MaGER Measures Social Impact in Iglesias, Sardinia

€1.46 of social return for every euro invested in the redevelopment of an industrial area in Iglesias, Sardinia. This was the amount measured by four students from the Master in Green Management, Energy and Corporate Social Responsibility at Bocconi (MaGER). They were appointed the task of evaluating the social return on investment (SROI) of a project for the former Rockwoll site carried out by Renovo Bioenergy. Silvy Boccaletti, Davide Della Valentina, Giuseppina Giacalone, and Simon Steen Moeller developed the work as part of the field projects that Master students are required to complete each year.

Renovo builds biomass thermal power plants. The project for Iglesias calls for construction of a power plant that provides energy to a factory to make innovative green panels for sustainable building, which will be managed by a cooperative. "We have identified a methodology that consists of evaluating the social impact of the project, evaluating its SROI, the social return on investment," explains Davide Della Valentina. He decided to continue implementation of the project through an internship at Renovo after the field consulting. "The innovative aspect is that this evaluation was made in a sector that usually isn't subject to these kinds of observations, like the energy sector."

In addition, to evaluate the SROI, "the calculation required involving the stakeholders, the people behind the project," adds Clodia Vurro, who teaches Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation and was the advisor for the field project for this group of students. "For a private company, this involvement is not required, so when the company asked MaGER students to evaluate its social impact, they demonstrated that they understand the importance of of creating social value and the impact that a project like this can have on the company."