Enel Sustainability Farm: nurturing new normal in energy

Sustainability? A question concerning us all. The time of visionary élites is over. It is time for those who have been at the forefront of sustainability to engage others. That’s what is happening at Enel Green Power (EGP), Enel Group’s global leader company in renewable energies, that has teamed up with SDA Bocconi to create Enel Sustainability Farm, a large-scale training project to extend the philosophy and competencies underlying sustainability to the entire Enel Group. EGP has recently merged with the traditional energy-generation division of Enel Group to form a new corporate division called Global Power Generation, with 15,000 employees worldwide. The program in question aimed at extending and aligning sustainability awareness and tools among all managers at the new division. And let it become the “new normal” in the energy industry.

This essentially means exploring the three dimensions of sustainability: what (challenges and frameworks), why (environmental risks and pressures, and business opportunities as well), and how (strategies and practices). The program delved into the challenges of the energy transition, including geopolitical ones, and investigated how to render the entire supply chain sustainable.

The learning journey consisted of a mix of sessions taught by SDA Bocconi faculty, EGP managers and experts from the industry. Through group work, case study and international best practice analysis, participants have acquired knowledge and practical abilities for managing sustainable businesses.

The program totaled 60 participants across two editions over a 3-week period each. It has been taught in English and in full distance learning (mainly live streaming plus some asynchronous sessions), in order to be easily attended from any company office, and keeping in mind the difficulties of the current period. It mainly targeted managers in the Business Development, Engineering & Construction, Operations & Maintenance divisions, as well as other high-potential managers.

Becoming ambassadors of sustainability

“Our Sustainability Farm kick-starts a high-quality training journey devoted to our people in key positions”, says Giovanni Tula, EGP’s Head of Sustainability. “Our goal is enhancing awareness of a sustainable company’s inherent value, providing instruments to better understand the global landscape and manage its complexity, and giving managers the opportunity to become leaders and ambassadors of sustainability”.

Stefano Pogutz, Corporate Sustainability Professor at SDA Bocconi and Director of the program, continues: “Aspects concerning climate challenges, circular economy, human rights defense and community engagement can influence daily decisions, strategic and tactical choices, ways of interacting with clients and suppliers. Our Farm’s innovative training project has offered a learning journey tailored to the needs of a player like Enel, whose business model has sustainability among its pillars.” And sustainability is a value SDA Bocconi has also been sharing for a long time.



SDA Bocconi School of Management.