WHAT IS VENTURE THINKING

The Venture Thinking Foundation was established with the aim of creating a “bridge” between the theoretical elaboration of ideas used to think about the future of society in a generative and sustainable logic, and the implementation of these ideas to make the thought a reality. The foundation’s name is intended to emphasise these two “fundamental” dimensions of human and social experience – thinking and acting – which all too often do not dialogue or converge towards a common goal: thinking and venturing. The basic and unifying element of this vision is an ethical impulse and the certainty that understanding and acting in a complex and everchanging world requires truly diverse skills as well as an open, critical, curious and complete investigative approach.

The starting point and driving force of the Foundation is understanding the forces that determine the transformation of the context in which we operate and live – built-up spaces and territories – in order to be able to identify (generative) policies and actions that allow us to regulate these processes in a sustainable way and, in so doing, as far as possible, leave our children a better world.

The first area of application of the “new ways of working, new ways of thinking” is therefore in the broader context of a transformation of the world of work and ways of working, with digitalisation and the pandemic being the main drivers of change. In this context, the Foundation’s emphasis is on the space-human “pair” to understand how these two entities evolve together in everyday practices.

In this view, the Foundation’s three key points of attack are: regeneration, innovation and sustainability [of spaces] to make new ways of working and thinking possible, new forms of productivity that go beyond the work/well-being trade-off measurable, and therefore, controllable, thus, forging a mindset in both designers and users that is curious, solidly rational, but open to doubt and intuition, respectful of diversity (including points of view) and guided by ethical values.

Therefore, the mission of Venture Thinking is to support the stakeholder of built-up spaces and territories in the process of conceptualization, on one hand, and on the other, in the design of regenerated places capable of accommodating and facilitating the integration of experience and expanding its creative possibilities. In this way, these redesigned places increase their contribution to the common good of the territory.

The initiative was conceived by the will and energy of five people with different backgrounds and skills, matured during a long and diversified professional and managerial career both in Italy and abroad; five individuals with strong personalities, but united by the same passion and vision for the possibility not only of thinking, but also of translating a positive change into concrete facts. A light foundation, therefore, connected to territorial ecosystems – indeed, an ecosystem itself – whose aim is to make the most of the skills, experience, background and relationships of the founders in order to give substance to promising ideas by verifying their completeness, feasibility, usefulness and solidity, integrating them where necessary and initiating their implementation.

The goal that the foundation has set itself is to work alongside the players in everyday life – the large corporations, capital foundations and public institutions, which are actually the driving force behind the change – to select, finalise and put into practice the most promising ideas, to avoid that – as sometimes happens with many ideas and research projects – they remain empty exercises destined for the bottom drawer of some manager’s desk or uselessly shine on the glossy pages of a scientific journal. Because ultimately, we are interested in the bridge being open and in social life flowing across it.

FOUNDER

Marta Bertolaso – Professor of Philosophy of Science and Human Development at the University Campus Bio-Medico in Rome (Italy) and Adjunct Professor at the University of Bergen who brings  to the Venture Thinking Foundation, experience in the philosophy of scientific and technological action, as well as the philosophy of complex systems and integrated development. Critical thinking and epistemic virtues are also the educational counterpart of the relational epistemology of which she is an expert.

Daniele Di Fausto – Graduated in Engineering at the University of Tor Vergata (Rome), in 2013 he became CEO of eFM, receiving the award by Manager Italia as the youngest Italian CEO in Real Estate. He completed his education with an MBA at the IESE Business School and led the internationalisation process of eFM, opening it up to markets in Europe, USA, Latin America and Asia. He brings his expertise on the relationship between man and space, his strong vocation for the digital and his ecosystem approach to Venture Thinking Foundation.

Elena Granata – Professor of Urban Planning and Analysis of the City and Territory at the Polytechnic of Milan and Vice-President of the School of Civil Economy (SEC). She brings the point of view of urban planning and sustainability seen from a systemic perspective to the Venture Thinking Foundation.

Andrea Granelli – Classical studies in high school, a degree in ICT, a specialisation in psychiatry and an Executive MBA. To the Venture Thinking Foundation, he brings his many years of experience in exploring the many faces and forms of innovation and in the management of technology companies, with the related theme of leadership and its transformation to act in increasingly complex, changing and tech-driven contexts.

Carlo Marini – A degree in Political Economy with a specialisation in Game Theory. Bank manager, for a decade, working in Eastern European markets. Since 2017, he has been riding the birth of Fintech by focusing on the Italian market and, in particular, on SMEs. Contract Professor of Digital Economics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Board Member of the Piacenza and Vigevano Foundation, to the Venture Thinking Foundation, he brings his knowledge of both large companies, perennially in search of a balance between economies of scale and complexity, and of the territories and the multifaceted world of Italian SMEs that are preparing to face a triple momentous change: that of generational transition, digitalisation and sustainable growth.