At Edizione, we take to heart the wellbeing of our communities and everyone who works for us. Indeed, as a holding company, we are at the center of a virtuous ecosystem of people and local areas that creates sustainable value – economic and social – for all its members. Sustainability is the enabler of resilience, and resilient communities are crucial for our businesses.
But it’s not just about business: while we reap economic benefits from strong communities, we also believe in doing good for its own sake, ensuring our enterprises strengthen communities both socially and economically. Achieving this requires well-laid plans and long-term thinking, a practice we are familiar with – after all, many of our portfolio companies invest in infrastructure built to last for decades.
By encouraging our enterprises to prioritize future generations, we foster stronger, happier communities through our people and investments at the Unhate Foundation, Mundys, Aeroporti di Roma, and Verde Sport. Whether combating hatred, encouraging volunteering, engaging students in STEM, or managing sports facilities, a common thread unites us in building a better world for everyone.
The Unhate Foundation: tackling the roots of hatred
Originally established in 2011 and relaunched in 2024 under Chairman Alessandro Benetton (who is also Chairman of Edizione), the Unhate Foundation seeks to identify the causes and combat the culture of hate, engaging younger generations with opportunities to grow and develop their potential. Supported by Edizione, Mundys and ADR – which provide funding, know-how and operational expertise – the foundation has already launched several concrete projects. Most recently, it unveiled Fragile – mappae mundi di una nuova generazione (Fragile – World Maps of a New Generation), the first study powered by “Unfiltered: Voci Generazionali”, its new permanent observatory on youth in Italy.
Based on responses from 1,500 young people aged 13–24, the survey paints a complex picture: a world rich in opportunity, yet one in which
young people struggle to find their place. Only 17% consider themselves “confident and proactive”; the remaining 83% are split between those feeling “discouraged under pressure” (24%), “restless and on the brink” (25%), and – the largest group, at 34% – “moderates in transition”, characterized by a fragile balance and a constant need for support. Understanding the root causes of these fragilities is the starting point for developing appropriate policies and opportunities.
Aside from the survey, the foundation has already launched other initiatives including a partnership with Sport Senza Frontiere to organize a multi-sport summer camp for 150 children from disadvantaged backgrounds and Proud of You – co-funded by the European Union through Next Generation EU – a program that combats early school leaving in underserved areas of southern Italy through an engaging, tailored approach to teaching Italian and math.
Mundys: putting employees at the service of communities
Mundys channels employee energy directly into social action through its 10Days4 active-citizenship program. Employees are granted up to ten paid working days per year to volunteer with non-profit organizations and community projects – a benefit designed to pursue four goals simultaneously: enable employees to apply their skills in service of the community; cultivate an understanding of the third sector’s challenges and competencies; foster inclusion, diversity and solidarity; and respond to work-life balance needs. In practice, 10Days4 has put Mundys employees out in the field, where they participate in projects ranging from road-safety awareness campaigns in schools across Lazio to building community gardens in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Milan.
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Aeroporti di Roma: the airport as a community asset
Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) takes a distinctly place-based approach to social value, treating its airports as platforms for community development. One of its most distinctive initiatives is Baby Gate, a full-service day-care center inside Terminal 1 at Fiumicino. Open every day from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, it offers working parents – airport employees – a safe, bilingual, inclusive space where children of all nationalities can play and learn, easing one of the most persistent dilemmas faced by working families: the choice between career and childcare.
Fiumicino’s Terminal 1 arrivals area also hosts the Newton Room – a STEM learning space developed in collaboration with Boeing Italia and FIRST Scandinavia – which offers three-hour experiential science and technology lessons to lower- and upper-secondary school students from across the Lazio region, bringing the airport’s industrial environment to life as an educational tool.
Beyond the terminal, ADR has redeveloped the Tommaso Forti and Aldo Moro parks at Fiumicino and Ciampino airports, respectively, restoring ecological landscapes, enhancing biodiversity and reducing the environmental impact on surrounding communities.
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Verde Sport: sport as a vehicle for nurturing social values
Established in 1988 to develop the Benetton family’s investments in community-enhancing sport and cultural enterprises, Verde Sport promotes dialogue and cooperation with local communities through sports-club activities, nurturing and strengthening the social and sporting fabric of these areas. Projects and events are designed to support the spread of social values among young people and their families through the practice of basketball, volleyball, rugby and golf.
Verde Sport owns and manages La Ghirada, a 22-hectare sports center in Treviso offering free access 365 days a year. It also owns Benetton Rugby, a local rugby club that organizes Rugbytots – a program offering motor skills development sessions for children aged 2 to 6 – as well as Asolo Golf Club, home to the 6 Insuperabile golf day designed for young people with disabilities. Each initiative uses sport as a means of spreading the values of equality, inclusion, respect for diversity and cross-cultural exchange.
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In the end, the strongest legacy is strong communities
Through a shared commitment to active citizenship, our portfolio companies and organizations generate not only business results but also tangible social value that goes beyond economic metrics. From the Unhate Foundation’s efforts to encourage integration and combat hatred and Mundys’ 10Days4 volunteer program to ADR’s Newton Room STEM experiences and Verde Sport’s support for sport and culture, these initiatives empower young people, setting the stage for a better tomorrow – for both present and future generations.
