POLIMI GSoM aims for zero: with Conscious Training, the Politecnico Business School commits itself to cancelling the emissions produced by its training activities for companies

POLIMI GSoM has developed a model to quantify the emissions of its training courses dedicated to companies to be used as a starting point for agreeing mitigation actions with its partners and to determine the residual emissions to be offset through Green Future Project's Envira Amazonia project

Milan, 03 October 2024 ─ POLIMI Graduate School of Management, the business school of Politecnico di Milano, is launching the "Conscious Training" initiative with the aim of eliminating the environmental impact of its training courses for companies, encouraging a process of dissemination of sustainability principles and supporting the corresponding international initiatives of Green Future Project. In recent years, training activities for companies have reached a significant scale in terms of participation and projects launched, with 20 thousand students a year and over 250 training courses for more than 160 client companies. This work not only facilitates the transfer of managerial skills but at the same time generates a significant impact. The Conscious Training initiative originated here.

A team of researchers from the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano specialising in sustainability issues has devised a model for the accurate calculation of all CO₂ emissions produced in any type of training course in POLIMI GSoM’s Corporate area. In light of the quantification of a project’s carbon footprint, POLIMI GSoM undertakes to design, discuss and agree with the client companies the structure of the training course, the educational tools and the logistical aspects in order to minimise CO₂ emissions (without altering the achievement of the training objectives) and fully compensate for those which cannot be compressed. The model takes several factors into account, such as course duration, number of participants, distance travelled to the venue, and emissions related to digital aspects (such as the number of emails, attachments, hours of online classes and digital materials), as well as emissions from the infrastructures used and all the processes involved in the training. POLIMI GSoM will offset the residual and non-compressible emissions through the Envira Amazonia project run by Green Future Project, the climate tech B Corp active in the regeneration and conservation of nature reserves around the world.

Envira Amazonia is a project in line with the international Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS). It is a conservation project aimed at preserving the rainforests of the great green lung of South America, in particular in Acre, a region of Brazil severely affected by deforestation. Envira Amazonia is a project that contributes not only to protecting the biodiversity of the region, but which also has a positive impact on local communities, through economic support and the promotion of sustainable development.

“Our commitment to sustainability is not just a strategic choice, but a duty towards future generations. With this initiative, we are not only offsetting emissions resulting from the energy consumption of our offices and staff travel, but we want to go one step further, also including the environmental impact of our corporate courses offered to companies, that is, our core business", said Federico Frattini, Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management. “This evolution of our corporate courses combines the need for upskilling with the taking on of a concrete commitment, faithful to the purpose that guides each of our actions. The hope is to transfer to the thousands of managers of the companies that turn to us annually not only skills but also responsibility and awareness. Moreover, with this project POLIMI GSoM wants to position itself as a partner of excellence to meet the training needs of all companies that intend to work with suppliers that are committed to reducing and abating their carbon footprint.”

POLIMI Graduate School of Management already offsets the emissions related to energy consumption at its locations in Milan Bovisa and Milan Navigli and for 2024, it will also calculate the CO₂ consumption generated by staff travel and its supply chain. Sustainability is a key theme for POLIMI GSoM, which is committed daily through its education to building a better future: one more equitable, inclusive and aware. All of POLIMI Graduate School of Management’s impact initiatives are described here.

The monitoring of sustainable metrics regarding the impact generated by POLIMI GSoM through its collaboration with Green Future Project is updated daily on the official climate tech website. To date, the school has absorbed c.1,300 tons of CO₂, equivalent to over 1,310 one-way flights from Rome to New York; 18,000 trees planted, which equates to an area of more than 156 tennis courts; the protection of an area of 1.62 hectares, equivalent to 64 tennis courts and 1,431,000 MWh of clean energy produced, which could power more than 380 homes.