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Prysmian’s Sustainability Academy: the new features for the 2024 edition

Prysmian’s Sustainability Academy: the new features for the 2024 edition

Prysmian’s Sustainability Academy: the new features for the 2024 edition

Second edition of the training path aimed at raising group employees’ sustainability awareness and engagement launched in January 2024.

Sustainability is one of Prysmian's founding values. The Group's recent rebranding has confirmed the importance of this principle, which has become a key element of its DNA. 

It was precisely with a view to spreading the sustainability culture among its employees and stakeholders that in 2023 Prysmian launched its Sustainability Academy: a training programme involving various organisational functions and levels. 

The second edition, the 2024 Sustainability Academy, is already underway and is dedicated to Prysmian's social and environmental responsibility. Let's find out more about the project, its roots and what's new this year.

The pillars of the Sustainability Academy’s second edition

Prysmian’s Sustainability Academy is one of the tools designed and used to put into practice the SUSTAIN TO LEAD strategy and to spread — both inside and outside the Company — the ESG culture and information about the plans the Group is implementing to achieve its sustainability goals.

The two cornerstones on which the Group is working are the Climate Change Ambition, aimed at driving the transition to a low-carbon economy across the entire value chain, and the Social Ambition, aimed at promoting social equality, a rigorous and structured governance system and digital inclusion, all with a view to creating long-term value for stakeholders.

In this way, Prysmian confirms its commitment to sustainable growth — correctly measuring the GHG emissions resulting from its activities — by improving its production processes and promoting the development of its employees and of the local communities in which the Group operates.

One of the new features introduced to the Sustainability Academy’s structure in 2024 is the definition of specific training courses by function and level. The Company’s Departments involved in the new training courses include sales, finance, manufacturing, supply chain and procurement, namely those most involved in sustainable activities. This is because sustainability encompasses diverse and multidisciplinary topics, and each function needs to acquire knowledge and skills appropriate to its needs. This training approach will therefore stimulate the interest and engagement of the various departments in sustainability matters.

Besides implementing sustainability, it is also necessary to convey information about it, which is also a complex challenge. A workshop dedicated to Sustainability Ambassadors and MI&D Directors was held on 26 June to highlight the relationship between sustainability and communications, and how these elements are deeply integrated and can generate mutual value.

Many partners, one mission

The Sustainability Academy is a network where Prysmian professionals work with some leading business schools, such as SDA Bocconi, the School of Management of Milan Polytechnic and Ca' Foscari University of Venice. 

The network also includes Prysmian's Top Management, whose role is to enable the application of the knowledge acquired through the training path to the Prysmian world, inviting participants to face the new market challenges pragmatically.

These outstanding partners help provide a broader and more up-to-date view of sustainability matters. As awareness of environmental issues grows, customers are demanding increasingly sustainable solutions and products. In this sense, Prysmian's activity as a market leader and enabler of the energy transition is crucial. Prysmian knows that a sustainable value chain is key to competitiveness and resilience. Therefore, all of the Group’s production processes are carried out with sustainability in mind. We anticipate our customers’ needs and requirements by strengthening the connection with suppliers and focusing on creating value for them and for all of our stakeholders.

This is precisely why initiatives such as the Academy are essential: training — through the sharing of best practices and cutting-edge case studies that guide and inspire the organisation — enables everyone to understand and communicate the Group's commitment to sustainability. And not only to customers, but also internally: the Sustainability Academy is in fact a tool to effectively ensure that Prysmian's various countries acquire a broader and clearer understanding of the Group's sustainability strategy by comparing and sharing experiences and information on the practices adopted, thus becoming aware of any areas for improvement that may be applied to their specific contexts.

Sustainability & Innovation: a very close link

The Sustainability Academy aims to further strengthen the link between innovation and sustainability at Prysmian — dimensions that are fully integrated with each other and with the SUSTAIN TO LEAD strategy. 

Indeed, to be sustainable, it is necessary to constantly innovate the products and solutions offered, making them smarter and more efficient. Innovation is key to addressing global challenges, such as climate change, energy transition, digitalisation and sustainable mobility. This is why the Group constantly invests in research and development, collaborates with the best technological and academic partners, and engages customers and suppliers in a process to co-create value throughout the supply chain. 

With this objective and thanks to its R&D team, Prysmian launched the “Design for Sustainability (D4S)” programme, though which new products are developed taking into consideration their added value in terms of sustainability. As a result, in 2023 the Group created a specific function called Sustainability for Business (SfB), responsible for promoting the marketing of sustainable products internally by assisting the Sales function in dealing with key accounts.

How Prysmian measures the impact of its initiatives

The sustainability commitment is only valid if the impact can be measured. In order to set a credible path towards sustainability and give further substance to the Group’s long-term commitments, Prysmian has set specific short-term objectives and monitors their progress year after year. 

Prysmian therefore defined a three-year scorecard (2023-2025, with baseline 2022) including 12 impact KPIs, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of results measuring, monitoring and reporting.

These indicators refer to the Group’s material topics, including CO2 emission reduction, circular economy, health and safety, diversity and inclusion, compliance and governance. Some of these KPIs are linked to employee remuneration policies, as the Group is actively committed to ensuring that everyone is engaged in and feels accountable for achieving the ESG objectives it has set. 

In addition, Prysmian discloses its results and strategies to the market through its Annual Integrated Report, Sustainability Report and website, in order to strengthen its transparency and credibility in its relations with all its stakeholders.

Beyond the Sustainability Academy

Other initiatives implemented by Prysmian to further engage stakeholders on innovation and sustainability matters include its Sustainability & Innovation Days, held from 26 to 28 June at Prysmian HQ in Milan, where the Group presented its most innovative and sustainable solutions to clients, suppliers, investors, researchers, academics, media, institutions and opinion leaders. 

But that's not all. Prysmian’s commitment to sustainability also includes the organisation of digital pathways, such as the Sustainability Talks and Business Bites initiatives, to provide information on its sustainability practices and performance to all employees, using multimedia and interactive formats with an informative and engaging approach.

Towards ethical business and sustainable growth

Through the Sustainability Academy, the Sustainability & Innovation Days and other initiatives organised by Prysmian, the Group is actively committed to disseminating — at corporate and global levels — the concept of sustainable development, which entails the need for an integrated and holistic approach to plan and manage human activities, taking into account the interconnections between the various dimensions of human wellbeing and the environment. 

Prysmian works every day to ensure a sustainable future, constantly seeking a balance between the value it creates for consumers, society and the planet. The Group's technological and industrial leadership amplifies its positive impact on society. Because only by truly feeling part of the community is it possible to implement effective workplans for ethical business and sustainable corporate growth.