Creating a sustainable and lasting impact: the challenge for the future

As mentioned, there are numerous areas of focus: health, welfare, socio-economic inclusion, financial and insurance education, a sustainable environment and communities, and inclusive culture and sport are just a few examples. But it is the stories and the people themselves that show what can be achieved when there is a desire to make a positive social impact.

One example is the ReadyForIT – Labor Pathways for Refugees pilot project, an initiative aimed at facilitating the legal entry into Italia of young refugees currently in other countries. “From a professional point of view, this opportunity represented a continuation of my career because, as soon as I joined , I was able to contribute to real projects , collaborate with experienced colleagues and continue to develop my technical skills,” said Dawood Mohammed Ibrahim, emphasising that “thanks to the motivation provided by the company – namely, seeing how Reale ITES adopts modern technologies and innovation, including areas such as artificial intelligence and advanced digital solutions”. From a personal perspective, “this experience is not only leading me towards stability, growth and the chance to build a future, but also the opportunity to support those I have left behind,” he added.

It is essential to be able to identify a local need and develop a response in collaboration with those who have first-hand knowledge of the area. In this regard, it is worth recalling the project to make the Paediatrics Department at the Grande Ospedale Metropolitano in Reggio Calabria more patient-centred, and the ‘MaVah?!’ project, a financial and insurance education initiative promoted by the Tancredi Foundation with the support of the Reale Foundation and aimed at secondary school pupils. “The project stems from the need to address a significant local need: to offer the younger generation practical tools to understand insurance and finance, and to acquire the fundamental skills needed to make informed choices”, said Giuseppe Tancredi, founder of the foundation of the same name, emphasising that “Mavah?!” was made possible “thanks to the collaboration and support of the Reale Foundation, which has enabled us to transform an educational need into a concrete, accessible and innovative initiative”.

A key aspect concerns the shift towards an increasingly structured approach to measuring social impact, because whilst it is essential to take concrete action, it is even more important to produce lasting and measurable effects – a positive impact capable of bringing about change. This represents a significant shift from a descriptive approach – that is, simply reporting what has been done and what resources have been used – to a strategic and transformative model that quantifies the actual changes brought about in the community and the environment. In short, social impact assessment is becoming a legal criterion and a governance tool, based on the principles of the civil economy and on the capacity to generate public value, social cohesion and sustainability.

The aim is to complement traditional quantitative indicators – such as funding disbursements, the number of projects and beneficiaries reached – with a greater ability to understand what change the interventions have actually brought about for people and local areas. Evaluation becomes a bridge between the local dimension of interventions and global commitments to sustainability.

The project in the paediatric ward in Reggio Calabria, for example, is already at the heart of a methodological approach that regards impact assessment not only as a reporting tool, but also as a means of learning – to understand what changes have been brought about, for whom, and through what mechanisms.

The future of the Reale Foundation is inextricably linked to strengthening the mission it has set itself, by consolidating its presence in the countries where it operates – including Italia – and expanding projects linked to the 2030 Agenda, with a focus on health and the social and socio-economic inclusion of vulnerable groups. The Foundation also intends to strengthen its commitment to welfare and sustainable cities, including by consolidating public-private partnerships and involving an ever-increasing number of people and local areas.

Looking to the future, therefore, the challenge is not necessarily to undertake more projects, but to identify the right ones, prioritising the quality and effectiveness of our work over quantitative growth, and developing them in collaboration with the most suitable partners who share our values. The aim is to gain an ever-better understanding of the impact on people and communities, promoting projects that have a tangible and lasting impact.