Tag: Sustainability

Crafting culture for sustainability. The student hackathon

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Join us to craft a sustainable culture!

POLIMI School of Management organises an interdisciplinary hackathon for WSM.

On January 08-09.01.2020, the next generation of managers, designers, policymakers and opinion leaders come together to create novel ideas as well as illustrative suggestions for sustainability in fashion under the moderation of Dr. Hakan Karaosman.

You are invited to join us to lead the change and act upon the solution.

Overarching Questions
  • How to ensure environmental and social sustainability across multiple layers from design and production to consumption and communication?
  • How to establish connections between different disciplines for sustainability?
  • How to engage civil society to be part of the solution?
Key Dates
  • Expression of interest by 20.12.2019
  • Notification of acceptance by 27.12.2019
  • Hackathon on 08-09.01.2020 at POLIMI School of Management
The Way Forward
  • Expression of interests and CVs must be addressed to Hakan.karaosman@polimi.it by no later than 20.12.2019
  • Invited participants will work in groups under the supervision of academics on 08-09.01.2020 at POLIMI School of Management
  • Each group will create posters and deliver pitches at the end of 09.01.2020
  • All participants will be invited to WSM FASHIONREBOOT on 11-12.01.2020
Registration

Register here to participate

A New Awareness promotes responsibility in fashion and fosters engagement for an inclusive fair change in the fashion industry

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The first edition of A New Awareness was held at 10 Corso Como Tazzoli on the 18th – 20th of September 2019. Awareness Infinitum, Com.i.stra, Greenpeace Detox Campaign, Helen Kirkum, Duran Lantink, Manteco, Marini Industrie, Fashion Revolution, Bethany Williams, and Design Studio Wrad were exclusively featured to provide cutting edge solutions for a sustainable lifestyle. This first edition clearly illustrated how linear business models could be transformed through radical material and process innovation, circular design principles and multi-disciplinary collaborations.

On the 20th of September, A New Awareness hosted two panels to discuss the challenge of sustainability. The first talk explored how radical change can be made actionable in the context of fashion. With the participation of Sara Sozzani Maino (Deputy Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents and International Brand Ambassador of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana), Marina Spadafora (Country Coordinator of Fashion Revolution Italia and the United Nations Ambassador) and Matteo Ward (Founder and CEO of Wrad Living) under the moderation of Hakan Karaosman (Researcher at Politecnico di Milano School of Management), it was concluded that innovation, commitment, leadership and multi-actor collaborations are the initiating factors to the beginning of a sustainable fashion world.

“Today we all need to think in a more responsible way for a better future. Big changes do not happen in one day, but we need to convert our way of consuming to make this happen. A New Awareness wants to bring consciousness to consumers” comments Sara Sozzani Maino. Creating systemic changes requires an inclusive and interdisciplinary dialogue. Therefore, designers, academia, brands, NGOs, governments and civil society must come together to be part of the change. “Humankind is finally awakening to the reality of climate emergency” says Marina Spadafora, and adds “A unique scenario will have designers, artists, activists, opinion leaders and policy makers meet to discuss how we can all join forces to create a viable transition towards a sustainable future”. More than ever fashion now needs more innovative and engaging methods to communicate this new narrative for which transparency, truthfulness and reality appear to be the main ingredients. “Today the truth is the only key to set the tone for a responsible, inspiring and functional communication strategy” states Matteo Ward.

The second talk focused on how fashion’s sustainability transition could be accelerated. Three strong fashion leaders, Orsola de Castro (Co-founder and Creative Director of Fashion Revolution), Chiara Morelli (Group Operations Sustainability Manager at Kering) and Clare Press (Sustainability Editor-at-large at Vogue Australia and the Presenter of the Wardrobe Crisis Podcast) explained if, why and how fashion could become a catalyst for a responsible change. “Change is truly coming, I am quite optimistic”, states Clare Press. Even though the fashion industry has made progress in terms of environment, social sustainability is yet to be ensured throughout supply chains. Business priorities need to be merged with moral principles to spread social sustainability across upstream levels.

“We need to disinvest in growth and invest in social and environmental prosperity throughout the supply chain” addresses Orsola de Castro while pointing out “there is an elephant in the room and we cannot talk about the democratization of luxury in supply chains where democracy does not exist”. Fashion supply chains are complex, fragmented and globally dispersed; hence, providing the supply chain partners with knowledge, tools, and methodologies are as important as setting sustainability goals at the corporate level. Collaborations and capacity development are fundamental actions to reduce fashion’s footprint. “We translate our vision into action by directly working with our supply chain members to guide and support them to spread sustainability across the chain” highlights Chiara Morelli. Systemic transformations are required to change the way fashion business is coordinated; relatedly, “Practitioners, academics, consumers and policy makers need to act together” cites Hakan Karaosman.

It is also acknowledged that Generation Z and Generation Y will represent 45% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2025. The purchasing habits of young customers are shaped by intangible values such as diversity, equality and transparency. Thus, the fashion industry needs innovative and engaging ways to bring people into a responsible future. However, there is hope! Awareness is increasing and people are asking for transparency, ethical and environmental care.

A New Awareness: an inclusive and proactive change agent for responsible fashion

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10 Corso Como, Fashion Revolution Italy, Politecnico di Milano School of Management and WRAD Living come together to create a unique platform to promote awareness about sustainability in fashion.

A New Awareness will challenge the status quo. Through a series of engagement events A New Awareness will illustrate how fashion can become more sustainable, not simply less unsustainable.

 

A New Awareness will engage non-profit leadership. Through a multi-actor collaboration involving academia, media, non-governmental organisation, industry and civil society,
A New Awareness will become a focal point to accelerate sustainable transformation in the fashion context.

Economic and socio-political events, including labour costs, supply network complexity, market instability, volatile commodity prices, geographical dispersion and economic crisis have resulted in fashion’s significant environmental and social footprint. The fashion industry is now characterised by critical issues and challenging trade-offs. 93 billion cubic meters of water is annually used for textile production ; 20% of the global freshwater pollution comes from textile treatment and dyeing stages ; 100 billion garments are manufactured annually while 35% of the total material input ends up becoming waste throughout fashion supply chains , resulting in 92 million tons of waste that makes 4% of the global solid waste .

Sustainability in fashion matters. Given already the fashion industry’s actions to accelerate its transition to sustainability, greater awareness is needed for truly transformative actions to ensure collaboration, innovation and coordination at the system level.

A New Awareness, through a novel multi-actor collaboration, creates a unique platform to reinforce how today’s linear business models can truly change. With a multi-disciplinary approach, A New Awareness will showcase how radical innovation can inspire design, and will encourage opinion leaders as well as decision makers to discuss how fashion’s sustainability transition can be enhanced.

The first edition of A New Awareness will be at 10 Corso Como – Tazzoli from 18- 20 September 2019. Exclusively featuring Fashion Revolution, Wrad Living, Bethany Williams, Helen Kirkum, Duran Lantink, Awareness Infinitum, Greenpeace Detox Campaign, Manteco, Marini Industrie and Com.i.stra that present cutting edge solutions for today’s sustainable lifestyle.

A New Awareness wishes to thank 10 Corso Como, 24 Bottles, CNMI Fashion Trust, ES Progetti, Favini, From Studio, POLIMI Sustainable Luxury Academy, Stella Stone, Studio Punto Zero and Wrad Living.

Forming a New Awareness A New Awareness is conceived by Sara Maino Sozzani and jointly developed by fashion thinkers Marina Spadafora, Matteo Ward and Hakan Karaosman.

Sara Maino Sozzani, Deputy Editor in Chief Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents and International Brand Ambassador Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, comments: “Today we all need to think in a more responsible way for a better future. Big changes do not happen in one day but we need to convert our way of consuming to make this happen. A New Awareness wants to bring consciousness to consumers.”

Marina Spadafora, Country coordinator of Fashion Revolution Italia and the United Nations ambassador, states: “Humankind is finally awakening to the reality of climate emergency. This will be a central focus of the platform A New Awareness and it will, at the same time, address social justice and innovation towards a circular economy. A unique scenario will have designers, artists, activists, opinion leaders and policy makers meet to discuss how we can all join forces to create a viable transition towards a sustainable future.”

Matteo Ward, founder and CEO of Wrad Living, explains: “In a post-truth society like ours, developing a new awareness is the first step we can take together to challenge a status quo which failed our Planet and catalyse the shift from linear individualism to circular collectivism. This is the essence of this project, dedicated to people who let their sense of purpose and creative thinking come together to pioneer a new approach to fashion, design, food, art and more.”

Dr. Hakan Karaosman, Researcher at Politecnico di Milano School of Management and the United Nations expert, remarks: “Systemic transformations are required to change the way fashion business is coordinated. Practitioners, academics, consumers and policy makers need to act together. A New Awareness is a pivotal platform to inspire and acknowledge what must change. By facilitating collaboration and proactive communication, this is a great example to illustrate why multi-actor partnership is antecedent to fashion sustainability.”

A New Awareness starting with a launch in September 2019 will structure a series of events going forward at 10 Corso Como – Tazzoli to unlock the next phase for sustainable fashion. Through transparency in communication and frank discussions on the circularity and responsibility in production, A New Awareness will become a catalyst for the acceleration of sustainability in the fashion context by fostering industrial collaborations, supporting talented creative across a spectrum of applications and bringing together major opinion leaders and decision makers.

Prada’s “Shaping a Sustainable Future Society” conference to be held in New York on November 8th 2019

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Third edition of Prada’s annual conferences on sustainability organized in collaboration with Yale and Politecnico di Milano Schools of Management

 

Prada is hosting its third cultural event on sustainability, “Shaping a Sustainable Future Society”, in New York on November 8th 2019.

By bringing together some of the world’s leaders in academia, institutions, art and industry, the Group wants to promote a stimulating debate aimed at inspiring the event’s audience as well as the younger generations. The conference will look to examine and analyse the most significant changes taking place in contemporary society.

This year’s event will explore themes such as freedom, equality and justice within the working environment and as part of a better development of society. Moreover, the nature and impact of ethical assessments in people’s choices and social behavior will be the subject of discussion during the Conference.

The complexity of the current political and social environment requires an increasingly sophisticated conversation, defining tangible action around diversity and inclusion. The Prada Group feels the necessity to contribute to this cultural process of development, being aware of the risk posed to business and communities by failing to address discrimination and inclusivity.

The conference will be live-streamed on www.pradagroup.com; the event’s agenda and the speakers will be available in the next months.

Follow #ShapingASustainableSociety

 

About “Shaping a Future” conferences:

Since 2017, the Prada Group has hosted an annual conference with the aim of stimulating a debate on the most significant changes taking place in contemporary society. In both editions, Prada collaborated with the Schools of Management of both Yale and Politecnico di Milano.
The first conference in 2017, entitled “Shaping a Creative Future” addressed the links between creativity, sustainability and innovation. The second conference in 2018, “Shaping a Sustainable Digital Future” explored the relationship between sustainability and digital innovation.
The conference series format consists of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and students’ competitions.

Thesis Award “SOM for SDGs: Thesis aimed at Sustainable Development Goals” 

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The School of Management of Politecnico di Milano promotes the principles of responsible and sustainable management in all its programs, and supports learning and research activities consistent with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030 of United Nations. In this context the award “SOM for SDGs: Thesis aimed at Sustainable Development Goals” has been created.

Thesis or dissertation submitted should represent a contribution to solve the current social challenges and identify models of sustainable development in terms of environmental, economic and social impact.

The call targets students who have obtained a Laurea Magistrale or Laurea Specialistica or V.O. in Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano from November 2018 to October 2019.

Deadline for submission: 9 October 2019.

 

For more information please download the call at https://www.som.polimi.it/albo-e-bandi/

 

https://www.som.polimi.it/albo-e-bandi/

Sustainable, autonomous and shared. Here’s the mobility of the future

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New forms of propulsion, the sharing economy, environmental sustainability. These are some of the themes that characterize the road towards the mobility of the future A revolution that involves on one side the technological nature of means of transport and, on the other, the relationship users have with their vehicles. Confirming this is Simone Franzò, researcher at the Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management and Director of the Executive Master in Management at MIP: «One of the main macrotrends that is reshaping mobility is electrification, or rather the passage from traditional internal combustion typically powered by gas or diesel to electric motors. Without forgetting other emerging “fuels”, such as hydrogen, which in a near future could play an important role.  The other big theme is so-called autonomous driving: vehicles able to carry out, completely or in part, the activities of a normal driver, an area that promises to revolutionize the driving experience itself and, more in general, vehicle use».

But changes are also of a social nature: «As in many other areas, the sharing economy is also becoming increasingly popular in mobility – continues Simone Franzò –, supported by very clear data: an owned vehicle is used on average for only 5% of its useful life, while for the remaining 95% it goes unused.  Going beyond the concept of ownership, the sharing economy allows to more fully exploit the asset-vehicle. And this isn’t true only for the automobile, but for other means like bicycles, scooters and kick scooters».

A second example of sharing, applied to electric mobility, can be seen in the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept or, in its broadest sense, vehicle-to-everything (V2X): in this case what is shared isn’t the means of transport, but its energy source. «An electric vehicle can share its fundamental asset, that is a battery, with the power grid, or with consumers such as an apartment or a building. In the first instance, electric autos can help resolve problems with the electric grid by exchanging energy with it in a bi-directional manner, as a function of the needs of the grid itself; in the second, they can be used to provide power to consumers in case of a grid deficit».

In general, the issue of the environmental sustainability of electrical vehicles – which represents one of the main drivers for the spread of electric mobility – is widely debated, and for certain aspects is still under the magnifying glass, as confirms Franzò: «Numerous studies show that the source from which the electricity that fuels batteries comes has a significant impact on vehicle emissions and, thus, on their sustainability. The decarbonization path to produce energy underway at the national level will thus have a positive impact on this».

Now the spread of electric vehicles is still limited in Italy and strictly connected to the rollout of a suitable recharging infrastructure. While in an urban setting, and thus for short trips, alternatives aren’t lacking, it’s for long distances that electric vehicles continue to show their limits: «Today the number of recharging stations in Italy is well below that of the other main European countries. In addition, the fact they are mainly located in urban settings makes the use of electric vehicles for long distances more complex, despite an average autonomy that by now has reached 300-400 kilometres».

Obviously, the challenges change if we are talking about a city or the surrounding area. According to Franzò, «we need to think about mobility in a holistic way to unite cities and suburbs, for example creating interchange points at which those who arrive from the suburb heading to town centres can easily use shared vehicles, perhaps electric ones».

A synergy that is increasingly necessary, especially as cities increasingly focus on the decongestion of traffic and reducing pollution.

 

 

 

 

A stroll in the city of the future  

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Sustainable, connected, shared. In a word, smart. This is the future to which a city like Milan, among the most cutting-edge cities in Europe, is looking. And this is the horizon that all urban centres, big or small, must look towards in coming years. The idea of a smart city, a city that thanks to technologies and innovation becomes more efficient, more ecological and even more democratic, is becoming increasingly tangible.

«When I think of a smart city, I think of a group of communities that co-exist and participate in the life of the city thanks to different forms of sharing», explains Davide Chiaroni, Director Corporate Relations at MIP Politecnico di Milano.  «We’ll witness a paradigm change that will impact all services and, as a result, will also change our mentality a little bit: we’ll get used to greater sharing and participation. Smart cities, in essence, will be the cities of Millennials and digital natives».

These cities will also be able to provide an adequate architectural response to changed work contexts. «Many buildings were designed based on needs that have now changed and that will change even more in the future: the growing digitalization of services, which will give an even greater impetus to smart working, will for example make many large offices obsolete. The smart city, instead, is based on the idea of so-called “circular” buildings, buildings designed considering that the end use can change in a short time. In other words, it will be a flexible city for flexible work», says Chiaroni.

Flexibility also involves the issue of mobility, which must address the double challenge of environmental sustainability and the extensiveneness of the service: «Milan is focusing a lot on setting up an electric fleet for public transport. And autonomous driving will revolutionize the conception we have of the automobile: no longer a private good but a public and shared service», explains Chiaroni. From this perspective, some experiments have proven to be quite useful for gathering data and better planning traffic flows: «The gates of Area B (Milan’s limited traffic area closed to the most polluting vehicles) will be invaluable for measuring traffic volumes and understanding in what areas to intervene and how to do it».

In short, the smart city revolution is at hand. However, some pieces are still missing, starting with energy: «Cities aren’t yet able to rely solely on clean and renewable energies. There are limits to storage, which must be overcome, but that’s the right direction», explains Chiaroni. It shouldn’t be concealed that the development of a smart city also comes with some problems. «Numerous studies concur that the smart city has positive economic repercussions. But not all actors involved in this process come out ahead». And it’s here that politics comes into play:  «The smart city will change the nature of work.  It’s inevitable to think that older people in society will be hit by this. Politics will play a role in compensating for these gaps, in the face of a balance that is nonetheless positive».

The School of Management of Politecnico di Milano aims to train people for the most suitable professions to manage these processes: «I have in mind a sort of control room that deals with the design of services, that is able to develop a road map, that’s not made up of technicians, but of managers that know which technologies should be exploited. Our school offers future managers dual know-how: management and technological. We’re convinced that one can’t do without the other. Planning isn’t enough: you also need to think of the practical effects», concludes Chiaroni.

Politecnico di Milano School of Management’s Approach to Embedding the SDGs

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Politecnico di Milano School of Management in Italy has made a commitment to further engage in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through responsible education initiatives, research projects and internal as well as external collaborations. They are engaging in the SDGs through their Sustainability SoM project, a team of staff involved in exploring sustainability in teaching, research, service to the Community and the Work Environment. Paola Garrone and Hakan Karaosman from the School of Management shared some more insights into the work that there are doing and what’s next.

What is the Sustainability SoM project and how did it come about?

As a large School that operates at the intersection between engineering, management and economics we are well aware of the many problems that affect society and the environment today and have an impact on future generations. At the same time, we can contribute to sustainable development, by setting up interdisciplinary research projects, innovating our programmes, and cooperating with industry and social stakeholders. However, this does not happen by chance.

We need to monitor and communicate our activities in this domain, to support internal and external linkages, and to let the School members experiment sustainability themselves. In 2015 we set up the Sustainable SoM project, a team of faculty members and postdocs serving these tasks though a portfolio of actions (as you can see from our progress report).

Where did the team start?

We started by doing an ‘as is’ analysis that represented the School’s strengths and weaknesses, as for 2016-’17. We asked questions such as How present were sustainability, responsible management, and ethics concepts in our curricula? And in our research projects and products? How was the School doing with civil society involvement? And with resources consumption and waste management? Subsequently, we launched the Sustainable SoM program with the aim of starting to fill the gaps in the four areas, i.e. Teaching, Research, Service to the Community and the Work Environment. Each of these pillars aim at embedding sustainability into our core activities and challenging our current behaviors.

What is the focus area of the SOM team today?

A first, maybe obvious, impact of this analysis was a greater and more diffuse awareness about unexploited research and teaching opportunities among the School members. New joint research proposals related to sustainability challenges have been launched, and a few courses have started covering sustainability problems, theories and tools. A second notable initiative was the SoM for Non Profits program. After a first year of the program, over 200 students worked on managerial challenges raised by 24 non-profit organizations and social enterprises. Today, we are fully committed to maintain and possibly to expand it. Our work is of a practical nature too and we look at campus operations as well. We now have a food waste policy, and water dispensers around the School. Now we are currently coping with the challenge of curbing the use of single use plastics.

What are some of the other initiatives that the Sustainability SoM team and the School at large are involved in?

  1.  Polisocial is a University-wide social responsibility and engagement program. Professors and students from all the departments of Politecnico di Milano can take part in Polisocial initiatives, including the School of Management. Some of the School’s research projects mapped by Sustainable SoM have been awarded the Polisocial grants.
  2. The SoM for SDGs Award: Starting from 2017 the School of Management has decided to award students whose final works may have a sizeable impact on Sustainable Development. The second edition took place in October 2018. The jury examined 12 submissions, and awarded 2 Master of Science dissertations and 2 MBA final works with the “SoM for SDGs” prize (1,000€ per winner).
  3. The Observatories: The Observatories are the way through which the School covers a wide range of interdisciplinary topics in multiple industries through practice-oriented research. Coming to the SDGs, each industry has specific yet challenging business priorities that are requiring special care. Examples of practice-oriented projects are those that concern Sustainability in Luxury and Fashion Supply Chains or Food Sustainability. Given the complexity of the subject and industry dynamics, we involve multiple business and social stakeholders in pre-competitive innovation, and organize engagement events whereby research results are shared, and joint discussions are held. Further collaboration may be established with single players.
  4. MOOCs on sustainable development challenges: In 2015 some members of the School started working on youth entrepreneurship in Egypt and other emerging countries, thanks to a grant from Polisocial. We knew that METID, our University center for digital innovation in learning, could help us develop a training program that reached a large audience. Given the great expertise of UNCTAD’s Entrepreneurship Unit in this area, we invited them to cooperate and design with us a joint MOOC – Massive Open Online Course. Across 4 editions, “Entrepreneurs without borders” reached around 2,000 registered participants, and single online lectures are used and re-used here and there in a few courses. Recently our cooperation with UNCTAD produced a second joint MOOC, i.e. “Designing and Implementing Effective Entrepreneurship Policies”. Another nice example is “Share Food, Cut Waste”, which addresses the food waste challenge and is produced with the Italian Food Bank (FBAO).

How do you measure impact?

We generally measure the reach of our initiatives. Nonetheless, we do not systematically report outcomes nor we adopt codified methods to measure the impact (in spite of the fact that some of us do research exactly in this area!). So no doubts this is an area where we have to make progress.

What advice would you have for other schools thinking of putting something similar into place?

Collaboration, communication and commitment are antecedents to sustainability. And each School should pinpoint the unique contributions it can give, given its specialization, context and organization. Having said that, we must jointly stand up for what we stand for. We believe that the efforts made by other Italian schools and us to set up an Italian chapter for PRME can foster the achievement of this goal.

What’s next?

We are committed to prepare our students to accelerate sustainability transformation. To this end, as a School, our next steps involve developing illustrative and enriching projects by which they can develop the necessary skills and capabilities. As a School’s infrastructure, Sustainable SoM will go on monitoring the initiatives put in place by the School’s members, and facilitating internal and external linkages and exchanges.

LIGHT AND SHADOWS FROM THE COP24 IN KATOWICE

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There are only twelve years left for mankind to avert a climate catastrophe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm on climate change at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24), which took place in December in Katowice, Poland.

What judgement can be made about this critical international conference? What emerges is a mixed picture, with experts divided between those concerned about the lack of progress and those who focus instead on the importance of the results – albeit limited – that have been achieved so far.

“Climate change is a complicated negotiation process involving many countries. As such it is natural to expect slow progress”, stated Massimo Tavoni, Professor of Climate Change Economics at Politecnico di Milano School of Management. “The main objective of this year COP meeting was to take stock of where we are and come up with implementation guidelines. These objectives were achieved overall, but also showed how little progress has been achieved thus far. In particular, the meeting in Katowice underlined the political fragility of the Paris Climate agreement signed in 2015. The skeptical positions of the governements of the US, and of the just elected Brasilian one, in addition to the countervailing forces of countries in the Gulf, has casted doubts on the capacity of the Paris agreement to make real additional progress on emissions’ reductions. This while the science has been accumulating new worrying signs of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change on human and ecosystems” pointed out Tavoni, recipient of a European Research Council (ERC) grant evaluating how behavioural sciences can be used to promote pro-environmental behaviour.

Although technically the COP24 achieved its objective, which was to approve guidelines on the application of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change reached at the COP21 summit in 2015, a collective commitment to strive toward the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) was not reached. The objective of the Paris Agreement was to keep the increase in global temperatures below 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 °C.

“In order to do that, the objectives of voluntary reduction must be fixed at a national level, but it is also necessary to guarantee coherent, common and transparent methods in order to be able to compare the different objectives and the actions of different countries with the same methodology” observed Giuseppe Onufrio, Director of Greenpeace Italy. “Without this, each country would measure things their own way. The aim of Katowice was therefore to have the technical foundations to carry on, a goal which has been reached despite its challenges. At the same time, though, there was a marked decline in leadership”.

Conference attendees clearly saw this “decline in leadership” from the start of the conference, with a heated discussion on how to acknowledge the IPCC special report issued just two months before the Katowice conference evaluating the different impact on the climate that would be seen with a 1.5 °C increase in temperature and one of 2 °C.

The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, all of which are oil producers, decided not to “welcome” the results presented by the climatologists. Therefore, at the end of the COP24, participants simply “took note” of the IPCC special report. There is a big difference between “using the little word ‘welcome’ or ‘taking note’, which means taking note without necessarily taking action” pointed out Onufrio.

Yet alongside the achievement of the technical objectives of the Katowice conference, which allow negotiations on climate commitments to continue, there were also other positive aspects of the COP24. Climate issues involving agriculture, soil and forests became a central part of policy discussions. And, for the first time, a real debate began about the future of coal. The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Science and the Polish Academy of Science presented a document recommending a transition away from reliance on coal in Poland by 2030.
That could also have some positive consequences in terms of employment, as Giuseppe Onufrio explained: “The sectors that will cease to exist, like those of the fossil fuels industry, have a high capital intensity and a low labour intensity, with the exception of mines, which will lose jobs anyway, in part due to automation which is affecting this industry too. Instead, in renewable sources of energy, there is much higher need for workers for every unit of energy produced”.

 

 

Local Hub Inauguration – Promoting Food Donations and Reducing Food Waste

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In 2015, Milano was behind a new Food Policy to pioneer a more sustainable food system throughout the city, introducing a multidisciplinary and participative approach where city authorities act as drivers and enablers.
A top priority in the food policy is to reduce food waste, and the best way to get there was to bring on board local players – the city’s research centres, institutions, private sector, foundations and social actors.

To turn this priority into concrete actions, in 2016, Comune di Milano, Assolombarda and Politecnico di Milano agreed a memorandum of understanding, entitled “ZeroSprechi”, set up to reduce food waste and implement a new method for collecting food which would then be donated to those in need. The design and trial of such a model to gather and redistribute excess food was built around local groups and networks.

Comune di Milano identified an unused public area in the Municipio 9 zone, allocating it to the project as a hub for stocking and distributing food collected by TSOs, charities and non-profit organisations.
Politecnico di Milano conducted a feasibility study on the network and now will monitor the operations at the hub and the impact of the project over a 12-month period, building a logistics model that can be scaled up and replicated in other city quarters.
Assolombarda ran an intense awareness programme, identifying and involving several companies who have joined the project, and it supplied the “ZeroSprechi” logo designed and donated by the Armando Testa Group, to reward exemplary companies and highlight the serious problem of managing food excess.
Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, winner of the competition to run the hub, will be responsible for day-to-day operations on the basis of the Politecnico-designed model, collecting food excess and distributing this food to partner charitable organisations in the local area.
Programma QuBì – a formula to fight child poverty – which had previously started a similar hub in Via degli Umiliati, joined the initiative, funding the outfitting and management of the hub in Via Borsieri and bringing its own local network into the scheme.
This is an innovative project involving the combined work of all actors concerned, from the companies engaged in donating and enabling the recovery of excess food, to non-profit organisations acting as contact points with the needy and the public authorities backing these ethical initiatives.

“I am pleased that this hub is now open, because so many of our city’s plays worked together to get it off the ground”, declared Anna Scavuzzo, Milan’s Deputy Mayor responsible for the Food Policy programme. “This is the first example of a local network established to collect and redistribute food before excess becomes waste. Collaboration with Municipio 9 means that we were able to give the city an unused public space and, at the same time, highlight our commitment to reduce food waste, a top priority in Milan’s Food Policy. This project runs alongside a 20% reduction in the variable quota of the TARI tax on waste for companies that donate food, the drive to collect and redistribute food excess from school canteens, and wider actions currently under study together with AMSA (waste management services). The Via Borsieri hub is another step forward in our quest for a more sustainable, inclusive and equal Milan”.
Giuseppe Lardieri, President of Municipio 9 echoed her feelings by saying: “I am happy that Municipio 9 is hosting this project. At its heart is the debate on the right of access to food and the distribution of food that is not used. With the new poverty in our smart cities, these are topics that should push us all to do better. Without forgetting that reducing food waste means reducing waste in general and encouraging us to eat more perishable foods like fruit and vegetables, which are also healthier. I am sure that all actors in the Municipio 9 zone – industries, supermarkets, restaurants and food services, third sector, institutions – will play their part to ensure the success of this initiative”.

“Politecnico di Milano is proud to bring its contribution to the project, elaborating a model for collecting food that can be replicated in other parts of the city and in other places altogether”, declared Marco Melacini, Professor of Logistics and Scientific Director of the Food Sustainability Observatory of Politecnico di Milano. “The project does not terminate with the opening of this hub in Via Borsieri and there will be regular meetings to check whether it is proving effective in the excess food collected and efficient in gathering and distributing this food. The work group will provide periodical updates on the progress of the project”.

“We are proud that the first food excess recovery project engaging supply chain companies and third sector operators within the city of Milan is in now place, two years from signing the memorandum of understanding”, said Alessandro Perego, Director of the Management Engineering Department at Politecnico di Milano. “The need to act on waste is particularly sensitive both from a social standpoint and environmentally, and we believe that Milan, with everyone concerned acting together, is taking a decisive step towards a more sustainable future in matters relating to food”.

“Today we have reached a significant target in our fight against waste, setting in motion an effective process to gather and redistribute food excess, based on a replicable model that makes Milan the standard-bearer for this campaign”, stated Alessandro Scarabelli, General Director of Assolombarda Confindustria Milano, Monza & Brianza, Lodi. “This result is the outcome of strong collaboration between associations, bodies, companies, universities and non-profit organisations, all pooling their contributions in a joint, concerted undertaking and, by using a fast track system, maximising the delivery and consumption of excess food. In addition, with the “ZeroSprechi” logo, we want to highlight the companies taking an active role in the project that, by joining the initiative, are promoting good practice and a culture of reducing food waste”.

“Banco Alimentare della Lombardia intends to get closer to its partner charitable organisations in the districts of Milan’s Municipio 8 and Municipio 9 zones, and fight food poverty together. We are, with for-profit companies, institutions, trade associations and grant-giving foundations, a winning team, and can address need with real solutions”, said Marco Magnelli, Director of Banco Alimentare della Lombardia.

“The problem of child food poverty in Milan must be faced and resolved through an intervention model that requires all the forces involved to work together closely. The inauguration of the Via Borsieri hub is a giant step in this direction. Programma QuBì has already helped Banco Alimentare della Lombardia to open the first two city collection points and now, through our synergy with other interested parties, we will be able to maximise food collection, reduce waste and strengthen our capacity to reach families in food poverty. The fight against food poverty is a cornerstone action in the multi-year Programma QuBì promoted by Fondazione Cariplo Foundation – with the support of Fondazione Vismara Foundation, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondazione Enrica & Romeo Invernizzi and Fondazione Fiera Milano – in collaboration with Comune di Milano and third sector organisations operating in the local area. This 25-million-euro challenge will commit Milan in its entirety, calling on companies, institutions and private citizens to produce a common formula that can provide concrete answers to disadvantaged families and create exit paths from need”, concluded Giuseppe Guzzetti, President of Fondazione Cariplo