There is a time to build and a time to tell stories. The story of the Fondazione MAIRE–ETS, as reflected in its 2024 Social Report, is not just an exercise of accountability, but an act of vision.

It is the narrative of an energy that forges bonds between people, skills, and territories, in the belief that sustainability is "rst and foremost a cultural process before being a set of benchmarks.

« The Fondazione MAIRE - ETS will continue on its journey with conviction which, I am sure, will take it far, to eventually reach international horizons with increasingly incisive and impactful projects, » Chairman Fabrizio Di Amato writes in his opening letter.

The report recounts a year of activity characterized by a broadening of its impact, a consolidation of its projects, and a clear direction: putting people at the center. From schools to archives, from exhibitions to workshops, the Foundation has become a catalyst for educational, cultural, and social initiatives, towards a just, conscious, and deeply human transition.

Ingenuity that generates impact

2024 consolidated the Foundation's identity as a place of action and thought. With a growing project capacity, the results of its management illustrate dozens of initiatives including events, training programs, scholarships, publications, and international collaborations; thousands of direct beneficiaries; and dozens of partnerships. A presence that is growing in breadth and depth, capable of activating networks and building a shared sense of purpose.

Heritage: vibrant culture, a legacy that inspires

Humanistic engineering finds its most fertile ground in actions related to heritage. One example of this is the victory at the Corporate Heritage Awards 2024, the Italian award for excellence in the recovery and enhancement of cultural heritage. In the "storytelling through events" category, first place was awarded to the literary aperitif award ceremony for the "Barbara Picutti Creative Co test" project – 2024 edition - Tool tales: a project entirely dedicated to MAIRE group colleagues that combines the valorization of the Group's historical tools with the literary imagination of our people through a creative contest.

This initiative was accompanied by a copious number of activities relating to the preservation of archival assets throughout 2024: from the importation of over 1,000 digitized items "including images, videos, and documents) into the Digital Vault, to the launch of an extensive five-year restoration project involving 111 drawings from the MAIRE Historical Archive.

Training: growing is a collective act

Supporting talent, promoting access to education, offering tools for reading and transforming the world: with the MAIREmpower project, the Foundation intends to fund up to 10 scholarships for three-year STEM degrees for young people from vulnerable backgrounds, accompanying them on their path of personal and professional growth starting from their 4th year of high school. The educational commitment to the 'humanist engineers' of tomorrow, the cornerstone of the Foundation, has had an even wider reach. Through the expansion of training activities in schools – with a focus on STEM subjects, sustainability and the value of education – hundreds of students were involved in workshops, meetings and PCTO "Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation) courses. These included participation in the initiative "A scuola d'impresa" (At Business School), promoted by Museimpresa, which combined education on sustainability with the appreciation of corporate and technical engineering heritage: the history of engineering design from paper drawings to the use of Artificial Intelligence, including lectures and an immersive, hands-on experience to discover antique work tools.

Research and studies: migration, climate, and a shared future

Understanding change in order to guide change. With this approach, in 2024 the Fondazione MAIRE – ETS strengthened its commitment to socio-economic research, promoting studies capable of interpreting the social and environmental transformations currently underway.

On the one hand, the publication of Addendum 1 to "Climate Goals" – dedicated to the two countries covered by the 2024 survey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan – marked a new stage in the process of exploring the interconnections between ecological transition, skills, industry and territories. This strategic document, designed to offer tools for reflection and gui- dance to those planning the future of energy and the environment, has now been extended to include 12 countries.

On the other hand, an unprecedented project has taken shape, focusing on migration as one of the solutions to the challenges of our time. Through the launch of a call for applications for research on migration flows and energy transition, the Foundation sought to promote studies capable of investigating the link between skills, socio-economic inequalities, and environmental crises. This is an urgent and necessary reflection that does not stop at the theoretical level: on October 13th the results of the call for applications have been presented and will also form the basis for building new training courses dedicated to migrants, with the aim of facilitating their social and professional inclusion, in order to respond to the need for new skills to implement the energy transition.

Knowledge that does not remain in books but is transformed into opportunities. That inhabits the present with eyes open to the world, generating tools, encounters, and awareness.

Communicating means building connections

The vision that guided the communication activities of the Fondazione MAIRE – ETS in 2024 is increasingly oriented towards the creation of spaces for dialogue and sharing. When culture becomes a living and accessible narrative, it becomes a tool for deep connection, capable of generating meaning and participation without the distinction of age.

This is evidenced by the "EvolveArt Roadshow," a traveling exhibition that showcased the 28 winning works of the first edition of the competition of the same name, created by young student artists from Italian art high schools on the themes of sustainable development, energy transition, and the circular economy, bringing with it art installations, workshops, and opportunities for interaction between art, science, and industry. The winners of the competition have been awarded the opportunity to have their work published on the cover of this magazine, as explained on page 49 of this publication. This journey made visible—and tangible—the idea that art can be a vehicle for awareness and that technical knowledge, when communicated with care, can excite and inspire.

Deep connections between seemingly distant worlds emerged at the conference "In the Spirit of Laudato Sì. Towards COP29" hosted at Casa Litta-Palazzo Orsini, headquarters of the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Holy See, during which the results of the Foundation's "Climate Goals" research on the skills required for the implementation of the energy transition were presented, and read through the lens of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Sì".

It was a high-profile symbolic and institutional occasion that brought the themes of international cooperation, solidarity, and ingenuity at the service of the common good together.

A vision taking shape

From restoration to research, from school to art, every project promoted in 2024 by the Fondazione MAIRE – ETS speaks the language of transformation. A transformation that is not just about numbers, but about people, territories, and meanings. A transformation that is rooted in the past to generate the future.

The Social Report is a map in the making, a declaration of intent, a manifesto of responsibility. Above all, it is the testimony of how business and culture, engineering and imagination, roots and vision can be brought together. With one common thread: the choice to build value. Where it really matters. And every person is called upon to participate because, now more than ever, building the future is a collective effort. Rise Together!