The Italian economy is on the rise again, though only by a fraction – and this fraction is progressively shrinking, 0.7% this year and an expected 0.5% in 2024. Unfortunately, then, we’re back to that flat and stagnant state that marked the last 20 years, trailing behind all main European countries after those erratic post-Covid times, when the country actually bounced back and even started recovering (8.3% in 2021 and 3.7% in 2022). Household consumption is down, stock lying in companies’ warehouses is dwindling and export is low, loans are few and far apart and industrial production is decreasing – it all paints a dreary picture for the future.

Data released on Saturday by the Centro Studi Confindustria research centre, as part of a report entitled “L’Italia torna alla bassa crescita?” (“Is Italy back to a slow growth?”) (Il Sole24Ore, 29 October) confirms trends already highlighted by the International Monetary Fund, the EU and the main international watchdogs. That question mark in the title, however, seems to suggest two things: concern that the economic situation might yet be further affected by current strains and uncertainties, but also hope that the slow growth might get a chance to pick up, perhaps through the implementation of more appropriate economic, fiscal and industrial policies that may reverse this negative trend.

Essentially, the future of our economy, our employment market and our earnings is not yet set in stone, a decline could be avoided and better times may yet be ahead, although, of course, only if…

Let’s look at the factors we already know: a general hyperglobalisation crisis that affected the transition from the 20th century to the new millennium, carrying with it intolerable disparities and inequalities; geo-political tensions swaying a multipolar world marked by conflicts between the United States and China and the devastating strength of new and powerful international players (such as India’s rapid growth); a dramatic outburst of armed conflicts, from the Russian invasion of the Ukraine to the war in the Middle East, which undermined already fragile international trade relations and disrupted assets in the Mediterranean region, with repercussions on both the security and energy fronts.

Europe, also thanks to its historical heritage – a unique blend of economic development and widespread wealth, social democracy and justice (Patrizio Banchi in la Repubblica, 11 September) – could yet play a key role in restoring balance and optimism, further aided by its shared monetary and fiscal policies, which proved a success in both political and cultural terms, but it’s currently struggling to voice an authoritative and unanimous approach.

To such an already negative climate, we can further add the inflation rate and the cost of money, a demographic imbalance and the impact of pressures generated by the technological and environmental transitions, whose social cost we are currently paying while we’re learning to handle their evolution so as to reap their benefits – sadly, however, the road is long and paved with misgivings.

We are basically living in a profoundly uncertain era and, day after day, unfolding events give rise to darkest thoughts – these are circumstances ill-suited to our growth and development needs for sure.

Moreover, Italy has to pay an additional price, which aggravates the situation: being an export country, the fall in international trade has brought its economy to a halt. The recession in Germany (Italy’s main industrial and commercial partner) is having an impact on several manufacturing sectors, starting with the automotive and mechatronics ones (“Germany’s hardships bear down on our GDP”, asserts Mario Deaglio, La Stampa, 13 September). Italy’s rising public debt doesn’t allow for the implementation of fiscal and public expenditure levers that could stimulate investment and recovery, as it’s happening in the United States and Germany. Up to now, political and public administration incompetence has prevented the creation of opportunities calling for the significant financial resources (237 billion in non-repayable loans and funds) made available by the PNRR, the Italian recovery and resilience plan (an intriguing description of current circumstances can be found in PNRR. La grande abbuffata – PNRR. A bingeing spree, a book by Tito Boeri and Roberto Perotti recently published by Feltrinelli).

So, is Italy’s bleak fate really and inexorably sealed? “Is it all wrong, should I start over?” as Gino Bartali used to joke? Not at all – indeed, the great champion who used to grumble and complain and yet triumphed in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia had to backpedal on his own words.

And furthermore, one of the sharpest commentators of the Italian economy and society, Giuseppe De Rita, president of Censis, offers a controversial viewpoint: “When talking about the real economy, nobody ever mentions those parts of the country that are malfunctioning – key parts of the economic systems that are left unattended” (Corriere della Sera, 25 October). Let’s go back to the 1970s. After the Yom Kippur War, when Israel defeated an extremely powerful alliance of Arab countries, energy prices went berserk, the Western economies underwent a terribly harsh period of reconstruction, inflation in Italy surpassed the double figures, public finances were in dire straits and, moreover, Italy was struggling through the “Years of lead”, a period of social unrest and terrorism. No one noticed it at the time, yet the Italian industry, little by little, was stealthily and “informally” restructuring itself over the territories, creating new competitive assets. We only realised this in the early 1980s, when an extraordinary amount of financial liquidity became available, looking for outlets and good investments, and Italy found itself wealthy and dynamic, thriving with innovative industrial districts as well as newly risen and brazen industrial, financial, fashion and advertisement moguls and tycoons.

And today? De Rita invites us to take a proper look within the hidden corners of Italian society and, despite figures pointing to a crisis, nonetheless give a voice and clear the way for those who are producing, innovating, growing and manufacturing: “Italian enterprises that are still in business are actually noticing some signs of life – feeble, yet there nonetheless: Italy’s driving engine – Milan and the Lombardy region – is still running well; the north-east is overcoming its economic dependency from Germany; the Emilia Romagna region and part of the Marche region abound with excellent assets; tourism in Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio (Rome), Apulia and Sicily has been booming.”

Basically, De Rita insists that “paying more attention to these more vigorous parts of the economy would boost morale, and as we’re about to face what is likely going to be a difficult winter, this is more important than speculations about public finances.”

Those familiar with the extremely complex – at times controversial and even contradictory – nature of Italian manufacturing can only agree with De Rita’s assessment. In fact, they recognise the successful reorganisation efforts of districts and production supply chains; the large and medium producers of green steel located between Cremona and Brescia; the enterprises who have embraced environmental and social sustainability as powerful and international competitive assets; the initiatives that are reviving the industrial north-west regions through fertile collaborations with entrepreneurial associations in Milan, Turin and Genoa; the industries that are revamping products and processes, making acquisitions and building partnerships abroad – such dynamism may not yet be fuelling the whole country or its economy, but can keep the crisis at bay and provide the foundations for the recovery. As Carlo Bonomi, president of entrepreneurial association Confindustria, concisely comments, “This is a complex scenery, but the industry remains strong. Italy can make it” (Il Sole24Ore, 5 October).

We just need some suitable Italian and European policies to strengthen such resilient social capital built on entrepreneurship and a desire for change – we just need a new and better culture rooted in responsibility.

(photo Getty Images)

From 4 to 28 November 2023, the Spazio Murat in Bari will host the exhibition Saperi visibili: un secolo di oggetti del made in Italy attraverso il packaging (“Visible Wisdom: A Century of Italian Artefacts through Packaging”) curated by Chiara Alessi. The show looks at the history of company products that have entered the popular imagination in Italy. Organised by the Club delle Imprese per la Cultura di Confindustria Bari e BAT (Barletta Andria Trani), this exhibition is a part of the second Biennale dei Racconti di Impresa. The Biennale explores the creative and cultural dimensions of the business world through various art forms, including literature, theatre, cinema, and the visual arts – the last of these being the focus of the 2023 edition.

Among the 20 products chosen, one standout piece is the polyethylene container designed by the Milanese architect and designer Roberto Menghi for Pirelli. The exhibition also includes original advertising materials from the 1950s and 1960s for these Pirelli containers. The advertisements were created by some of the great names in the world of design and photography, such as Aldo Ballo, Raymond Gfeller and Albe Steiner. There are also photographs that show how these objects were shown at various trade fairs, including the Verona Agricultural Fair, and in the windows of historical shops, such as Moroni Gomme.

Menghi’s container for liquids gives tangible form to the Made in Italy label, in its design but above all in the choice of material. Polypropylene was invented by Giulio Natta, who in 1963 became the only Italian to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. In the late 1930s Pirelli and SIPGS – the Italian association for the production of synthetic rubber, which had been set up together with IRI – commissioned Natta to find an alternative to the increasingly complex process of importing natural rubber from plantations in South America and the Far East. In 1937 Natta and his team worked at the laboratories in Milano Bicocca to solve the problems involved in the production of synthetic rubber and in 1938 he filed two patents for the separation of butylene and butadiene.

The third edition of Campiello Junior is now fully under way, and the time has come to announce the finalists.

The ceremony for the announcement of the two shortlists will be held on Friday 10 November 2023, at 11 a.m. at the Pirelli HQ Auditorium.

During the ceremony, which will be streamed live on the Premio Campiello YouTube channel, the three finalist books for each of the two Campiello Junior categories will be announced: 7-10 years and 11-14 years.

The shortlists will be announced by the Technical Jury chaired by Pino Boero, former professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Genoa. The members of the Jury are Chiara Lagani, an actress and playwright, Michela Possamai, a professor at the IUSVE University in Venice and David Tolin, a bookseller and member of the ALIR board.

The speakers at the meeting, which will be moderated by Giancarlo Leone, will include Antonio Calabrò, the director of the Pirelli Foundation, and Enrico Carraro, the president of the Fondazione Il Campiello.

To stay up to date with the Premio Campiello Junior and its events, please visit: www.fondazionepirelli.org and www.premiocampiello.org.

We look forward to seeing you!

Countless artists and illustrators have contributed to Pirelli’s advertising throughout its long and remarkable history. Over two hundred of them were catalogued for the release of our book, A Muse in the Wheels: Pirelli, a Century of Art at the Service of Its Products, published in 2015 by Corraini Edizioni. Yet much still remains to be brought to light: anonymous works to be attributed, signatures and initials to be deciphered, and authors’ names to be discovered. Today, the meticulous research carried out by Dario Fangaresi, a passionate and knowledgeable expert in advertising art, has enabled some of the most exquisite Pirelli advertisements from the 1920s, previously shrouded in anonymity, to be attributed to their apparent creator. These are seven drawings in India ink, or India ink and tempera, signed “Elio”, most of which are for advertisements for erasers but, in two cases, for raincoats.

These advertisements were published in 1920 and 1921 in the magazines of the Touring Club Italiano, Rivista Mensile and Le vie d’Italia, as well as La Sorgente. Rivista mensile per l’educazione della gioventù, the organ of the Touring Club Committee for school trips. This explains the playful tone of the subjects, with the presence of animals and characters like those of children’s illustrations and cinema (such as the moon in the sky in sketch no. 72, which recalls A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès). At the same time, we are in the presence of “humorous and sophisticated creations”, as Giovanna Ginex, the editor of A Muse In the Wheels, describes them, which betray the influence of European avant-garde graphics. There are numerous references, such as the bulldog in sketch no. 74, which echo the symbol of the satirical magazine Simplicissimus created by Thomas Theodor Heine, or the cat in sketch no. 75, which recalls the Der Panther poster by Lucian Bernhard of Berlin. These are the works of an artist who is witty, refined, and cultured, but who had not then been identified. Fangaresi’s investigations began with the recognition of other works signed “Elio”. There is a “Gomme Pirelli” (“Pirelli Tyres”) advertisement from 1919, now in the Collezione Salce, made for an Alfa Romeo car dealer. The lettering is identical to that of the Pirelli eraser advertisements preserved by the Foundation, with the “G” in the word “Gomma” extending like the “P” in “Pirelli”.

The Salce Collection attributes this poster to Ettore Elio Ximenes. With this as his starting point, the scholar found that the association of “Elio” with the famous artist Ettore Ximenes can also be seen in other works. However, not convinced that Elio was simply Ettore’s second name, he examined the members of the Ximenes family and found that of the seven brothers and sisters, all of whose names begin with “E”, five were artists. As well as the better-known Eduardo, who also worked for Pirelli, particularly on a lithograph for the 1881 exhibition, and Ettore, one of the greatest sculptors of his time, there were also Enrico, Empedocle, and the youngest, Eliodoro. The hypothesis, therefore, is that the signature “Elio” might well be that of Eliodoro. Support for this theory comes from a number of works that have been tracked down by Fangaresi. These are signed Elio, Elio Ximenes, and especially Eliodoro Ximenes. Examples include the header illustration for the first issue of the 1898 periodical Vomere and the illustration of the trial of the anarchist Gaetano Bresci published in The Graphic in 1900. The signature becomes shorter and shorter over time, becoming “Elio” in the Pirelli advertisements, but also just the initials “EX” or the abbreviation “Elio Xim” in a rectangle, as in some advertisements for the town of Roncegno, in the Trentino Alps, or for the Monte Carlo Golf Club. We know very little about Eliodoro Ximenes’s life beyond his place and year of birth, although this is not certain (Palermo, 1873) and of death (Surrey Northern, England, 1954). Much about this artist still remains to be tracked down and studied, but today he officially joins the ranks of Pirelli artists.

A recently published book summarises the technical and psychological aspects of succession

Good management and the assurance that what was built is perpetuated – successions are crucial events (both in families and businesses), as handing over the baton is a complex occurrence requiring proper planning. Furthermore, it shows how good and forward-looking a company’s corporate culture is. A matter of effectiveness, but also responsibility, and not only towards one’s family or close work collaborators. These are only some of the notions tackled in Insieme verso il futuro. Come creare un patto di famiglia duraturo (Together towards the future. How to create a long-lasting family pact), written by Alessandra Bussi Moratti (psychologist) and Pasquale Dui (lawyer) with the collaboration of Sergio Malizia (financial advisor).

The book’s aim is to explain how to manage generational transitions in SMEs in an effective and socially responsible manner. An aim that can be effectively attained through different approaches (the book focuses on one in particular), though all share the same trait: the necessity to involve reliable and highly qualified professionals such as lawyers, psychologists, accountants, notaries and financial advisors. Successions are fraught with hazards but also opportunities, and more than other events they highlight an enterprise’s cultural approach to production and knowledge – an approach that, even today, is not always as widespread as it should be.

The book’s sections are presented in linear fashion: from a summary of relevant legislation to the elements of classic hereditary succession in general, up to corporate succession involving family relations and corporate structures. Its real essence lies perhaps in the in-depth analysis it provides of all aspects concerning a corporate organisation going through a generational transition, an occurrence that can be best dealt through a family pact.

Insieme per il futuro is not a corporate management book on how to deal with succession, and is also not (merely) a book on the intricate business ambitions entailed by a crucial event such as succession – it is rather a different work that regales us with something more, for sure.

Insieme verso il futuro. Come creare un patto di famiglia duraturo (Together towards the future. How to create a long-lasting family pact)

Alessandra Bussi Moratti, Pasquale Dui, Sergio Malizia

Key Editore, 2023

A recently published study by the Bank of Italy tackles the delicate topic of gender relations within the labour market and the economy

A matter of culture above all, but also of economy and wise management, good gender relations, and the ability to enhance all available resources, yet without falling into stereotypes, especially gender ones. Topics such as women’s labour, the gender gap, gender relations in factories and offices are certainly delicate and complex ones, but they must be dealt with – starting, as always, with a proper understanding of the realities surrounding it.

“Donne, mercato del lavoro e crescita economica” (“Women, labour markets and economic growth”) – written by Francesca Carta, Marta De Philippis, Lucia Rizzica and Eliana Viviano from the Bank of Italy – represents a solid basis for a correct understanding of the realities surrounding the gender gap in Italy’s labour market, their impact on the economic growth and the policies aimed at reducing such inequalities. The study – which includes a hefty analysis of a number of national and local data provided by the Bank of Italy – tackles the topic starting with a snapshot of the situation and then moving on to one of the key points of the question: the importance to teach gender equality at school. The authors go on to explore the theme of maternity and the labour market before moving on to the interactions between family and the tax system, and finally to the complex subject of career progression in relation to gender issues.

Thus, they identify at least three key points that still require some work before real gender equality in society and in production systems can be attained. First of all, an adequate education, both in schools and in general, which would provide the tools required in a viable labour market (whose rules also need to change); then, compatible work and family responsibilities (accompanied by appropriate financial rewards); and finally, the recognition that women’s career progression is still happening at a too slow pace.

Gender equality, squeezed between labour market’s rules and economic growth, still has a long way to go, but it needs to keep up its determination and keep on going. A matter of culture – as we said above – that will then spill over into all other social and economic spheres.

Women, labour markets and economic growth

Francesca Carta, Marta De Philippis, Lucia Rizzica, Eliana Viviano

Banca d’Italia, Workshops and conference, 2023

Milan considers and reconsiders itself, keeps on investing in its universities – currently well-placed in international rankings thanks to the quality of their teaching and research (200,000 students: an extraordinary wealth of minds, knowledge and passion) – and critically scrutinises, too, the prevailing factors determining its “attractiveness”, as it strives to improve living conditions and economic development, spread social welfare, culture and participation. All in the effort to remain – constraints and contradictions marking our difficult times notwithstanding – a civitas, an active space inhabited by a cives, a community made of mindful and responsible citizens, rather than just an urbs, a mere cluster of structures, edifices, public and private buildings.

A notion that, nowadays, not only informs politics and public administration but also – and above all – civic organisations, cultural associations, business and financial institutions and “third sector” enterprises.

The myth of a Milan that never stops – cherished by most in the wake of the Expo – has been dispelled, so much so that even mayor Beppe Sala now says “No to a 24/7 metropolis: this idea of a city running around the clock, a city that never sleeps, no longer feels right… because I believe that cities need to rest too, just like human beings, with business hours that are suitable to most” (Corriere della Sera, 18 October).

The sparkle of the “thousand lights” of finance and fashion, and the disenchanted creativity of dejected citizens (see Il milanese imbruttito blog) are finally giving way to the growing awareness that social divides, new and old poverty, issues such as traffic, pollution, safety, and so on, must be addressed. Moreover, issues inherent to so-called overtourism are disrupting neighbourhoods, social habits, foods and cultures, engendering a mass homogenisation that’s overshadowing urban peculiarities.

If nothing else, the city continues to attract capital and talent – both still on the rise, fortunately (“Milan, queen of investments” reassures us Il Sole24Ore, 19 October) – and thus, by necessity, will have to tackle the intolerable rise of living costs and inaccessible house prices, factors that are actually discouraging those younger generations choosing Milan to get an education and set up companies and demanding accessible life and employment options.

True, the council has started to undertake some first significant actions (“20,000 new low-cost houses in 10 years: Milan’s plan to beat high rents”, headlines la Repubblica, 14 October). And businesses – supported by Alessandro Spada, president of entrepreneurial association Assolombarda (Corriere della Sera, 17 October) – are willing to become the “custodians of the city”, taking up the invitation proffered by the archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini, and have floated the idea for a “Milanese alliance” that will turn Milan into a “welcoming metropolis” attentive to its younger population’s demand for a better future.

After all, Milan has always been distinguished by its hospitable culture, one of its most positive traits whose roots go back to the medieval edict drafted by bishop Ariberto d’Intimiano in 1018: “Those who know what work is come to Milan. And those who come to Milan are free people” – that is, work and entrepreneurship as the foundation for citizenship (readers of this blog will already be familiar with the quote).

Over time, the open and well-rounded city that was Milan (its gates were actually toll houses, i.e. trading posts, rather than hostile or defensive measures), not too hard-edged – architecturally, too – found its identity and function as a hub where the major routes connecting Northern Europe and the Mediterranean met, a Western culture with pathways to the East. Furthermore, during an era marked by great migrations engendered by the economic boom, a move from the centre to the “industrial triangle” in the north, Milan has always been much more hospitable than other cities whose factories were marked by a harsh Fordist ideology – indeed, Milanesi si diventa (Milanese are made, not born), as epitomised by Carlo Castellaneta’s excellent novel.

Between the 1920s and the dynamic and proactive post-war period, even the rationalist style beloved by its most talented architects gave way to the notion of “beauty’s fecund power” and moulded the city’s spirit so as to “create a new heritage beside the ancient one, a new artistic style”, which entailed the concept of a linear and democratic beauty, typical of welcoming and inclusive cities. (Indeed, those architects are celebrated in a recently published, fascinating book by Gianni Biondillo, Quello che noi non siamo (What we are not), published by Guanda, including Giuseppe Terragni, Giuseppe Pogatschnig Pagano, Piero Bottoni, Franco Albini, Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, Edoardo Persico, as well as young BBPR ones such as Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Gian Luigi Banfi, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers, who designed the Velasca Tower and whose passion rubbed off on their teachers, too, as in the case of Gio Ponti and Piero Portaluppi). Such aesthetic and ethic heritage needs to be reassessed today, to as to avoid the deterioration of a metropolis affected by the ephemeral and fragile rhythms of non-resident “city users” and revive, instead, the qualities and virtues of a sustainable and forward-looking cives where citizens are empowered.

Thus, we’re back to knowledge and universities, and the significance they have in shaping the “great Milan”, injecting it with energy and ideas leading to decisions and reforms that will bring about the economic and social “paradigm shift” needed to re-establish a European and Mediterranean geopolitical balance.

In fact, these are the notions informing the educational and civic decisions made by the Polytechnic University of Milan, the Bocconi University, the Università Cattolica, the University of Milano-Bicocca, IULM and the Humanitas University – the latter has recently been celebrating its tenth year of activity and boasts 40% overseas students amongst its 2,700 student body, and whose new Innovation Building hosts the MedTec School, which offers medicine and engineering courses in collaboration with the Polytechnic, with the experimental aim of applying research and disciplines such as nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, biomedicine and big data to all “life sciences”.

Great news pertaining just such an approach – where multidisciplinary culture combines with education to drive development – also come from La Statale, the University of Milan, as construction of the buildings that from 2026 will house its scientific faculties has begun in MIND (Milan Innovation District), the former Expo area: an investment of 120 million for a population counting 23,000 people amongst students, professors, researchers and technicians, and an ambitious project for a campus dedicated to researching cutting-edge technological platforms linked to the high-tech activities of companies in the area.

The new campus’ design was entrusted to Carlo Ratti, architect and professor at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston, as well as one of the most authoritative international expert in smart cities.

As Ratti explains (Il Sole24Ore, 17 October), “Meeting on campus is essential to the renewal and creation of knowledge. Great discoveries, both for the better or for the worse, are made when a group of people, united by the same calling, gathers into a physical space. It is an ancient concept that, over the centuries, has inspired the Athenian Acropolis, European monasteries and universities in the Middle Ages, or institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge and Pavia. Spaces and environments that promote meetings.”

In fact, with regard to the University of Milan’s MIND campus, “the proximity to the innovation district could become one of the drivers for urban innovation in the Lombard capital.”

Ratti insists that, “Our architectural vision for the campus attempts to meet these criteria. A place that fosters the concept of meeting, between people and different academic disciplines. A learning-by-doing campus, to use John Dewey’s concept. From here, the principle that in urban planning we term ‘Common Ground’: an uninterrupted public space, open to everyone, unravelling through the neighbourhood via walkways, cloisters and a courtyard system.”

Here it is again, then, Milan as an open, cultured and inclusive city. Not only ‘the place to be’ but a metropolis in which to work, live and learn – in which to thrive, basically.

(photo Getty Images)

The 22nd “Settimana della Cultura d’Impresa” (Business Culture Week) will be held from 6 to 20 November 2023. The theme of the events promoted by Confindustria this year is “People at the heart of sustainable development: The spirit of mindful enterprise”. The ambitious programme of events will lead to the discovery of the cultural heritage preserved by museums and the archives of large, small and medium-sized companies.

The focus of this edition is on the human factor and new development models, which are key to reflecting on Industry 5.0, a production model that adopts a sustainable approach and fosters a collaborative bond between man and machine.

Once again, the Pirelli Foundation will be present with initiatives that promote the company’s core values. These include its multi-disciplinary culture, its focus on people, and environmental and social sustainability.

The 2023 Business Culture Week will provide an opportunity to present to the public the short film WE ARE in the enchanting setting of the Pirelli Auditorium in Milano Bicocca. The film, which is a Pirelli Foundation project produced by Muse Factory of Projects, made its national debut in September at the Visioni dal Mondo festival. Curated by Francesca Molteni and written and directed by Mattia Colombo and Davide Fois, the film masterfully weaves a narrative in images, drawing inspiration from Bertolt Brecht’s The Life of Galileo. It takes us through various aspect of corporate culture, including theatre, music, art, research, and innovation, highlighting the fundamental combination of artistic and scientific creativity that has always defined Pirelli’s corporate identity, on a journey through places, faces, memory and future.

After the screening, attendees will be accompanied on guided tours of the company’s headquarters and of the Pirelli Foundation. This will include the exhibition, When History Builds The Future and the new display, entitled Beyond the Circuits: Formula One and The Tyres that Revolutionised Its History, devoted to the company’s history in F1 and to the development of products designed for racing.

The date will be Sunday 12 November, with 6 screening and guided tour sessions lasting about 60 minutes, starting at 10 and 11 a.m., 12 noon, and 3, 4 and 5 p.m.

Admission is free, subject to booking, while places last. Sign up for the courses here.

As part of its commitment to teaching and to promoting reading among the young, on Thursday 23 November 2023, at 11 a.m., the Pirelli Foundation is organising the 2023 edition of “Parole in viaggio. Un gioco che inizia dalla scuola” (“Words on the Move: A Game that Starts at School”), a meeting on the world of children’s books, at the Pirelli Headquarters. Students aged between 10 and 14 will find out about the educational role of literature in all its forms and they will be able to talk with Nicola Cinquetti and Davide Rigiani, winners of the Premio Campiello Junior 2023.

Admission is free, subject to booking. Please write to scuole@fondazionepirelli.org.

One of the latest contribution by the Governor of the Bank of Italy provides a clear overview of issues that must be solved at a global level

Growth and multilateralism, more discerning globalisation and commerce, but also smart migration policies, balanced production, attentive care for the environment and reasonable relations. Looking at what is going on these days around the world, these notions – which rest on a specific global vision – sound almost anachronistic, senseless and, above all, without a future, yet these are precisely the concepts we must nurture to gain a different perspective on social and economic relationships. This is why reading the latest contribution by Vincenzo Visco, Governor of the Bank of Italy, is a valuable exercise – entitled “Sfide globali e prospettive del multilateralismo” (“Global challenges and multilateral prospects”) and published in September, the article really gets to the heart of a future that we may yet build.

Visco provides a clear and comprehensible analysis of those “difficult moments” – as he defines them – that we are experiencing, explains their inception and provides a way out of them: multilateralism, an approach to be nurtured with care and certainly not easy to attain, and yet, seemingly, the only reasonable one that could prevent a return to opposing blocks whose historical presence is still perceptible.

After an introduction to the topic and a reminder about the great challenges we need to tackle – such as climate, the impact of digitalisation, demographics and great migrations – Visco goes on to explore the “highs and lows” of globalisation, before moving on to current and future “open questions”, beginning with the energy issue unleashed by the war between Russia and Ukraine, the role of China, and what happened on the healthcare front with COVID-19.

Visco reminds us that multilateralism is a complex approach that needs some effort, yet it is an imperative goal because, as he writes, “the subdivision of the world into blocks would endanger the mechanisms that stimulated growth and reduced poverty at a global level.”

The author envisages an ideally deliberate and sensible shift towards good international relationships, without however neglecting all the delicate and complex aspects involved, such as wild globalisation, the advent of new machines and the uncertainties affecting the employment market – as such, knowledge seems to be the other great requirement for a correct multilateralist attitude.

Considering what happened in the last few months, and soon afterwards, “Sfide globali e prospettive del multilateralismo” really contributes to the onset of a culture permeated by the kind of learning that, nowadays, everyone can do with to better understand, and find their bearings in, our current world.

Sfide globali e prospettive del multilateralismo (“Global challenges and multilateral prospects”)

Vincenzo Visco

Marcello De Cecco economics journal

30 September 2023

This year, Italy is growing by a mere 0.7% and the same miserly rate applies to 2024 (according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, though the government insists on 1.2%) – together with the so-called “demographic winter” and women’s scanty presence on the employment market, these are all rather negative factors for the country and strategic, political and economic decisions must be made to tackle them, in the interest of sustainable development. Indeed, the recent award of the Nobel Prize for Economics to Harvard professor Claudia Goldin, for her research on the women’s labour market and the consequences of gender disparity on retribution and career opportunities, might be an incentive for both policy makers and enterprises (the main drivers of economic development and widespread wealth) to ensure that such deep inequalities, which damage Italy’s prospects, are addressed, as Italy is progressively getting strangled by public debt, a debilitated growth and little social mobility, as well as a stagnant economy and a disillusioned new generation.

Let’s remind ourselves of some basic figures, then. In 2022, fewer than 400,000 births were counted; for the past 30 years, there have been more deaths than births; and the number of emigrants is starting to surpass that of immigrants (more young people go abroad to seek better work and life opportunities: three million people have fled the country since 2002). “A country that’s emptying out”, writes sociologist Stefano Allievi in Governare le migrazioni. Si deve, si può (Governing migration. We must, we can), published by Laterza, insisting on the necessity for far-sighted decisions rather than narrow-minded ideologies. In the meantime, while we wait in vain for something to happen, Italy is getting older and thus less receptive to the future.

Essentially, the more time passes, the more workforce we’re losing, with a negative impact on the GDP, and the severely flawed education system is also contributing to the country’s decline: enterprises – especially manufacturing ones – decry the lack of adequate professional resources needed to fill half of the roles they have available.

The percentage of graduates (200,000 per year) is lower than the EU average and the drop in birth rates will have dramatic consequences: in 20 years’ time (as long as current social trends don’t change) out of the almost 400,000 children born in 2022 mentioned above only 80,000 will graduate – 120,000 less than today. A disaster for the economy and society but also, more in general, for the country’s political standing.

The scarce presence of women in the labour market, and especially in more qualified positions, represents yet another negative point. Women actually study more and are better at it, as confirmed by ISTAT data, according to which 65.3% of women holds at least a degree as compared to 60.1% of men, while women graduates amount to 23.1% as compared to 16.8% men graduates – yet, the female employment rate remains much lower than the male one (55.7% as compared to 75.8%).

A considerable gender gap is also still apparent in education, with a wide disparity between women and men in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines – as well as in medicine, law and economics – the number of STEM graduates is low in general and within it, women amount to only 39%.

Such a low female employment rate means that we’re essentially wasting brain-power, knowledge, outlooks – precious resources needed to develop what could otherwise be an extraordinarily skilled human capital, and as such the country is missing out on a significant amount of potential in terms of entrepreneurship, original thinking and drive for innovation.

This is what Claudia Goldin’s research, whose significance is reiterated by the award of the Nobel Prize, is showing – women are better educated than men yet their careers are more circumscribed – they often quit their job after the birth of their first child, their professional commitment is restricted by the increase in family care and responsibilities, and thus their presence in the employment market becomes marginal.

A situation that’s certainly changing, but too slowly – female employment rates have more than tripled over the past century yet, even today, globally, women in employment amount to only 50% as compared to men, at 80%.

The market requires some tweaking then: we need to adjust working hours and productivity calculations, implement policies strengthening male domestic responsibilities, embrace a more inclusive corporate culture and introduce adequate childcare facilities (such as nurseries). True, ongoing public investment has been set aside to address the issue (also as part of the PNRR, the Italian recovery and resilience plan) and a social and cultural shift concerning women’s professional value is underway. Yet, this is still not enough to promptly bridge the gender gap and attain a fuller, fairer and more effective recognition of how much women’s intelligence and skills enhance development.

(photo Getty Images)