Marco Agrello, student from Busto Arsizio, wins the “PensoFuturo” prize

The “PensoFuturo” prize was won by Marco Agrello from Busto Arsizio. His idea concerns a national program for energy conservation, the conversion to renewable sources and an improvement in the management of the energy resources.

The competition was strong; 300 ideas were collected, with the participation of schools from all over Italy, 3 preparation hackathons with secondary schools and 15 finalists.

The sixth edition of Treviso Creativity Week finished with a lot of ideas, which were prominent in the final rounf of “PensoFUTURO 2022” at the Academic Theatre in Castelfranco Veneto. Five were the winning ideas conceived by students under 18 from Treviso, Mestre, Verona and Schio.

The Special Audience Prize went to a student from Busto Arsizio.

Gianpaolo Pezzato said: “Young people focused on the topic of sustainability and environment protection, the big challenges of our time.”

300 ideas were collected, with the participation of schools from all over Italy, 3 preparation hackathons with the secondary schools of ITC Riccati Luzzati, Liceo Scientifico Da Vinci, Liceo Artistico, and with 15 finalists with a lot of energy. These were the ingredients of the last meeting of Treviso Creativity Week 2022 on the stage of the Academic Theatre, in Castelfranco Veneto. A few days ago, this magnificent venue hosted the final round of “PensoFUTURO 2022”, a competition of ideas. The 15 finalists under 18 explained their ideas of the future to a large jury composed of partners. Among all these ideas, five were awarded by the jury. Here the five winning projects.

Train CITY by Valentino Wang, a second-year student at Aleardo Aleardi Institute – International School of Verona. His project is about a sustainable city, built around an oval rail for electrical vehicles. It is a city near a river which feeds a hydroelectric plant. On the roofs of houses and skyscrapers, on trains, solar panels supplement the availability of energy. The city is 4 km wide and 10 km long. It can be covered on foot or by bike. The numerous green areas are surrounded by bicycle and pedestrian paths.

Dad-Met by Hiba Benmbark, student at ISS Andrea Gritti in Mestre. The idea is about the use of the Metaverse and VR headset, which are powerful, independent and comfortable devices to carry out interactive distance learning. The VR headsets allow access to the virtual world, where the distance learning will be able to engage students in a new way of learning. Thanks to this project, the students are linked to one another, living a reality where there are no limits to their imagination. It is a new evolution of distance learning, which takes advantage of the full potential of the Metaverse. The project also won the AIM Special Prize.

We Find by Pietro Barban, Giovanni Bosco, Enrico Busato from the Liceo Scientifico L. Da Vinci, in Treviso. It is a platform which is able to create heterogeneous work teams, made up of enterprising young people and experienced workers. We Find is able to create work cells, starting from the application of individual workers and creating groups, which are able to improve thanks to teamwork. This project also won the Maarmo Special Prize.

“Our energy” by Zulian Erica, Rossato Linda, Rossi Andrea, Poggio Vittorio, Scandiuzzi Lorenzo from the ITC Riccati-Luzzati Institute, in Treviso. This project aims to value abandoned spaces (hospitals, barracks, warehouses) in order to produce renewable energy, making them suitable for a more sustainable future. Nowadays, just between Padua and Treviso, 32,000 warehouses are unused, that is, a 4-billion euro heritage, comparable to 278 football fields. The idea is to exploit these areas to build renewable energy production parks, for example photovoltaics. The project also won Ascotrade and First Job Special Prizes.

“La rinascita della plastica” (The Rebirth of Plastics) by 4BMa of the G.B. Garbin Professional State Institute, in Schio (Vicenza). The project aims to make books from recycled plastic. The idea is both a way to give a better future to new generations by reducing plastic in our environment and to create a new “toy”, thus avoiding the felling of plants to obtain paper.

In addition to these winning projects, Nicholas Pezzuto won the Labomar Special Prize with a corporate reorganisation project in which the worker’s wellbeing is at the centre. This objective was pursued with some fundamental points in mind: the introduction of parameters of true meritocracy in establishing working positions, concrete and passionate training for newcomers, care of the working environment and the possibility of enhancing the peculiarities of each person.

Lastly, the Special Prize, which was directly awarded by the public vote during the event, went to Marco Agrello, who came from Busto Arsizio (Varese) to participate in the final round. His project, known as Piano Efficientamento Energetico (Energy Efficiency Plan), is a sort of national programme for energy conservation, reconversion to renewable sources and improved management of energy resources.

“Young people emphasized the importance and centrality of the issue of sustainability and environmental protection,” explained Gianpaolo Pezzato, organiser of the initiative. “On the other hand, they stressed once again the need for seniors to listen to new generations, bearers of innovation in all fields, including in the production sector.” It was an opportunity to take stock of the 2022 edition of TCW; the feedback and the involvement of schools and companies give us satisfaction, but there is more to be done and we want to raise the bar for 2023.

Translated by Ludovica Franzé e Guido Rovera

Revised by N. Dall’Osto