Guido Venosta and the AIRC – the “Venosta Method” Taught at the University

In the partially, still preliminary project of his book “for Guido” – which was slated for release in 2007 on the tenth anniversary of the publication of the “yellow booklet” From Profit to Nonprofit (and the sixth anniversary of the Guido Venosta European Foundation) – his widow Carla wrote that “determination and steadfastness, combined with the foresight and clarity necessary to translate the professionalism of profit into the commitment of nonprofit,” had enabled her husband to “achieve extremely high milestones, both moral and tangible.” His brilliant and early insight – still entirely relevant today – was precisely his ability to identify the need to transfer the efficient practices of the productive world to that of solidarity, and to demonstrate how this could be done, given that he had been a senior executive at Pirelli before serving as President of the AIRC for over twenty years.

A veritable method, one that has even inspired specific university courses: for example, the Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna was the first to establish a Master’s Degree in Social Economy Management, which enables students to “acquire advanced training to hold managerial and executive positions in social enterprises, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations.” These programs, among others, now offer many job opportunities both in Italy and beyond; indeed, Europe has recognized the social economy as the sector with the highest rate of growth. Moreover, the course teaches how to operate within an economic system that goes beyond the mere pursuit of profit, approaching a higher ideal. Exactly what Guido Venosta envisioned.

Sources:
Albiate (MB), Villa San Valerio, Archives of Villa San Valerio, Archive of the Guido Venosta European Foundation, C. VENOSTA, Material for a Potential Book for Guido – 2008.

Bibliography:
Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Master’s Degree in Social Economy Management, A.Y. 2024/2025, Code 8843 (https://www.unibo.it/it/studiare/lauree-magistrali/corso/2024/8843).
Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Master’s Degree in Social Economy Management, The Course, Objectives (https://corsi.unibo.it/magistrale/EconomiaSociale/obiettivi).