Fondazione Toscana Sostenibile represents Italy in a new Erasmus+ project to introduce waste-free economy models
“Too Good To Go (www.2good2go.eu) – Waste Free Economy Transformation for SMEs” is a new KA220-VET Erasmus+ project stemming from Polish organisation PAIZ’s interest in ecological behaviour models. Having already been involved in projects focused on the development of sustainable habits, project’s partners, among which there’s Fondazione Toscana Sostenibile, have realised that climate change and pollution have to be faced with more dramatic actions. This is how 2Good2Go’s goal of introducing waste free economy models came to life, with a real interest in moving towards a sustainability transition.
With the aid of a pre-project analysis and consultations within the Partnership, project partners – from Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia and Lithuania – have established 3 main objectives that 2good2go will pursue during its 30-months duration. This European project will indeed try to encourage SMEs entrepreneurs to start adopting waste free economy policies and implement action plans, therefore leading the way for other small and medium businesses. Reaching out to SMEs leaders will allow the partners to catalogue and develop the competences necessary for transitioning successfully to a waste free economy, acting as agents for a sustainable change. Therefore, the project intends to equip VET (vocational and educational training) experts with complete learning programmes, examples of best practices and various tools to adapt their training methods to SMEs leaders, in order for them to develop skills that are crucial for sustainable development.
In working towards an eco-friendlier future and economy, Fondazione Toscana Sostenibile is relying on the experience of volunteer Simone Pagni, who works as FTS’ technical-scientific coordinator. He’s an environmental engineer with a 15-year experience in consultation and research within the scope of environmental policies and tools for sustainability and climate change adaptation.
For its contribution to the project, FTS is also counting on the support of The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna), a special-statute, highly selective public research university located in Pisa, Italy. Sant’Anna school represents a globally recognized academic excellence in the field of circular economy, with its dedicated Phd program and team of researchers. Precursors of this subject, from circular economy to company environmental management, FTS will profit from Sant’Anna’s expertise in this area of research.
Moreover, FTS also has the opportunity to partner with Skillman.eu, the Worldwide network for skills in Advanced Manufacturing. Launched in 2014, Skillman.eu is the largest EU multilateral network which combines training practices and knowledge of the skills required by the market with a systemic and sector-related information system. As Skillman.eu’s leader Giovanni Crisonà states, “we work with organisations both at European and extra-European level. This includes affiliated industries, universities and research centres, NGOs, training providers and public institutions. We have worked with FTS in the past and our collaboration has proven to be successful, so we are happy to provide our support for this Erasmus+ project.”
Last but not least, the Italian team is more than pleased to benefit from the support of CNA in the persons of Barbara Carli and Valentina Cesaretti, respectively coordinator for CNA Pisa and training manager for CNA Pisa’s training agency “Copernico”. CNA, National Confederation for craftsmanship and SMEs (Confederazione nazionale dell’artigianato e della piccola e media impresa), has more than 70 years of experience in dealing with the issues of small and medium enterprises. CNA is the largest representative association distributed in the Italian territory, offering widespread coverage by being present in every Italian province. As Barbara Carli points out, “CNA has a clear vision of what society, development and economy should look like in Italy. We aim to represent and protect the interests of Italian SMEs while supporting our society’s transition into a more sustainable way of life”. “This means – Valentina Cesaretti continues – that our adherence to the 2Good2Go project arose organically from our collaboration with Fondazione Toscana Sostenibile. European projects like this are absolutely needed in a time where waste-free economy models seem to be the only alternative for a sustainable future”.