The first group of talents seconded to OpenCom, Italy

The first group of talents was seconded to the partner OpenCom at the beginning of December. As a partner in the USE-IPM project, OpenCom from Arezzo, Italy, hosted the first group of nine talents from Serbia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and North Macedonia. Over 15 days, talents were engaged in a training activity that covered the following topics: Managing sustainability through cultural heritage; Enhancing competitiveness through sustainability reporting; Project management as a sustainable pedagogical tool to support student employability; Innovation centre for higher education on sustainable development; Innovative educational projects on sustainable entrepreneurship and the circular economy.

The first training session took place at the Informa Giovani in Piazza Sant’Agostino, kindly provided by the Municipality of Arezzo. One of the activities included visit to the Arezzo headquarters of Estra Spa, a leading Tuscan energy sector multiutility company. Saura Saccenti, Manuale Berra, and Patrice De Micco have illustrated Estra Spa’s journey in sustainability reporting since 2015, passionately discussing the encountered challenges, significant achievements, and the resulting benefits. Talents also had a chance to visit AISA Impianti, an Arezzo-based company specializing in urban waste treatment. They manage sorting, waste-to-energy, and composting facilities in San Zeno, producing biogas and electricity. One of the training sessions was focused on drafting the Sustainability Report for companies. Additionally, software developed by OpenCom within the European PMIR project was presented, enabling companies to create a summary of their Sustainability Report. The lecture was delivered by Professor Patrice de Micco. Training on “Project management as a Pedagogic Device” organized by “Project Management” and “Training” Departments of OpenCom, was very useful and inspiring for the USE IPM talents, as well.