The announcement of this new section appeared in the Trevisobellunosystem’s Newsletter with a first interview to Giorgio De Nardi, founder of Aton spa, a Benefit Company, which pursues social and environmental development in an economically balanced situation.
In this first article we try to explain the reasons that led the Chamber of Commerce to undertake this new initiative in favour of the local economy and the population of the provinces of Treviso and Belluno.
A few years ago the Chamber of Commerce launched a section entitled Investing in Treviso and Belluno, in order to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the territory with sustainable investment and to attract new capital, from abroad as well, taking into account the validity of the local factors of production. Although the intention is to continue the work which has already begun, which includes various articles of an informative and formative nature (as well as promotional), it has now been thought of enriching the theme of development with new ideas, which can derive mainly from the factor of work, which must proceed in a parallel manner (and synergetic one) with the factor of capital in order to obtain the maximum result for an overall sustainable development.
In other words, it is not enough to invest well, but we must also work well. Therefore, it is appropriate to examine how we work at the present moment and what opportunities there are for development in this field as well. In fact, even in already socially developed areas as the Treviso and Belluno ones, there are many opportunities for improvement for those already working and for new workers who wish to remain in these provinces (mostly young people, but women as well). The context in the areas of Treviso and Belluno can also repay them with a satisfactory standard of living from the social and environmental point of view, without having to restort to painful emigrations, but instead encouraging immigrations, which appear to become more frequent in relation to the local attractions which are in turn being enhanced (namely the Unesco award and the next Winter Olympics).
In this way, the articles which will be written and the interviews which will follow represent a useful and stimulating guide not only to attract talent, but also to exploit existing human resources and the potential ones, highly relevant for the socio-economic system of the area, especially when sustainable development is being discussed. This in fact aims at maximum welfare, which in turn, in the long term, brings to maximum added value, as demonstrated several times in the investment section.
The Chamber of Commerce of Treviso and Belluno, which has taken as its primary objectives the values of beauty, enterprise and well-being, is pleased to start this new journey in the interest of economic, social and environmental development of the two provinces.
Sustainable capital
In order to get into the heart of the fundamental theme of the Chamber action, it is useful from the beginning to offer some general reflections.
Until some time ago, when capital was being discussed, we referred to the physical capital only, so defined by the economists since the wealth not consumed is transferred into assets of entreprises (investments in stocks, real estate, capital goods, and financial assets) and therefore it was stated that development depends mainly on the quantity and quality of this capital.
The notion of capital has now been recognized in three other dimensions, which are also considered indispensable for the same development:
- human capital, which is the quality of the workforce;
- the social capital, namely the set of human relations which can positively or negatively influence our social environment;
- the natural capital, which represents the goods offered by the planet for our present and future survival.
Without going into theoretical details of the discussion, we can affirm that, although all these forms mentioned are vital, the decisive factor to reach a satisfactory level of sustainable development lies precisely in the human capital, since it is able to maximize the results of the other configurations as well.
But it is clear that human capital concerns the performance of every worker on every level (from the simplest to the most complex) and therefore it emerges the importance of labor productivity (managerial, managerial and executive together), which creates added values induced both by the adopted choices and by the actions which are concretely carried out by each individual. That same added value will be greatest if those choices and actions will be able to simultaneously make the economic, social and environmental factors grow.
The central thesis of my book Agenda 2030. Come fare. Integrare crescita economica, sviluppo sociale e sostenibilità ambientale, published by Guerini e Associati (which was presented in a previous article), is precisely focused on the fact that it is necessary to focus primarily to the human capital to reach a satisfactory sustainable development.
In this section’s next articles then, we will try to highlight the main qualities of the work of all and the undoubted benefits which may result from them, in a social and environmental environment rich of stimuli and beauty as the territory here considered.
