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Responsible management of natural capital

Chapter entry image – Responsible management of natural capital (Image)

Snam has infrastructure in nearly every region of Italy, in areas and communities with different cultures and traditions as well as different economic, social and environmental conditions.

In this context, Snam’s policy is to build new and manage existing infrastructure by adopting a rigorous, transparent, cooperative and constructive approach to ensure that establishments are environmentally compatible and to encourage their acceptability to stakeholders. In the course of the year and in the transportation sector alone, 129 meetings were held with local administrations and community associations to illustrate projects for the implementation of works.

Over time, Snam has built up relational capital made of a network of ad hoc relationships with local industry associations and other local companies working in the association system, also to address the energy, economic and environmental policy topics that impact communities. In recent years, the Snam Group has accordingly increased the presence of its people on the management bodies of industry associations as well as associations that work to build relationships and protect the environment, in support of its business. The Company works with local and national authorities, participates in the work of several associations and committees and provides its commitment and expertise to become an active participant in processes of social innovation and sustainable development by completing projects with “shared value”.

Around € 753,000 was spent on donations, sponsorships and local initiatives in 2015, excluding environmental compensation.

Creating value for the community

“Stories about the Future” project in schools

Giro d’Italia in 80 bookshops

Cultivating value:
a vegetable garden in the network

In its second year, the “Stories about the Future” educational project aims to raise the awareness of primary school students (third, fourth and fifth grades) surrounding sustainability topics. Last year’s initiative, “The Network of Learning: science, knowledge… science fiction!”, revolved around the culture of science, technological discoveries, and the issues of energy and energy procurement - and focused on the key values of cooperation, exchange and dialogue within scientific research.

As in its first year, the project was sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and was carried out in association with Federparchi.

Nearly 20,000 students from roughly 900 classes in around 400 primary schools, mostly in Italy, participated in the project.

The project wrapped up with a competition of ideas submitted by the participating classes, resulting in the development of around 500 creative entries. The top three schools were awarded an IWB (interactive whiteboard), a microscope with tablet and a physics laboratory set. Twenty additional schools received honourable mentions.

Uniting Italy through an ideal network of bookshops, routes, museums and cities, thanks to the support and experience of a network. This is the objective of the “Giro d’Italia in 80 bookshops”, a cycling and cultural tour that brings Italy together through an ideal network of bookshops, museums and cities. This year, the 1400-kilometre tour wound its way from May to July down the Adriatic coast from Friuli-Venezia Giulia to Apulia, stopping by in several areas where Snam has traditionally had a strong presence. The tour began in Tarvisio, where Russian gas enters Italy, and then continued on to other destinations such as Venice, where the Group provides distribution services, and Emilia-Romagna, the location of three storage facilities as well as a compression station. A cycling trip to bring together the Italian world of reading and literature, passing through bookshops, piazzas, libraries and schools, featuring publishers and cyclists, librarians and readers, cycling enthusiasts and booksellers.

The social agricultural initiative “A Vegetable Garden in the Network”, launched and carried out in 2015 on a plot of land owned by Snam Rete Gas adjacent to the Terranuova Bracciolini (Arezzo) compression station. The company leased the land free of charge to the social cooperative Betadue, which is dedicated to the employment of disadvantaged people and specialised in the management of green spaces used for farming. The vegetable garden’s products are used in a short-range catering network that prepares the meals served in Valdarno schools and communities.

Videos, photographs and Group social network updates captured the intimate details of the garden and the people who work there every day. Photographer Christian Sinibaldi took a series of shots of this initiative which were displayed at an exhibit inaugurated in Milan last September in the Vigna di Leonardo and later were featured at Expo 2015 in multimedia format. His scenes paint a picture of the network of solidarity and social integration that was created around this project.

Books illuminate me

Children’s festival

Talent Days

A cultural project founded to promote the Museum and historical archives of Italgas in Turin, an integral part of the fabric of the city and open to local cultural engagement. With more than 1,000 linear metres of documents, 6,000 volumes, 35,000 newspapers and 350 tools and pieces of equipment, the Italgas Museum tells not only the story of the Company, but also the story of Italy and our energy development. The archive has been recognised as an “Archive of Historical Interest” by the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta Archives Authority.

The “M’illumino di libri” (“Books illuminate me”) initiative features a series of events and meetings at the Museum revolving around the promotion of books and reading.

The Italgas Museum also opened its doors to host a series of laboratories, workshops and events in association with the “Booksound” competition, a project that promotes reading books aloud, for lower and upper secondary school students.

Three days of events (around 120) promoted by the Municipality of Florence and sponsored by UNESCO, with meetings, workshops, experiences and pathways all within the reach of children, with a special focus on their world, their expectations and their expression.

Snam participated in this initiative with its motor activities project and laboratory called Al Fantacastello - Explore Energy, a playground equipped with slides, intersections and pathways featuring touch and sound, enabling children to explore the various elements the world of energy networks is made of, to combine them, to find new connections and surprising points of view, through the spontaneity of play.

This initiative targets employees’ children aged 16 to 29 and involved the participation of 75 young people in orientation days in Bologna, Mestre, Milan, Rome, Naples and Messina.

The days featured inter-company workshops to provide young people with information and instruction about the job market and choosing a university, through: discussion groups, self-assessments, mock job interviews, CV preparation and specialised research portals.

Several HR Directors and HR Managers from a range of businesses shared their knowledge, experience and professional skills, giving the young people practical advice to help them best plan their professional career paths. In the coming years, this initiative will be carried out in other cities as well.

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