The Foundation

A political science graduate with a sociological focus in Milan, he received his doctorate in Urban Studies (Urbeur) from the University of Milano-Bicocca in 2006 and has been a researcher (with qualification for associate professor) at the University of Salerno since 2012, where he teaches Sociology of Work and Organization (three-year degree) and Alternative Economies and Models of Sustainability (master’s degree).

An economic and labor sociologist, he works on the labor market and organization, smart working, new professions and representation, labor policies, alternative economies and self-management of labor processes, social inequality and poverty, and welfare.

He is part of the Italian node of DemocratizingWork.

Recent publications include: Labor. From the industrial revolution to the digital transition. , Carocci, 2024 (with E. Mingione and E. Pugliese).

Associate professor of commercial law in the University of Milan-Bicocca.

Author of seven monographs and more than ninety scientific articles.

Member of both the reviewer committees of the journal Horizons of Business Law and the Journal of Digital Business Law, and the scientific committees of the journal Cooperativismo e Economía Social, the journal International Journal of Cooperative Law, and the series Impresa e Società.

Joins the association Ius Cooperativum, which brings together legal experts on cooperatives from different continents.

Participates in the activities of the Committee on Co-operative Research at theInternational Co-operative Alliance.

Member of the Working Group on the Discipline of Cooperative Societies at the National Council of Notaries.

Practices as a lawyer and arbitrator specializing in commercial law.

Walter Franco is Associate Professor in Applied Mechanics of Machines at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, where he teaches Humanitarian Engineering, Technologies for Sustainable Development and Mechanics for Design.

He is a member of the faculty of the doctoral program of national interest in Peace Studies.

Its main area of research concerns Appropriate Technologies, and in particular the development of appropriate machines and devices aimed at improving the living conditions of marginal, underserved or socio-ecologically transitioning communities.

He has promoted, organized or participated as an invited speaker in numerous public events aimed at knowledge sharing precisely on the topic of intermediate technologies.

After graduating in Philosophy from the University of Verona and in Philosophy of the Contemporary World from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, he is now in the process of completing a doctorate in “International and Public Law, Ethics and Economics for Sustainable Development” at the University of Milan.

Pietro Ghirlanda, Research Fellow, University of Pavia.

He is a research fellow at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Pavia.

He works on business ethics and his research interests mainly focus on the analysis of social and cooperative enterprise as a vehicle for sustainable development for different categories of stakeholders.

During his doctoral studies, he focused on the topic of cooperative digital platforms and was 2022/2023 research fellow at the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy.

Eleonora Grassi is currently a research fellow at the Department of Management, University of Bologna.

In 2018, he received a Master’s degree in Social Economy Management from the University of Bologna, with a thesis on the Renewable Energy Cooperative “Som Energia.”

He then did a period of work and training at the Forum for Sustainable Finance, and then embarked on a doctoral program at the Department of Management, University of Bologna, earning his Ph.D. degree in June 2024.

His research has focused on the creation and development of alternative organizations, particularly delving into the context of Cooperative Platforms.

Other areas of research involved Social Enterprises, with a special focus on the use of technology and mechanisms for integrating migrant people.

Asia Guerreschi, is a researcher specializing in circular economy and cooperatives now also with a focus on citizen science (or participatory science).

He is a Research Fellow at the University of Ferrara, as part with a PhD on circular cooperatives at the same university in the Climate Circular Coop project.

He has held research periods at the Institut International des Coopératives Alphonse-et-Dorimène-Desjardins (HEC Montreal) and UNU MERIT in Maastricht.

In 2020, he co-founded Rethinking Climate, an association that aims to make climate issues more accessible and personal through dialogue with experts.

With an interdisciplinary background, he holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Geography with a specialization in climate change from King’s College London, and has held consultancy and training roles in circular economy after completing a stint at the European Parliament.

Franca Maino is Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan and directs the Pathways to Second Welfare Laboratory.

In 2023, he wrote (with S. Sacchi, A. Ciarini, G. Gallo, R. Lodigiani and M. Raitano). Support for the poor: what reform? From Citizenship Income to Inclusion Allowance. (Egea) and edited Acting together. Co-design and co-programming to change welfare (Pathways to Second Welfare).

After a master’s degree in Philosophy, he earned a Ph.D. in “Education of the Person and the Labor Market” between the University of Bergamo and Paris VIII Vincennes-St.-Denis.

Today she is director of the Doc Study Center Foundation and head of institutional communication and international relations for Doc Services Cooperative. He also serves on the board of the Doc Creativity cooperative.

In 2018, she was awarded the “Astrolabe of Social – Pierre Carniti” prize given by the CISL Study Center.

In 2020 he wrote a chapter for the book Cooperatives Common Good (RomaTre-Press) and in 2021 he published a report for CECOP on cooperatives’ response to undeclared work.

In 2022, she was appointed as a young expert for UNESCO’s Fair Culture Initiative.

Since 2023 he has been vice president of CulTurMedia Legacoop and coordinates CECOP’s “transformation of work” working group and the scientific committee of PICO Foundation.

He presents his research at conferences and seminars around the world.

Carlo Milani (PhD) is an essayist, translator and research associate at ERTIM-INALCO in Paris (Équipe de recherche textes, informatique, multilinguisme – Institut national des langues et civilisations orianteles).

He teaches Genealogy of Digital Sources in various high schools and universities between Paris, St. Gallen, Rome, Bologna, Parma and Bergamo.

Alongside his publishing, teaching and research activities, he works as a computer scientist with alekos.net to develop appropriate information technology.

Under the collective heteronym Hippolyte she has published, until 2018, various essays including. Open is not free. Digital communities between hacker ethics and the global marketplace (elèuthera 2005), Lights and shadows of google. Future and past of the metadata industry (Feltrinelli 2007), In the Facebook aquarium, the irresistible rise of anarcho-capitalism (Ledizioni 2012), The net is free and democratic… False! (Laterza 2014), Technologies of domination (Meltemi 2017). With elèuthera he also published Convivial Teconologies (2022).

He currently gives lectures and trainings based on hacker pedagogy with C.I.R.C.E. (International Research Center for Electric Convivialities – circex.org).

Dario Padovan is an associate professor of Sociology at the University of Turin in the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society.

Since 2022, he has been director of the Inter-University Research Center on Socio-Ecological Change and Sustainable Transition – Crisis – coordinated by the University of Turin.

Since 2021, he has been a member of the National Doctoral School “Sustainable Development and Climate Change” – IUSS Pavia.

He is a founding member of the Inter-University Research Center on Ecology, Politics and Society coordinated by the University of Pisa and activated in 2021.

Since 2016, he has been the director of the Master’s program in “Socio-environmental sustainability of agribusiness networks.”

Since 2010, he has been president of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development at the University of Turin.

He is a member of the editorial board of Theomai Journal (Buenos Aires), Chosmos & History (Melbourne, Australia) and Culture of Sustainability (Turin, Italy).

He has long been involved in social science history, environmental sociology, social metabolism, sustainable consumption, sociology of risk, and environmental conflicts.

He has recently been conducting research on the Anthropocene, climate racism, energy transition, climate wars, and eco-communism.

Recently, he has been conducting research on urban metabolism and its eco-social dynamics, circular economy, sociology of practices, energy communities, social causes and consequences of climate change, the transition of energy production and consumption systems, food, socio-technical systems, the changing assemblages of society and nature, the regulatory conflicts of social metabolism, and the social and not merely physical relationships between energy and labor.

Finally, he is delving into some issues related to the ecological crisis such as climate and environmental racism, and the more global social injustices associated with unequal ecological exchange between countries, continents and populations.

Ivana Pais is full professor of Economic Sociology in the Faculty of Economics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. At the same university, she is director of TRAILab, Transformative Actions Interdisciplinary Laboratory of the Catholic University.

He is co-editor in chief, along with David Stark and Elena Esposito, of the journal Sociologica. International Journal for Sociological Debate.

Together with Filippo Barbera, he edited the textbook Fundamentals of Economic Sociology, published by Egea.

His research activity concerns the organization of labor in the platform economy.

She is an expert adviser to the CNEL.

He is currently principal investigator of the ORIGAMI – Home Care Digital Platforms and Industrial Relations project, funded by the European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (2023-2025).

Roberta Paltrinieri, Phd, has been a full professor in the disciplinary field of sociology of cultural and communicative processes since 2016.

Since 2024, she has been Deputy Director of the Department of the Arts and Coordinator of the Third Mission Committee – Public Engagement.

He is chair of the ASN 2024/2025 committee. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of CRICC, Center for Interaction with Cultural and Creative Enterprises at the University of Bologna.

Scientific coordinator of the Pic Section – Cultural Processes and Institutions of the Italian Sociology Association AIS.

He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Culture Commission of the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna.

In 2023 she served as chair of the Siae Commission for Who Creates.

Antonio Pescapè is a full professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II (Italy) and an Honorary Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the School of Computing, Informatics and Media, University of Bradford (UK).

Antonio Pescapè teaches courses in Computer Networks, Computer Architectures, Programming and Multimedia and has co-supervised/supervised and graduated more than 180 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.

His research interests are in the field of networks, with a focus on Internet monitoring, measurement and management, and network security.

Pescapè has co-authored more than 170 publications in journals (Communications of the ACM, IEEE Communications Magazine, JSAC, IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine, IEEE Networks, IEEE TPDS, IEEE TNSM, Computer Networks, etc.) and conferences (SIGCOMM, IMC, PAM, Globecom, ICC, etc.) and is co-author of several patents pending.

He has served and serves as workshop and conference chair and is a member of more than 200 technical program committees of IEEE and ACM conferences. He was a member of the editorial board of IEEE Survey and Tutorials (2008-2011) and was guest editor for the special issue of Computer Networks on “traffic classification and its applications to modern networks.”

Andrea Piccaluga is Professor of Innovation Management at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, where he was Director of the Institute of Management and where he coordinates the Research Group on Regenerative Innovation.

He is a board member of the Cardinal Maffi House Foundation and serves on the Scientific Council of the Pico Foundation.

He also served as president of Netval.

Scientific director of the research company Ipsos.

Lecturer in Audience Studies at La Sapienza University of Rome and lecturer in corporate communication and public relations at Milan State University.

Professional journalist, columnist for “Tomorrow” newspaper.

Latest publications: Il consumatore narratore di sé, Guerini e associati, Milan 2023; Lo spreco alimentare in Italia e nel mondo, Castelvecchi, Rome 2023; Elezioni e partiti nell’Italia Repubblicana, Il Mulino, Bologna 2022; Tell Me What You Waste and I’ll Tell You Who You Are: An Eight-Country Comparison of Consumers’ Food Waste Habits, MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 2022; Oltre il rancore, Rubettino 2021; Fenomenologia del Covid, Quaderni del Cnel no. 9; The Conquest of the People, Guerini and Associates 2019.

Full professor at the University of Bologna, SSD AGR/09, since 2023.

Since 2008 Head of the Agricultural Mechanics Laboratory of the Department of Agri-Food Science and Technology (DISTAL). The Laboratory is a Test Station accredited by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the performance and protective structures of agricultural and forestry tractors.

Since 2022, he has been Head of the OECD Coordination Center for the Application of Test Codes for Agricultural and Forestry Tractors.

A lecturer in the Sustainable Manufacturing Course and the Production Systems Analysis and Management Course at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Settineri is president of the Italian Association of Manufacturing Technologies AITEM.

He is also Advisor to the Rector of the Turin Polytechnic University for the University’s building and infrastructure development plan; Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Co-Location South of KIC EIT Manufacturing; and Steering Director of Fondazione CRT.

He is a member of the Scientific Council of the PICO Foundation.

Master technologist. He is a board member and president of the DOC Educational cooperative, which is part of the DOC network, the largest cooperative of performing arts professionals in Italy(www.docservizi.it).

He has been an entrepreneur in the innovative technology sector for 30 years with specific professional expertise in computer networks and information security. He has carried out major networking projects for large Italian and multinational companies and consults in strategic repositioning and innovation.

He was one of the pioneers of civic computing with a deep understanding of social networks and their impact on society and was among the initiators of the first Children’s Online Bill of Rights.

Stefano Tortorici is a PhD student in Political Science and Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore, a member of the Center on Social Movement Studies (Cosmos) and research affiliate of the Institute of the Cooperative Digital Economy (ICDE) at The New School in New York.

Stephen’s research can be located at the intersection of social movement studies, platform economics, sociology of organizations and labor, and political and economic theory. He is currently researching the challenges and possible solutions to the financial and scale problems of cooperative platforms. His research also focuses on the complex relationship between cooperativism, socialism and the market through a review of cooperativism classics.

Stephen holds a degree in Philosophy from Turin, a degree in Historical Sciences from Bologna and has done research periods at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Université Paris Nanterre and The New School in New York.

Antonio Vetrò is Associate Professor of Computer and Systems Engineering at the Department of Automation and Computer Science, Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy.

Studies and experiments with methods for analyzing and designing software systems in a socially sustainable way, with a focus on the problem of algorithmic discrimination.

He also works on experimental methods for software and data quality, an area in which he contributes to technical standardization committees at the international (ISO) and national (UNINFO) levels. He is a member of the Nexa Center on Internet and Society.

He previously worked at Technische Universität München (Germany) and the Fraunhofer Center for Experimental Software Engineering (USA).