From Taranto a project for sustainability, which also looks at SMEs

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Helping businesses to be sustainable. In the city of the former Ilva and which has been waiting for more than ten years for the steel factory to be transformed into a green key, Confindustria Taranto has launched a project for member companies.

According to Lella Miccolis, president of Piccola Industria, «until now it was thought that the iron and steel plant should be the only one to embark on the path of sustainability. Instead, all players in the economy and society must do their part. And we who are the home of medium-small businesses, want to accompany them all towards sustainability».

The project initially envisages the creation of a sample of companies. These will enter by self-nomination and will be involved in a cycle of seminars curated by experts who will explain all aspects of sustainability. An internal figure will therefore be identified in the companies who will be trained, who, together with external consultants, will measure the state of the company in relation to the ESG indicators of sustainability before starting the project (ex ante). The next step will be the planning and adoption of models, activities and interventions so that the company, in its management, is consistent with sustainability. This will be measured with a downstream, ex post evaluation of the project.

The results obtained will be used to promote dedicated associative services in Confindustria Taranto so that, going beyond the initial sample, we can expand to the base of companies. The start of the initiative will be in September and there will be progress in stages until 2025. The project will be financed by internal resources and Fondimpresa. Miccolis underlines the desire to «create a positive impact on the environment, on society and on an economic-financial level. Ours is a concrete project. Ambitious but also long. We wear sustainability as a social uniform». And Salvatore Toma, president of Confindustria Taranto, adds: «It is a concrete format. Beyond the theory, we will give space to practice. We will also set up a counter. We want sustainability to be a beacon for our associates».