The company visits that each project team makes within the Upskill 4.0 pathways are intended to allow ITS students to immerse themselves in the specific context of the company and draw insights, reflections that will then come in very useful in the design phase.
Never before have the ITS students involved been able to experience firsthand such a unique context as the lagoon city that allows for a change in perspective as in Venice. E if we had to say what gives us the most pleasure in the projects we carry out by having students, businesses and institutions collaborate, we would definitely say this: the possibility we give everyone to change perspective.
Last December, some students fromITS LAST in Verona visited three of the companies involved in the second edition of Upskill Venezia: Rimani the first bulk food store, detergent on tap, soap by the slice and local crafts in Venice; Rehub, an innovative start-up that brings together Murano glass and new technologies; and Wetlands, a new publishing house created in Venice in 2021 that focuses on sustainability issues.
Alessia, Micheal, Elena and Mattia went to Rimani and met Orsetta Rocchetto and Lisa Della Valentina: these two friends had always wanted a place to sell their products. Right after Pandemia, they decided to open this small "sestiere" store that has become a reference point for Venetians today. The store has all Italian products that meet the principles of ethics and the work behind each company: many types of pastes, compotes, solid cosmetics, bulk detergents, Venetian handicrafts.
Several things emerged from the company visit; the ITS students asked a lot of questions and got answers that radically changed their perspective on the city and Orsetta and Lisa's idea of entrepreneurial growth. While today Instagram is now a messaging channel used again and again by Rimani's customers (especially those who do not live in Venice) to find out whether or not certain products are present, it is still the face-to-face relationship that works, indeed this is a fundamental point of Rimani's project. The 'idea of sustainability, which is the basis of the project, is not only about environmental aspects but also extends to social ones. The store wants to become a reference point for the local community.
Instead, Edoardo, Giovanni, David and Enrico, also students at ITS LAST in Verona, visited Rehub, an innovative start-up that transforms glass into a kind of pongo that can be molded so as to make design objects and accessories for the fashion world. They were welcomed by Matteo Silverio the founder and Erika Villa, who handles communications for Rehub.
Also on this visit, the thing that perhaps impressed the students most was the island of Murano itself, as well as Matteo himself, whom they described as a real "volcano" of ideas. Art glass is certainly a niche sector from an economic point of view, suffering greatly in recent years, but one of great cultural value. Understanding the complexities in starting a project like Rehub's in Murano was a great help for the LAST students to focus on what it takes to solve the design challenge set by Matteo Silverio: to help Rehub communicate in an innovative and unconventional way the value and potential of the recovery and reuse process of a precious material like Murano glass so that the client perceives its uniqueness and understands the possibilities of applying the technology. Getting to know Matteo Silverio then was crucial in giving greater definition to the project. Matteo calls himself an "alchemist," and his main goal is to make the most of waste: how can design objects be produced using the least amount of resources? Like many fashion houses, he believes that every product should tell a story. Today, this reality speaks to an audience of professionals, but he has ambitions to broaden his base.
From Wetlands, Leonardo, Andrea, Leonardo, Michele, and Mattia, also students at ITS Last in Verona, spoke with Enrico Bettinello and Luca Cosentino from the editorial board of this new publishing house dedicated to issues of social and environmental sustainability and the challenges of the Anthropocene. Venice as an urban lagoon ecosystem: here students discussedEnvironmental Humanities (or environmental humanities), a field of study that involves scientific knowledge and humanistic knowledge in an interdisciplinary way, and that interweaves topics such as environmental philosophy, ethics, literature, and social sciences. Venice is the place where these challenges intertwine, and by visiting it today with new lenses, ITS students were able to bring its complexity into focus.
Upskill Venice is an initiative implemented by the Venice Foundation in collaboration with Upskill 4.0, with the sponsorship of Confindustria Venezia and the Venice Rovigo Chamber of Commerce.