Collaboration with universities and schools

For years we have been involved in projects involving schools and the local area to bring young people closer to the world of work. Collaborative projects with high schools represent an important opportunity to confirm our contribution to communities and territories. 

In continuity with the previous programs, "IdeAzione" (IdeAction), "La Scuola che vorrei" (The school I want), "GenerAzione Digitale" (Digital GenerAction) "GenerAzione Connessa" (Connected GenerAction) and "GenerAction 2030", in 2024 we launched, in collaboration with the ELIS Consortium, "GenerAzione per la Transizione - Clima e Energia" (GenerAction for Transition - Climate and Energy), the new school-work alternation programme, now called PCTO (Paths for transversal skills and orientation).

The journey involved around 300 students from 11 schools including technical institutes and gymnasiums of high school grade in 4 regions (Lazio, Toscana, Umbria, Campania)and this year it was also extended to the children of colleagues who had the opportunity to meet the people who work in our companies to delve deeper into the issues inherent to the ecological transition, the climate, energy and the energy communities. Furthermore, the young people followed a specific module on orientation towards the professions of the future to discuss the most requested skills and face the selection interviews with greater awareness, enhancing their experiences and skills.

The initiative allowed participants to get to know the Group companies that operate in the territories and discover their businesses. The students took part in two days of work in which they responded to project work on the energy transition with the support of our colleagues. The work session took place as a hackathon in which the students faced concrete challenges and problems by adopting project management methodologies. Among the project ideas presented, the 5 innovative and sustainable finalist solutions were identified:

• Francesco d'Assisi gymnasium of Rome with the Schema Ponzi team and the project: “Programma di sensibilizzazione attraverso attività incentrate sulla sostenibilità presso le scuole”
  (Awareness program through activities focused on sustainability in schools)
• IIS Marconi of Nocera Inferiore with the Cognac Energy team and the project: “Sistema di riutilizzo dell'acqua piovana in ottica di una comunità idro-energetica” (Rainwater reuse system with a view to a hydro-energy community)
• IIS Giorgi Woolf of Rome with the Onde di Potenza team and the project: “Produzione energia elettrica green tramite la forza mareomotrice grazie a turbine sottomarine e boe galleggianti” (Production of green electricity through tidal force thanks to underwater turbines and floating buoys)
• ITI Volta of Perugia with the B.O.W. team and the project “Riutilizzo degli scarti di "produzione" finalizzati alla trasformazione del depuratore in un'oasi verde” (Reuse of "production" waste aimed at transforming the purifier into a green oasis)
• Acea Green Team employee children with the project “Diffusione di un modello di vita volto alla diffusione e alla sensibilizzazione per una cultura più sostenibile” (Dissemination of a life model aimed at disseminating and raising awareness for a more sustainable culture)

A technical team made up of experts from the Acea Group and the Elis Consortium identified the Marconi school as the best project for innovation and feasibility.

We are always looking for collaborations with the university world because cooperation with these organisations contributes to innovation and development within the business and the territory. In recent years, we have strengthened our relationships with some of the major universities, such as Tor Vergata, La Sapienza, LUISS Guido Carli, Lumsa, University of Tuscia, Politecnico of Milan, Sant’Anna of Pisa, Cassino and University of Napoli Federico II.

An example of our commitment to research activities is Acea Ambiente’s collaboration with universities such as the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Tuscia for the finalisation of projects to develop new research technologies and for the mitigation of strategic site environmental impacts.

We have renewed the conventions for curricular and extra-curricular internships with the Universities of Roma Tre, Tor Vergata, La Sapienza, LUISS Guido Carli, Uni Marconi, Bocconi, University of International Studies of Rome - UNINT, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - UNICAS and with the Gabriele D'Annunzio University of Chieti - Pescara. We also initiated new contacts and relationships with the placements departments of the Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Bari Aldo Moro, the University of Camerino, the Parthenope University of Naples, the University of Pisa and the Universities of Palermo, Catania and Messina.

Finally, during 2023, an agreement was developed with the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences at the University of Naples “Federico II” for the quantitative assessment of groundwater resources pertaining to some aquifers, with a view to developing a water availability prediction model, with scientific support from the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering at the Federico II University and the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, as part of the Water Action Agenda’s implementation.

Thanks to these collaborations, every year we are able to hire young graduates in the various Group companies and in 2023 activated a total of 14 training internships and 22 curricular apprenticeships.

Again, with regard to training, we put professional skills of our people at disposal during university courses and masters or technical projects. In 2023, our colleagues spoke as lecturers or with company testimonials in masters programmes that dealt, in particular, with issues related to energy, the environment, sustainability and innovation.

Are you a university student and interested in becoming part of Acea Group?