Corporate foundations, social sustainability and young people
We publish below the introduction of the report entitled “Corporate foundations, social sustainability and young people“, edited by Franca Maino, associate professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan and Martino Bozzi, PhD student in Political Studies at the Network for the Advancement of Social and Political Studies (NASP) of the University of Milan. A full downloadable version of the report is attached at the bottom of the page.
The experience of the pandemic has reinvigorated the debate on the challenges facing natural and eco-social systems and the long-term impact of the ongoing demographic, climate and digital transitions, as well as the urgent measures to be taken and the future that countries want to help build. Central to this debate is the concept of sustainable development, defined by the UN as development that ensures “the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to realise their own needs.”
Sustainability has three main dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. And in all these three areas, today more and more intense vulnerabilities are manifested. The term “development” has been criticized as an overly neutral and vague concept in terms of both content and goals to be achieved.
This is why the European debate today tends to speak of a “transition” towards a new model of society that is simultaneously sustainable, prosperous and inclusive. The social dimension of the transition has become increasingly important in the debate, considered by many authors as the foundation of the economic and environmental dimensions: without social cohesion and stability, it would be impossible to take the necessary measures to generate growth and development and to manage climate change. Although no universally agreed definition of the concept of social sustainability is yet available, three macro-environments are referred to in the literature: psycho-physical well-being (health, nutrition, housing conditions, etc.); quality of life (social security, inclusion, distributive equity, access to services and opportunities); and finally governance.
The presence of the latter macro-field indicates that social sustainability also includes procedural aspects, relating to the tools needed to achieve the goals. Procedural aspects include information strategies, communication with stakeholders, promotion of participation in decision-making processes, public awareness and education, and monitoring and management systems. Moreover, governance refers to the role of the actors involved in the processes and the relationships that may develop between them.
It is within this context that we should question how the world of philanthropy and, in particular, Italian corporate foundations have developed a growing focus on the issue of social sustainability. To this end, the following is a report that aims to provide an up-to-date picture of the subject and is divided into three chapters: the first one dedicated to situating Italian corporate foundations in the European panorama; the second one to investigating how corporate foundations have increasingly developed in the last decade a focus on the issue of sustainability (in particular social sustainability) in the framework of Agenda 2030 and of recommendations and directives promoted by the European Union; the third one to analysing if and how Italian corporate foundations have specifically addressed the issue of social sustainability by putting young people and youth at the centre of their initiatives.
To view the full report, click the link below: