Our Projects

What is a regenerative project?

A project is regenerative when it pursues the co-benefit of health & happiness for planet and people, in terms of restoration and/or conservation of Natural Capital and social impact.

With the term “restoration” we mean, among others, soil enrichment, forestation, and ecosystem remediation.

Conservation entails emissions reduction, recycling, regenerative energy, resources efficiency, meat protein reduction, agrochemicals substitution, and organic raw materials.

Evaluation and
scale-up

We support finding and mobilizing resources to scale up the founders’ projects, while developing original pilot projects with a high innovative potential. To do so, the foundation coordinates and supports public and private fundraising, while activating its network of partners and supporters for the projects’ implementation and potential scale-up.

Project portfolio

Regenerative Agriculture
Sustainable Ecosystems of Connected, Prosperous Communities
Regenerative Society Foundation

Through a market driven regenerative agriculture and agroecology, the programme aims at shifting African agriculture from an extractive to a regenerative model, promoting decarbonization alongside social and human well-being, while impacting on climate change mitigation and consumption habits. It starts with the beans production in Kenya, but can extend to coffee, cereals, and animal farming.

Virtuous Agriculture
Fondazione Ernesto Illy & illycaffè

In a remote and severely poor area of Ethiopia, 470 hectares of degraded land have been reforested with coffee plants using the regenerative practice of agroforestry. In addition, coffee production has been integrated with animal husbandry in the so-called “holistic agriculture” approach. Training and ongoing research also supports the work of more than 2,000 local coffee growers. Funds have also been allocated to building a school for the farmers’ children.

European Regenerative Organic Center
Davines Group & Rodale Institute

The Davines Group-Rodale Institute partnership aims to promote the implementation of regenerative organic practices across farms of all scales to produce food and active ingredients for the beauty industry. The other goals are to deliver ground-breaking research, education, and dissemination activities to demonstrate the multiple beneficial effects of regenerative organic agriculture for a variety of industries.

Urban regeneration
Kilometro Verde
Chiesi Group, Davines Group & Mutti

The project’s aim is to plant perennial forests throughout the Parma area and its province. Urban and sub-urban forests offer several ecosystem services to the neighboring communities, in terms of climate adaptation, landscape restoration and improvement of air quality. The project also includes an educational program for school children about the importance of urban forests for nature and people’s well-being.

Mille Querce
Mutti

The project supports biodiversity and fights climate change by reforesting the plains areas capable of increasing the trapping of carbon dioxide. It started with the planting of 1,100 trees in four different areas of our territory, near the Montechiarugolo (PR) headquarters. The project has also been launched in other areas, with “Tracce di bosco”, and urban areas in Milan.

Education
#UnlockEducation
Nativa

#UnlockEducation is the training campaign to educate the new generations on sustainability. Creating a more sustainable and resilient society is a globally recognized imperative, an imperative that is unachievable if money is not allocated towards younger people. Involving the institutions and the main players in the Italian educational ecosystem, #UnlockEducation will provide the new generations with skills and tools that will allow them to build and live in a more inclusive, sustainable and regenerative economy and future.

Reforestation
CO2 compensation & reforestation in Guatemala
Flowe & Banca Mediolanum

For every debit card issued, a tree is planted in Guatemala. Each tree is geolocated and associated with a QR code, allowing clients to track growth over time. Thanks to an algorithm developed by a partner, CO2 emission for the good or service purchased are estimated to later give the user the opportunity to offset them by planting trees. Finally, each event (digital or physical) organized by Flowe is neutralized through the planting of trees with our partner. To date, more than 45,000 trees have been planted in Guatemala within a reforestation project with high social impact.