IDEAS WANTED: Calzedonia Group president and founder Sandro Veronesi is lending a helpful hand to the ecclesiastical district of Verona, led by bishop Domenico Pompili.
Aiming to redevelop a 17-hectare space and buildings covering 42,000 square meters outside the city of Verona, where Calzedonia is based, Veronesi, his group and the nonprofit Fondazione San Zeno he founded in 1999, are supporting with Pompili “a contest of ideas,” to revitalize the former seminary of San Massimo. Inaugurated in 1960, the religious school at one point was the residence of more than 700 people, including students aged 11 upward to teachers and service personnel. The area has been mostly abandoned since the 1980s, due to the demographic decline and reduced vocations, and now hosts a number of refugees.
The site is close to an airport and a train station and comprises a central building and three wings, once the residences of the students, but also housing a variety of services from the kitchens, the butcher’s and a carpentry to a printer and more, as well as a theater seating 700 and the Church of San Giuseppe.
Veronesi touted his belief in the importance of ideas, “which help solve concrete problems. People think money can solve everything, but I think first you need ideas, then the money will come.” With this contest, the entrepreneur is aiming “to bring attention to this forgotten location,” urging to avoid the simplest and most obvious options, such as turning it into a logistics center or a huge shopping mall, while, on the other hand, “respecting its context and social and collective vocation.”
The contest, open to anyone, from individuals to public or private associations and universities, for example, kicks off on Dec. 1 and lasts until March 27, and a total of 50,000 euros will be bestowed to the first three winners who present the best ideas.
Italy’s Calzedonia Group controls the Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Tezenis labels as well as Antonio Marras, knitwear brand Falconeri, bridal line Atelier Emé and wine retailer Signorvino. In 2018, the group with Fondazione San Zeno inaugurated its first African manufacturing plant in Ethiopia.
Calzedonia at the time said it was creating a well for the town in front of the plant, and for all employees, an external clinic with a laboratory and 10 liters of drinkable water per person a week.
Fondazione San Zeno is active with more than 120 projects globally and has been present in Ethiopia for more than a decade, partnering with nongovernmental organization Right to Play in Oromia, promoting games and sports in schools.