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ERG and Culture

Edoardo Garrone Foundation

The Edoardo Garrone Foundation is an operating cultural foundation that was established in Genoa in December 2004 by ERG S.p.A. and San Quirico S.p.A., a holding company of the Garrone and Mondini families, which have always been attentive and committed in the social and cultural field, and it is dedicated to the memory of Edoardo Garrone who set up the ERG Group’s industrial business in 1938.

With high-profile Scientific and Honour Committees, the Foundation is part of the socio-cultural scene and it aims to promote the sharing, enjoyment and dissemination of culture, of art and of science and of their most significant forms of expression, dealing responsibly with themes of development, integration and social issues and offering a concrete contribution of ideas and resources to programmes for scientific research and for the protection and promotion of the artistic and cultural heritage.

In all its areas of activity, it has dedicated and continues to dedicate particular attention to the younger generations and to supporting young talent, committing itself to offering excellent training courses with an international outlook. In 2008, for ERG’s 70^th anniversary and in order to commemorate Edoardo Garrone, it promoted a wide-ranging research project to reconstruct the history and the memoirs of the Group through archive sources and the testimonies of the main players (Dal petrolio all’energia. ERG 1938-2008, From Oil to Energy. ERG 1938-2008).

Intensive courses in cultural tourism management for new graduates and sector professionals at the Scuola di Alti Studi in Economia del Turismo Culturale (School of Advanced Studies in Cultural Tourism Economics) in Syracuse (where the Edoardo Garrone Chair was created in 2006).
University postgraduate course in Strategie di valorizzazione economica delle risorse turistiche culturali del Mediterraneo (Strategies for the economic development of cultural tourist resources in the Mediterranean area) , promoted by the Edoardo Garrone Foundation in collaboration with the University of Genoa, in Genoa from 25 October to 3 December 2010.
Scuola Leggendo (Reading at School) is an educational and operational tool that offers innovative assistance for teachers who are involved in helping children in the first year of Primary School to develop their reading skills.
The Residenza per Giovani Curatori (Residence for Young Curators) is a project organised in collaboration with the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, which has the twofold objective of developing the professional and intellectual skills of young curators who are just starting out and of promoting contemporary Italian art at an international level.

Genova Scoprendo (Discovering Genoa) is a new training project created from the desire to communicate and pass on knowledge of the local area and the historic, artistic and cultural heritage of Genoa to the young residents of the city, by taking them on a recreational, educational and training journey.

Lunedì FEG // Le parole tra noi (FEG Monday // Words between us) : review of meetings conceived and organised by the Edoardo Garrone Foundation at the Archivolto Theatre in which personalities from the worlds of culture, show business and industry get up on stage to tell their stories.

//I lunedì di FEG// (FEG Mondays) - Download the 2012 programme

Noi e Gli Antichi

Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, from 5 December 2011 to 13 February 2012

Luoghi Comuni (Clichès)

On 11 October 2011, the “Clichés” series of meetings began; it has been planned and carried out by the Edoardo Garrone Foundation in collaboration with the Palazzo Ducale Cultural Foundation.

This series of distinguished lectures, devised by Remo Bodei, professor of philosophy at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) and member of the Scientific Committee of the Garrone Foundation, will reflect on terms that frequently feature in public debate and look at the main aspects of these: Beauty, Conflict, Happiness, Justice, Poverty, Power, Sexuality, Life.

The lectures took place at Palazzo Ducale from October to the end of November and were given by renowned contemporary philosophers: Stefano Rodotà, Alberto Quadrio Curzio, Remo Bodei, Salvatore Natoli, Michelangelo Bovero, Elisabetta Galeotti and Nicla Vassallo.

» Download the programme (only Italian version)

HISTORY LESSONS

» Download the programme (only Italian Version)
» Download the poster (only Italian Version)

Magna Carta Foundation

ERG is a founding partner of the Magna Charta Foundation.

Established in 2004, the Foundation, is dedicated to scientific research, to cultural reflection and to the preparation of reform proposals on the main themes of political debate.
Its name is evocative and refers to a cultural reference to the conservative liberalism of the Anglo-Saxon tradition without being prejudiced against the changes imposed by modernity (the Magna Charta Libertatum was conceded by King John Lackland to the English barons in 1215 and historians consider it to be the first document that was fundamental to the universal recognition of the rights of citizens, guaranteeing the principle of legality and justice).

Magna Charta’s Scientific Committee, which consists of a group of intellectuals, politicians and businessmen, is a lively manifestation of the spirit of receptiveness that typifies the cultural work of the Foundation.

The work of the Foundation is divided into ten main areas that relate to topics at the heart of public debate: political potential, reform of the state, market and solidarity, religion and public space, identity and integration, “blue” environmentalism, bio-political borders, educational challenge, democracy and international security and the necessary culture.

Civita

ERG supports the Associazione Civita, a no profit organization involved since 1987 protecting and enhancing Italy’s great cultural and environmental wealth.

The Association rises with the objective a new space of communicating between the Public and Private in the cultural section, joining the enhancement of Italy’s cultural and environmental heritage and the development capabilities of this sector, even the economic side.

Established by a group of companies, Research private corporations and University, dealing with the deterioration of Civita di Bagnoregio (an ancient hamlet situated in Upper Lazio), it extended over the years its areas of intervention up to take the leader’s role in the national debate about the Cultural Heritage and cultural activities.

Today, crossing the local limits and on the strength of the support of more than a hundred and eighty associated businesses (corporations and companies, both public and private), as ERG, the Association is heavily involved to promote culture through research, conferences, events, publications and projects.

2010 Science Festival

In 2010, ERG has been Main Sponsor of the eighth edition of the Science Festival (Genoa, 29 October – 7 November 2010)

Science Festival is a point of reference for the dissemination of Science, a chance for researchers, science-lovers, schools and families to meet and one of the biggest science dissemination events in the world.

Meetings, workshops, shows and conferences to talk about Science in an innovative and involving way, with an approach based on the interactive and transversal nature of the events.

About two weeks in which the mathematical, natural and human sciences reveal their interdisciplinary natures for an education and dissemination without boundaries.

Every year the Festival offers events inspired by current issues in scientific debate, world premières of shows and exhibitions dedicated to finding a meeting point between Art and Science with particular attention paid to developments in the most advanced research and to researchers from emerging nations.

Closely linked to the city of Genoa and Liguria, the Festival is an event with a quintessentially international nature. Every year, meetings and participation with major foreign guests enhance the days dedicated to science, producing to long-lasting partnerships between important figures and institutions from all over the world.

For this year’s edition, the key word was “Orizzonti” (Horizons), an ideal metaphor for the drive towards the new, towards the unknown and the unprecedented. The idea of the horizon is multi-faceted and contradictory: if, on the one hand, it refers to the limits of possibility, on the other, it represents at the same time the desire to go further. It is the extreme limit of what we can observe in the universe; it is the “horizon of events”, an imaginary area, beyond which matter and energy are attracted by the gravitational field and can no longer avoid the most enigmatic of celestial bodies, black holes.

The futuristic horizon proposed by ERG in collaboration with the “Festival della Scienza” (Science Festival) was “Icaro ai confine del tempo” (“Icarus at the Edge of Time”), a fascinating multi-media work.

On the opening evening of the Festival, a modern-day fairytale came to life, which illustrated the theory of black holes using simple and understandable language and introduced even non-experts to the rules of astrophysics. The concert is based on the book of the same name by the scientist Brian Greene, with music by Philip Glass (American composer of contemporary classical music) and art direction by two English visual artists “Al & Al” with innovative digital technology.

The show has been produced by the World Science Festival of New York and by the Southbank Centre in London. The “Festival della Scienza”, as co-producer, has exclusively created the Italian version.

» www.festivaldellascienza.it