Intesa Sanpaolo and the Cariplo Foundation launch the first Italian laboratory dedicated to the Circular Economy in Milan. The CE Lab is located in the former Ansaldo area of Milan, now the headquarters of the Cariplo Factory, center dedicated to open innovation projects and valorisation of young talents. Objective to support and accompany the transformation of the Italian economic system and disseminate new models of value creation in the collective interest, accelerating the transition towards the circular economy and promoting social innovation and impact investing.
Three pillars underlie the CE Lab: positioning the laboratory as a primary systemic actor of the circular economy, disseminating and promoting the principles of the new economic model; contribute to the generation of business opportunities; create value and growth through open innovation initiatives between Startups, SMEs and large companies, as well as with Universities and Institutions.
The event was chaired by Giuseppe Guzzetti, president of the Cariplo Foundation, alongside Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder of the main organization that promotes the global transition towards the circular model, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and Mario Costantini, general manager of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, which illustrated the project together with Carlo Mango, Managing Director of Cariplo Factory.
“Another important step forward, with the logic of making use of the work done, the actors involved and a vision that looks to the future. The circular economy is an obligatory path, which is based on shared values. Fondazione Cariplo has developed a thought and concrete actions that today find a synthesis in the Laboratory that finds a home in the Cariplo Factory, our flagship on the innovation front. We operate in an inter-sectoral way, bringing into play all the skills gained over the years, especially with our bodies and collaborators in the environment and scientific research area. The predisposition to innovation that is in Intesa Sanpaolo's DNA has allowed our organizations to meet and give life, as always with a rigorous method, to the new CE Lab", commented Giuseppe Guzzetti, president of the Cariplo Foundation.
The institution has been operating on this front for some time in various ways: with the support of scientific research projects, with awareness-raising and training activities (implemented through courses, events and workshops) and by promoting and disseminating good practices and policies. The birth of the CE Lab is therefore the closing of a natural circle that takes place thanks to the presence and action of Cariplo Factory, the open innovation pole which started just over two years ago which has set itself the goal of generating 10 thousand job opportunities in three years, focusing on new occupations, especially related to digital, but also those related to new employment scenarios of which the Circular Economy is certainly a fundamental pillar today.
With this in mind, Intesa Sanpaolo bank has announced the creation of a ceiling of up to 5 billion euro for the period 2018-2021 with the commitment to support SMEs and large companies that adopt the circular model in innovative ways, granting better conditions for accessing credit. In particular, the assessment of the merits of the initiatives will be handled by the Innovation Center which has defined the investment circularity criteria together with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
“Intesa Sanpaolo has decided to make available – over the course of the 2018-2021 Business Plan – a ceiling of up to 5 billion euro to allow the most innovative companies in the circular economy to access credit at the best possible conditions. A choice in line with the Group's objectives in support of companies that invest in the transformation towards this regenerative model. We are proud to present this new business tool in conjunction with the opening of the CE Lab; a place that was born with the desire to spread the need to rethink the economy in the community, detaching the development of businesses from the exploitation of exhaustible natural resources", commented Mario Costantini, General Manager of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center.
