Annual report 2004 - Compagnia di San Paolo

Introduction
Letter from the Chairman
proposals represent then a practical method which goes beyond isolated individual events. It
provides a far more consistent effect for beneficiaries, by creating virtuous cycles and the prospect
of becoming financially self-sufficient.
The Compagnia clearly has its own culture and yardstick for measuring changes, demands and
needs in order to shape its involvement and define its modus operandi.
Its response therefore supports innovation, concentrating on scientific, economic and juridical
research as levers for development both in Turin and the rest of the country.
As an example, we could quote our contribution to initiatives such as the Research and Training
Programme for “European Foreign and Security Policy Studies” and that of “Federico II University of
Naples” in the fields of advanced teaching methods and light computerisation. Innovation is also
however expressed in the artistic field thanks to participation in transforming the Turin Egyptian
Museum into a foundation and as Italy’s first example of public and private co-operation in state
museum management. Another project “Born to Read” is in the cultural field, and is for the benefit
of Piedmont’s pre-school children, by supporting a child’s right to protection from, among other
aspects, the lack of suitable affective and cognitive development. Other examples include, in
health, the continuation of the “Oncology Programme” and in welfare, the promotion and financing
of the “Bandolo” project, for people in distress due to mental illnesses.
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The Compagnia’s main initiatives are described in this Report, but we want to make it clear that
throughout these initiatives, our commitment to innovation represents the means to contribute to the
community’s cultural and economic growth. We aim to produce and disseminate a culture that
transmits the values and ideals of justice and solidarity that are the basis of the Compagnia di San
Paolo’s original institutional mission.
Franzo Grande Stevens