Looking at it like this, as soon as you go through the gates, it looks like a very normal photovoltaic panel. Of those like now you see so many. But what stands out at the entrance of theEnvironment Park of Turin, an innovative hub built on the (still visible) remains of the former industrial area of the Fiat ironworks, is not just any photovoltaic panel. "It is one of the first built, at the beginning of the 2000s, when there weren't any incentives yet", says the President Mauro Chianale.
After all, the science park which this year celebrates 15 years of public money, during which it has hosted the activities of 209 companies and "given birth" to 67 startups, almost does not take: the company is a public shareholding company, which operates in a regime of free competition. “We finance ourselves with our business, the institutional funds go directly to the activity of the startups”, Chianale explains. Currently, 70 companies are incubated within the park, which carry out activities mainly focused on environmental sustainability, as part of the transformation of a city, Turin, which is redeveloping entire areas, a legacy of the marked industrial vocation of a few decades ago. But not only. “Starting from its vocation of developing technologies for the environment – he explains the managing director of Envipark, Davide Canavesio – over the years the park has broadened its horizons and today it stands as a catalyst for international experiences, for the exchange of knowledge and opportunities, and creator of networks useful for encouraging the growth of innovation”.
In fifteen years, the 30.000 square meters that arise in the Spina 3 district have gone far beyond that photovoltaic panel, which now seems almost part of the industrial archeology on which a project that now varies was built from scratch - directly employing 30 people with an average age of 40 years (and 10 years of company seniority) – in the Green Building (sustainable construction), Plasma Nano-Tech (plasma nanotechnology), Green Chemistry (biomass valorisation), Advanced Energy (innovative energy production and storage systems) and Clean Tech (environmental technologies) sectors. Since 2000, the park has directly employed approximately 110 resources and 198 interns.
The companies that settled in the three-year period 2000-2002 stayed on average for 8 years and 23% of those that settled in 2000 are still in the Park today. Among the first companies to settle in the park and still based there today, they can be cited as successful experiences Colt Telecom, Hicare Research, LCE – Life Cycle Engineering and Irion. In particular, the last one, which deals with a particularly hot topic such as the management of Big Data, has grown exponentially, opening offices in Milan, New York and Canada in the meantime. But above all EnviPark has overall received 803 assignments, of which 240 European projects and 30% from public bodies. The amount of projects carried out in these years has a value of over 40 million euro and each order has an average revenue of 34.000 euros.
But the goal is to go further, as CEO Canavesio explains: "In the more immediate future, the park aims to take the form of a Cleantech Pole, i.e. of environmental technologies, by expanding the skills of its Innovation Pole, which is currently already a member 150 Piedmontese companies. The real area of the Turin park, in which about sixty companies live, is increasingly emerging also as a place for the city, opening up more and more to the outside also with cultural events, such as Jazz al Parco, with opportunities for students, hosting entire classes from the most innovative faculties, and with opportunities for start-ups, such as mentor games accessible to all".
Looking at it like this, as soon as you go through the gates, it looks like a very normal photovoltaic panel. Of those like now you see so many. But what stands out at the entrance to Turin's Environment Park, an innovative pole built on the ruined remains (still visible) of the former industrial area of the Fiat ironworks, is not just any photovoltaic panel. “It's one of the first built, at the beginning of the 2000s, when there weren't yet incentives”, says the director xxx President Mauro Chianale.
After all, the science park, which this year celebrates 15 years, during which it hosted the activities of 209 companies and "given birth" to 67 startups, hardly gets any public money: the company is a public operates under free competition. Currently, 70 companies dedicated to technological innovation are incubated within the park. “We finance ourselves with our business, the institutional funds go directly to the activity of the startups”, Chianale explains. Activities mainly focused on environmental sustainability, in the context of the transformation of a city, Turin, which is redeveloping entire areas, a legacy of the marked industrial vocation of a few decades ago. But not only. “Starting from its vocation to develop technologies for the environment – explains the managing director of Envipark, Davide Canavesio – over the years the park has broadened its horizons and today stands as a catalyst for international experiences, for the exchange of knowledge and opportunities, and creator of useful networks to encourage the growth of innovation”.
In fifteen years, the 30.000 square meters that arise in the Spina 3 district have gone far beyond that photovoltaic panel, which now seems almost part of the industrial archeology on which a project that now varies was built from scratch - directly employing 30 people with an average age of 40 years (and a company seniority of 10 years) – in the sectors Green Building (sustainable construction), Plasma Nano-Tech (plasma nanotechnology), Green Chemistry (biomass valorisation), Advanced Energy (innovative systems of production and storage of energy) and Clean Tech (environmental technologies). Since 2000, the park has directly employed approximately 110 resources and 198 statesmen.
The companies that settled in the three-year period 2000-2002 stayed on average for 8 years and 23% of those that settled in 2000 are still in the Park today. Colt Telecom, Hicare Research, LCE – Life Cycle Engineering and Irion can be mentioned as successful experiences among the first companies to establish themselves in the park and are still based there today. In particular, the last one, which deals with a hot topic such as the management of Big Data, has grown exponentially, opening offices in Milan, New York and Canada in the meantime. But above all, EnviPark has received a total of 803 assignments, of which 240 European projects and 30% from public bodies. The amount of projects carried out in recent years has a value of over 40 million euros and each order has an average revenue of 34.000 euros.
But the goal is to go further, as CEO Canavesio explains: "In the more immediate future, the park aims to take the form of a Cleantech Pole, i.e. of environmental technologies, by expanding the skills of its Innovation Pole, which is currently already a member 150 Piedmontese companies. The real area of the park of Turin, in which about sixty companies live, is increasingly taking shape as a place for the city, opening up more and more to the outside, including with cultural events, such as Jazz al Parco, with opportunities for students, hosting entire classes from the most innovative faculties, and with opportunities for start-ups, such as mentor games accessible to all".
