EDUCATION

The Organisations’ idea of education is determined by two of Don Luigi Giussani’s affirmations.
The first: “Education is the introduction to total reality”. To guide, to support, to accompany others to encounter, discover, to understand reality in all its aspects, in all its factors, in all its facets. Until we reach the decisive questions: what is, deep down, the value, the ultimate meaning of reality? Who am I, after all?
The second: an educator is someone who is committed to his or her own life. Not to some of the elements of one’s life, such as the profession, the family or politics, but someone who challenges himself with that sensitivity to destiny, in which personal problems find their genesis and nourishment”.

For this reason, we say that anyone who works with the Organisations is an educator. Because education is not the technical skill of teachers, but a life proposition that shines through in the gestures of anyone, from the founder and the administrative staff to the humblest of collaborators.
Even if the Organisations are ‘deeply rooted in Catholicism’, anyone, whatever religious or cultural tradition they might belong to, can be an educator in one of them. Don Giussani further notes: “A non-Christian can be an educator in the exact same way as a Christian can be an educator, if he or she draws on a vision of things from their tradition and is committed to it as a proposition to their own human quest, according to what it demands”.
The only condition to being an educator is a serious, total commitment to one’s own human needs.

TRAINING

The path that accompanies a person towards work is called training. Training has two, inseparable aspects.
The first is the technical aspect. We must give our users quality training, in keeping with the job market’s most current demands. For this reason, we collaborate with high-level companies and professionals who can offer young people and adults state-of-the-art skills.
The second is the human aspect. Because to work well, it is not enough to have technical skills: you must have self-esteem and be able to relate to others. Our Organisations dealing with the reintegration of the unemployed are the clearest example: people who come to us often find jobs on their own, because we help them regain an awareness of their personal value and dignity.

EMPLOYMENT

Work is an expression of our being – writes Don Julián Carrón – but our existence is a yearning for truth, for happiness; therefore, there is no thing we can do, work or endeavour, from the humblest to the most ingenious, that can circumvent this connection, the search for total satisfaction, for human fulfilment”.

That is why, notes Don Giussani, ‘an unemployed person is someone who is suffering a serious attack on his or her self-awareness: they are in such a condition that the perception of their personal values is increasingly obscured”.

In fact, work is the place where a person discovers and optimises his or her talents, brings his or her intelligence and energy into play, learns that he or she was made in the image of God to create something beautiful, good and true; and at the same time realises that there is no creation, no matter how beautiful, good and true, that can fully satisfy his or her desire. In short, work is the basic condition so that all people can be themselves. That is why our challenge is to accompany – as much as we can – everyone we meet towards employment.

RESEARCH

The Foundation has generated several opportunities to develop research and technology transfer projects.
Businesses bring us tangible cases and projects to develop, related to company process issues; the talents are challenged to meet the terms of delivery and time frame of the project solutions and the best are rewarded.

Opportunities touch on different areas of development:
product innovation, where technological upgrades improve or modernise the product, through to patenting;
process innovation, in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs;
opening up of new markets, for business development and growth through diversification and export;
technological transfer projects;
start-ups, where innovation achieves the characteristics of a true entrepreneurial activity

SUSTAINABILITY

By the term “sustainability”, the Foundation implies a work method intended as a true ecosystem that respects and protects the delicate balance between the Person and his or her surroundings. Every company is in fact in a relationship of interdependence with other entities: from institutions, customers and other companies, to suppliers, partners, and non-profit organisations. It is becoming increasingly important to learn to cooperate, to live in a rapidly changing environmental, social and economic context.

“Green” training is provided in each educational pathway, with the objective of acquiring knowledge and know-how in different areas:
green purchasing (Green Public Procurement), a key tool for reducing the environmental impacts of production and consumption;
social responsibility of organisations, aimed at generating shared value and improving the relationship between companies and the region, communities and people;
– identification of green jobs, according to technological areas of expertise;
regional planning and sustainable construction, aimed at minimising the impact on the environment and human health;
sustainable local development, for the lasting prosperity and improved well-being of citizens and the region.