The 13th edition of “Il salone della CSR e dell'innovazione sociale” (The CSR and Social Innovation Exhibition) took place at Bocconi University in Milan from October 8 to 10. This year's theme was “creating high-value futures,” providing the perfect opportunity to share our vision and mission.

Sustainability and the enhancement of human capital are part of our Foundation's DNA, which it pursues through its activities to train the “humanist engineers” of tomorrow. But who are these engineers? Are they really just engineers? The answer is no.

The paradigm of “humanist engineers” is the one we have chosen to represent and simplify the complexity of the skills required today, especially in the energy transition sector, which represents a concrete opportunity for a valuable professional future for the younger generations.

Our mission is first and foremost to spread awareness among the younger generations of all issues related to sustainability, not in terms of theory, but as content that is relevant to everyday life — from circularity to energy transition, from innovation to decarbonization technologies, from climate change to its causes, effects, and mitigation. The next step is to build self-confidence in their intrinsic talent, especially among young people from marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds, so that they can discover and capitalize on it in their future careers, particularly in the energy transition sector, which is crying out for new and diverse skills, both today and in the immediate future.

Our training projects aim to combat educational poverty, provide equal access to study opportunities, and promote the inclusion of women and minorities in STEM fields.

“The theme of this year's Salone – creating high-value futures – fully reflects the spirit of one of our current projects, which I am delighted to tell you about: MAIREmpower; an initiative that aims to help create a future for young people from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds through a support program that, in its third phase, provides scholarships for three-year degrees in STEM subjects."

This is an abstract from the Fondazione MAIRE – ETS presentation at the CSR 2025 Exhibition, delivered by our Communication Manager, Irene Di Amato, who participated in the panel discussion “Educating and guiding, evolving projects” on October 8, 2025, together with representatives from profit and non-profit organizations.

As in previous editions of the Salone, colleagues from the MAIRE Group made their contribution at the innovation table. From biodiversity to the importance of dialogue with local communities and territories, to decarbonization that can and must be implemented through “avoided emissions,” two panels on October 9 hosted these contributions: "Commitment to biodiversity, a strategic lever” with Valentina Grieco [Group Social Sustainability Manager] and “Innovation as a competitive lever for sustainability" with Maurizio Rigolio [Group Environmental Sustainability Manager].

The CSR and Social Innovation Exhibition will be back next year!