Partnership for sustainable development
– Milan, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart
To be successful, the Agenda for Sustainable Development requires synergistic collaboration among all key international cooperation actors: governments, businesses, third sector and universities. These inclusive collaborations, built on a common vision and shared goals, are needed as much at the local and regional level as on a national and global scale.
In the conference organized by ALTIS Università Cattolica and CSR Oggi, “SDG 17: When an Idea Becomes Reality, “ fourProfit and four Non-Profit companies, four “pairs” of allies for sustainability told about their path of collaboration, looking precisely at SDG 17 of the 2030 Agenda “Partnership for the Goals” as the primary reference.
Tackling the challenges of today and tomorrow through a participatory, multi-stakeholder approach: the same approach that has always guided the very work of Green Growth Generation, in the creation and development of projects with high social and environmental impact that involve the various actors in the relevant social fabric.
Profit and Nonprofit meet
In a sense, SDG 17 should be considered THE starting point of the entire Agenda, the foundation for the success of all the other Goals.
As of great success is the collaboration between Banco Farmaceutico and Intesa Sanpaolo Group. A meeting of two different worlds, it is true, but it is precisely from the meeting of diversity that the most surprising innovations are often born.
Intesa Sanpaolo has a focus on social issues in its DNA., actively working to combat poverty and discrimination. The importance of moving locally, of intercepting the needs and requirements of each community, has prompted the Intesa Group to build relationships of trust with various nonprofit entities present throughout Italy.
These include the Banco Farmaceutico, a charitable organization founded in 2000 to address the prevailing health care poverty of those years and assist those in need. In 23 years, the ‘Giornata di Raccolta del Farmaco’ has accumulated more than 7 million medicines assisting, in 2023 alone, more than 430,000 people. Impressive numbers, requiring an equally important financial and logistical effort: the support of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group has been instrumental in opening 14 new drug collection locations, promoting even more widespread drug distribution.
There are worlds that, although they seem distant, reveal many commonalities when observed closely. This is the case with Feralpi Siderurgica and Brescia Musei.
A company’s connection to its local area goes beyond the boundaries of the company’s business and is inextricably intertwined with local culture and traditions. These are values that the Feralpi Group has always supported, particularly through its support for the initiatives of the Brescia Musei Foundation. Why Investing in culture means connecting with local communities and strengthening social integration.
For the Brescia Musei Foundation, on the other hand, it is the entrepreneurial spirit that has always distinguished it that makes it akin to the business world. A significant example is the ‘Alleanza Cultura’: an innovative fundraising model involving both the public and private sectors (with the participation of 40 companies), aimed at support and enhance the rich artistic heritage of the Brescian territory.
Medtronic, a leader in innovative technology solutions in healthcare, is committed to the treatment of the most complex diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, a condition that afflicts a growing number of people, with at least 309,000 cases in Italy alone.
Growing as is the national network of associations of people with Parkinson’s, united within the Confederazione Parkinson Italia, with which Medtronic has been collaborating for several years now, through an exchange of mutual listening and concrete help to improve the lives and health of people with this disability.
Technological transformation can enhance the social impact an association can generate-a concept at the heart of the work of Techsoup Italia, a social enterprise that accompanies nonprofits within a path of conscious digital transition.
Techsoup collaborates in Italy with thousands of nonprofit organizations: among them La Rotonda, a social promotion association active in Baranzate, in the province of Milan. Through a wide range of activities and projects, La Rotonda’s mission is to offer support to individuals and families in economic and social hardship: from school and work reintegration programs to social housing. With more than 8,000 beneficiaries from over 80 different ethnic groups, data collected and analyzed through Techsoup’s software then become essential to understanding the needs of each individual recipient and assessing the 360-degree impact of Rotunda activities.
Financing processes, not just projects
It was an inspiring meeting, full of insights from which to draw inspiration for future Green Growth Generation collaborations as well. It can be seen as the Nonprofit is increasingly transforming itself into an environmental, social and cultural enterprise, in synergy with all those forward-looking companies and businesses that aim to have a positive impact within their local area of ownership: “the importance of funding processes, not just projects.”
