The new @school #Sarasforschools

The third edition of the “La nuova @scuola” (The new @school) project has come to an end. The Saras Group, together with 30 other companies and 50 high schools in Sardinia, took part in this initiative which aims to build a strong and stable connection between the world of education and the business world.

This was certainly a special edition, as it straddled the lockdown period, and so – after the classroom meetings – we had to move to webinars due to the health emergency. But the shift to online interaction has not made the experience any less successful or engaging.

The Project

Saras Group Workshop for “The new @school”

During the face-to-face sessions before the lockdown, engineers and professionals from the Sarlux refinery made presentations to the students, giving them an overview of the refinery’s production and organisational processes and their continuous innovation.

The students recognised Sarlux as an important Competency Centre for the territory; they appreciated the presentations and asked many questions about the complex processes of the refinery and the various activities involved.

Webinars

From real to digital, the project “The new @school” has not surrendered to the pandemic, but has adapted to new ways of communicating without losing sight of its main purpose:  to build bridges between education and businesses.

The companies accepted to participate in thematic webinars held live on the Facebook page of newspaper La Nuova Sardegna. With journalists playing host, the students interviewed the managers of the main companies involved:  Saras, Banco di Sardegna, Character, Abinsula, EP Produzione, Coldiretti, Grimaldi, Pecorino Romano Consortium, Aspai and Tiscali. Overall, the webinar has had more than 90,000 views.

Saras Webinar

During the Saras webinar, which closed this year’s series, with guest speaker Simona Berri, General Counsel and Head of Corporate Affairs of the Saras Group, the students explored various topics starting from the foundation of the company by Angelo Moratti, an ambitious investment project on the island, which ‘created and received value’ building a relationship of respect for the territory, the environment and the people.

Focus

The students showed interest in sustainability issues and learned and appreciated how the Saras Group, acting ahead of the times, became an active player in the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables by creating the Ulassai wind farm, today one of the largest wind farms in Italy. A positive investment for the territory, with minimal environmental and visual impacts.

The importance of having an agile and flexible organisation, able to adapt quickly to the market, was also stressed.

Lastly, a number of questions centred on the company’s response to the coronavirus emergency (link).

The webinar ended with a call to young people, on whom the future of the island depends, to invest in developing their skills in their land and create business here, in Sardinia.

The Saras Group is one of the main European oil refining operators, and is also active in the electricity generation sector. Directly and through its subsidiaries, the Group sells and distributes petroleum products on national and international markets. In addition, the Group produces and sells electricity through its subsidiaries Sarlux Srl (IGCC plant) and Sardeolica Srl (wind farm). The Group also supplies industrial engineering and research services to the oil, energy and environmental sectors through its subsidiary Sartec Srl.