise we will end up as Luigi Pirandello astutely pointed out, as quoted by the authors themselves: ‘We are all becoming like machines; we no longer need a soul’.

Macchine celibi. Meccanizzare l’umano o umanizzare il mondo?

Chiara Giaccardi, Mauro Magatti

il Mulino, 2025

When we say Milan, what city are we talking about?  A city of 1.5 million inhabitants, into which at least another million people travel every day for work or study? Or a metropolis consisting of 133 municipalities and home to over three million people?  Or Italy’s largest university city, with 230,000 students across ten prestigious universities that are also well respected abroad? We could also tell the story of an area that produces 11% of the national GDP and is home to 34% of the foreign multinationals based in Italy, according to data from Assolombarda, the largest territorial organisation of Confindustria which brings together almost 8,000 companies in Milan, Monza and Brianza, Lodi and Pavia — ‘the productive and innovative heart of the country’. Or we could talk about the metropolitan centre of gravity of a vast industrial and dynamic area in Europe, stretching from Turin and Genoa to Veneto and Trieste, and from the Alps to the Via Emilia. Milan is therefore the ‘infinite city’, to repeat Aldo Bonomi’s pertinent and famous definition.

And it is a Milan to be governed.  But how? The sheer scale of the ongoing transformations and the radical nature of the changing processes (from economic growth to social issues) reveal that, although Milan is a market metropolis, it cannot be reduced solely to the logic of the market and productivity. Its attractiveness to people, capital, ideas and businesses requires foundations that are more solid than the fundamental parameters of competitiveness. Civic virtues and social values are needed, as are international cultural exchanges and, above all, good politics and effective public administration.

As the figure at the beginning shows, these issues cannot be governed solely at the municipal level. With one and a half million residents, and another million people arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening, Milan’s population almost doubles on a daily basis, with all the attendant problems of transport, cleaning, services, security, catering and waste.

Therefore, the scale must be at least of a metropolitan city, with better application of the relevant regulations (the founding law dates from 1990, inclusion in the Constitution from 2001, implementation from 2014 and formal operation instead of the old provinces from 2015 —  a quarter of a century, a very long time).  It must also be provided with financial and professional resources.

However, the trouble is that the metropolitan city has never worked well. ‘The Great Ghost of Milan,’ writes Corriere della Sera (28 October) and ‘A restrained but strategic giant’ (29 October). The mayor of the metropolitan city is the same as that of the capital, Beppe Sala.  But the perception of the role and relative powers has always been marginal. With negative consequences for all the areas concerned.

So, do we need a ‘special law’ for Milan, like the one in force for Rome? Maybe, as long as there are adequate allocations for public services and fiscal incentives for private investment to accompany public resources, and as long as the standards are based on the metropolitan area.

However, we need to go one step further. The real issue with services is to consider them not only from an administrative perspective, but also in terms of the movement of people, products and jobs.  This would involve developing proposals for unions, consortia of municipalities and public-private partnerships, depending on the services to be provided, and would create a new political, economic and administrative landscape.  However, this would need to be tested, bearing in mind the positive fiscal examples of other European countries. Piero Borghini, who was mayor of Milan in the early 1990s, refers to Manchester’s experience of using locally produced tax resources to build governance of services ‘from below’ rather than ‘from the top’ of administrative leadership. New ideas, the dynamism of a society on the move (Corriere della Sera, 31 October).

In any case, Milan is multifaceted and, to use Lucio Dalla‘s words, ‘close to Europe’.  And it is certainly not ‘livid and sunk by its own hand’, as Ivano Fossati wrote in ‘Steam Trains’ (but that was in 1992, the year investigations began into the Tangentopoli system of political and financial corruption). Polycentric Milan cannot be reduced to the stereotypes of a hectic and wealthy city, a ‘city of a thousand lights’ for fashion, design and luxury living. However, it is also difficult to understand based solely on the stylistic features derived from the widespread reports of corruption in public administration (although the judicial inquiries into alleged urban planning irregularities in the municipality have not found solid evidence), and the growing violence in the ‘movida’ areas, where petty crime is perceived as an emergency.

However, there are shadows over the soul of a city said to be losing its ability to combine work and culture, productivity and solidarity. Bonomi is right to write of a metropolis in the midst of an ‘interrupted metamorphosis’, at risk of losing its social cohesion (IlSole24Ore, 29 October). This is partly due to an increasing inability, or perhaps unwillingness, to combine the dimensions of needs and rights. However, even in the most challenging neighbourhoods, it is possible to find stories of solidarity and social commitment brought to life by organisations, institutions, and voluntary groups in the ‘third sector’ (Caritas Ambrosiana is a prime example, though by no means the only one).

Therefore, before the city plunges into the rhetoric of electoral propaganda for the election of a new mayor and city council in 2027, it makes sense to discuss in depth the ongoing transformations and the political and cultural tools needed to tackle the problems exacerbated by Milan’s status as the Italian region most affected by overwhelming economic phenomena, such as the transition from industrial to post-industrial production at the end of the 20th century, and the current mutations linked to the ‘knowledge economy’ and the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence.

Much has been said about the ‘crisis of the Milan model’. But Milan is by no means a model; it is a land in motion, an economic engine and a ‘factory of the future’ (a term dear to Assolombarda), as well as a magnet for attracting intelligence and capital. It is also a cultural and social hub with the capacity to engage in in-depth self-reflection, a rare quality in the Italy of the ‘strapaese’, the movement that championed traditional, rural, and nationalistic values over cosmopolitan and modernist ones and which is characterised by a sense of proud parochialism.

This is a Milan that needs to be understood and explained better.  It should be severely criticised, and yet it should also be designed with love and lived in.

A good example of this attitude is the discussion organised by the Centro Studi Grande Milano and chaired by Daniela Mainini, with Roberto Poli acting as director. Taking place on Wednesday 26th at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica, the event is aptly titled ‘Milan is its destiny:  ideas and projects for the city’. Speakers will include Cristina Messa, Agnese Pini, Venanzio Postiglione, Gianmario Verona and myself. Milan’s destiny stems from its history and character, and encompasses ‘enterprising dialogue’, culture and solidarity, innovation and reformist awareness, enlightenment, polytechnic culture, civic sentiment, education and science.

In fact, this is a Milan that must learn to take greater account of the opinions of other Italian and European cities.  It cannot abandon the economic and social characteristics that underpin its activities and, over time, have enabled millions of people to ‘become Milanese’. Citizens who are both enterprising and supportive.

(photo Getty Images)

In the 1980s, Pirelli’s designs benefited from the use of new tools made possible by advances in computing technologies. The following decade saw the development of an important academic partnership with the creation of the Consortium for Research on Optical Switching and Processing in Milan (CoreCom) together with the Politecnico University of Milan. The Consortium soon became a European benchmark for research on optical communications, pioneering work also in networks and special optical fibres. Innovation, however, did not concern materials and products alone. In 1999, at Bicocca, Pirelli presented its Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRSTM) for automated tyre production. Protected by twenty-two patents, it made it possible to manufacture high- and ultra-high-performance tyres in small batches with very rapid development times, ushering in new logistics and customer service possibilities. This represented a radical shift from traditional production processes. In 2001, the partnership between Pirelli and the University of Milano-Bicocca gave rise to the Consortium for Research on Advanced Materials (CORIMAV), which was set up to develop cutting-edge materials technologies and to support research activities and promote training for young people.

Training, research and development remain a strategic asset for Pirelli today: more than 2,000 people work in R&D across the Milan headquarters and the company’s twelve technological centres around the world, and the Group continues to work with suppliers, universities and vehicle manufacturers to anticipate technological innovation. Pirelli’s long-term goal is to replace 100% of fossil- and mineral-based raw materials with bio-based, renewable or recycled components. In addition to this, 80% of aftermarket tyres are now developed using virtual models and simulations, reducing design and production times and costs. The shift towards an increasingly sustainable industry takes time, but the direction is clear: what is research today will become reality tomorrow.

This constant drive to investigate, to go and look “inside things”, is the profound meaning of the great mosaic entitled Scientific Research, created in 1961 from a design by Renato Guttuso and preserved – significantly – in the study room of the Pirelli Foundation. Surrounded by their microscopes and calculators, the scientists imagined by the painter are intent on observing the Moon. A goal later achieved, and from which we now look further still, towards what lies beyond and cannot yet be seen, but which study, research, and the intelligence of humans and machines will one day reveal.

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