A graduate thesis from LUISS University discusses the terms that regulate public and private action within an important realm of society

Cooperating for the good of a territory and the community which inhabits it. For some time now, we’ve seen the need for a new way of shaping relations between a region’s economic-productive dimension and its social-human one. Of course, whether this new approach is actually implemented is a whole different story. But there are certainly areas where progress can be made and these areas are at the core of Alice Di Giovine’s graduate thesis, recently defended at LUISS University (Department of Economics).
“Growth and value creation through conservation of cultural property. The role of private parties and the non-profit sector” is a neat and well-structured discussion on the relations between private initiatives, social entrepreneurship and the conservation of cultural heritage. The author has identified a thread linking various elements (government, private parties and culture) which, if properly managed and coordinated, could work in synergy with excellent results.
Her thesis begins with a thorough assessment of governmental actions within the realm of cultural heritage preservation, then examines the work of non-profit entities within that same area and their behaviour as businesses. Finally, the study delves into the role of foundations, which can act as support instruments for both the aforementioned parties (with an example from FAI, Italy’s national trust).
In Di Giovine’s own words: “The past few years have seen a tendency on the part of public institutions to give more and more leeway to private players. The non-profit sector has been especially involved, with numerous economic initiatives in support of cultural heritage sites. Many sites have thus been restored thanks to the efforts of experienced foundations, to the delight of tourists and citizens alike. Such initiatives can therefore be regarded as tools of social innovation applied to the management of our cultural heritage.” All in all, Di Giovine seems to also be advocating a different way of understanding the civic entrepreneurship culture. Indeed, she goes on to state: “It might be interesting to see this trend as the beginning of the end for the traditional welfare state, which is giving way to a ‘civic welfare’ in which the government, private entities and non-profits come together to provide services for the people. Therefore, this could be the dawn of a modern and innovative system, which opens its doors to direct citizen participation and administration of collective goods.”
This work by Alice Di Giovine may not introduce any ground-breaking theories, but it is a clear and exhaustive overview of the topic that helps make everything clearer.

“Growth and value creation through conservation of cultural property. The role of private parties and the non-profit sector”

Alice Di Giovine

LUISS University, Department of Economics Masters Degree in Economics and Management, 2018

Click here to download the pdf

Playing a game with friends, completing a project with classmates, bringing to life a new idea by working together, and expanding our horizons with the knowledge conveyed by books. Teaming up with others and learning by reading are important aspects of everyone’s life, and they help us mature by making the most of our strengths and differences so that we can be successful together.

“Teaming up” is the theme chosen by the Pirelli Foundation for #ioleggoperché 2019, a project launched by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) to promote books and a passion for reading. We will talk about this with students aged between 10 and 14, together with Luigi Garlando, a sports journalist and author of children’s books, during a meeting on the morning of Monday, 21 October at the Auditorium of the Pirelli Headquarters in Milano Bicocca. The event will have the extraordinary participation of Javier Zanetti, vice president of FC Internazionale Milano, Regina Baresi, Captain of Inter Women and Mario Isola, Motorsport Racing Manager Pirelli. Other speakers will be Marco Tronchetti Provera, executive vice president and CEO of Pirelli, Laura Galimberti, councillor for Education and Instruction of the Municipality of Milan, Ricardo Franco Levi, president of the Italian Publishers Association and Antonio Calabrò, director of the Pirelli Foundation.

The meeting will also provide an opportunity to talk about a project launched by the Pirelli Foundation to promote active cooperation between private companies, public institutions, and schools, showing how it is possible to make the territory prosper by creating synergies between the various entities that operate within it.

For further information on the event, please write to scuole@fondazionepirelli.org

A recent thesis investigates the most effective tools to apply to the Olivetti story

A good corporate culture serves as a synthesis of life principles and concrete achievements, an example for everyone. This is what happens when the production organisation comes to life in the hands of talented men and women who are capable of combining the goal of profit with other objectives, including social skills and developing the local area. Such paradigms are to be explored and studied, and one excellent example is the Olivetti experience. It is therefore interesting and useful to read “Il Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO di Ivrea, città industriale del XX secolo: analisi di un sistema integrato per la divulgazione dei valori Olivetti nell’età scolare” (The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ivrea, industrial city of the twentieth century: analysis of an integrated system for spreading Olivetti values ​​among school children), a dissertation by Martina Bosica defended at the Politecnico di Torino.

Bosica addresses the subject of the Olivetti business culture from the point of view of the links between the company, the local area and UNESCO principles. Indeed, Ivrea and its surrounding area have recently been recognised as a World Heritage Site. But there’s more. Martina Bosica studies the interweaving of the aforementioned themes with a particular look at the most suitable tools to explain them carefully to young people. The purpose of her paper is clear: to study how to communicate the principles of Olivetti entrepreneurship to young people, by helping them understand, experience and, if possible, convert them into a more mature awareness of work.

The thesis begins with a two-pronged introduction: on the one hand is the design of cultural assets (a discipline that can provide the “tools” needed to accomplish this), and on the other hand is the direction and meaning of UNESCO in relation to Olivetti. The research then takes into consideration the Canavese area, Ivrea and Olivetti, before returning to the operational core of the investigation: the identification of the best tools to effectively communicate the Olivetti approach to youth.

Martina Bosica’s work is interesting because she is able to tackle a complex thought process – like the one around business culture and youth – in an analytical manner that is both readable and useful.

Il Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO di Ivrea, città industriale del XX secolo: analisi di un sistema integrato per la divulgazione dei valori Olivetti nell’età scolare.
Martina Bosica
Tesi, Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, 2019

Click here to download PDF

A book that discusses the relationship between man and robotics and provides useful elements for those in business

First mechanisation, then automation, then digitalisation, then beyond 4.0 up to virtual reality, which is the immateriality of it all. The path that technologies have taken – and the entire social structure and production methods along with them – in a relatively short time, is clearly another major leap in quality by humankind. While this leap has certainly not happened instantaneously, it is definitely characterised by rapidity that poses considerable questions regarding approach and behaviour.

The general question is simple: how do we behave and how do we relate to new technologies that change and age so quickly? Sherry Turkle (who teaches Sociology of Science and Technology at MIT in Boston and who has been studying the psychology of human beings in relation to technologies for thirty years) is here to help those who are wondering about this bundle of issues. Considering the relationship between humankind and new technologies, Turkle leads the reader of Insieme ma soli (Together But Alone) along a path that is also useful to anyone who manages production organisations using technology.

The author’s observation seems obvious on the surface: all our private lives depend more and more on technology. Immediately after this observation, Turkle adds that by using (browsing) social media, one has the illusion of being part of a group of friends, of having more information at hand and of “living more and more to the full”. In fact, we are confused between the amount of information and messages that arrive and real communication in the form of authentic awareness of others, actual human contact. The message of the book is that being constantly connected only creates a new solitude, with all the consequences this brings. The emotions of individuals and their sense of balance, their vision of the world and of people in their lives, their aspirations, the amount they feel when reality hits, the very perception of reality: all of this is therefore at stake.

The book reads almost like a story told by several people. It’s a pleasant book to read, even when taking the simple and clear separation of topics into account: first the “robotic moment” which outlines the new private solitude and then, the “connection” which illustrates a privacy that leads to new solitudes.

Based on hundreds of interviews collected over years of field research, Insieme ma soli describes the recent, disturbing transformations of relationships with friends, loved ones, parents and children, and all the precariousness of our beliefs concerning privacy and community, intimacy and solitude. On the one hand it presents the problem, but on the other, it offers a resolution. Faced with the problem of technological solitude, it’s important to recover tangible relationships with people. This claim also applies to the production and business system. In other words, Insieme ma soli brings the goodness of humanity and socialisation back to the forefront as regards the virtual and technological reality.

Reading this book is therefore something that should be done by anyone who wants to better understand the meaning not only of relations between men and women, but also unique aspects of modern life and productive activities.

Insieme ma soli
Sherry Turkle
Einaudi, 2019