Another victory brought home by the Politecnico: Enactus Polimi the no-profit University association that develops sustainable business projects, has won the sixth Italian edition of Enactus and is preparing to fly to Puerto Rico to participate in the world cup at the end October.
The Politecnico team –made up of engineering and design students, but also Alumni –entered the competition with two sustainability-related projects with the aim of improving the world through entrepreneurial action.
Shea-Matters is a project that supports the import of shea butter produced by a cooperative in Ghana run by women only. In fact, the European shea butter market generates much higher profits than the local market on which it relies: hence the idea of a new sustainable and fair trade route that connects Kumbungu to Milan. The goal is to guarantee the employees of the cooperative fair compensation that will enable them to make profits to be reinvested in other projects in Ghana: drinking water wells, bio fertilizer for the fields, a photovoltaic micro grid, a reforestation plan.
“We believe very strongly in this project ,” explains Claudia Ogliastro, biomedical engineering student and marketing team leader of Shea Matters, to the Corriere della Sera " Our butter can't be ordered yet but you can find it in some Equomercato-associated stores. We are looking for stores, herbalists and e-commerce businesses interested in selling it, but also people who wish to support our project and spread the word, even on social networks, to create a community that will then buy the butter because they support the philosophy behind it".
The second project is called Oyster2life and seeks to combat climate change in an innovative way by reusing oyster shells to rebuild the marine ecosystem and raise awareness of the importance of preserving our seas. Once collected (from restaurants, fishermen, etc.), the oyster shells are returned to the sea after eliminating all bacteria and organic residue from their surface.
In the sea, oyster shells help in this way the growth of molluscs that facilitate water purification and reconstruction of the seabed, providing new sources of nourishment for the repopulation of the lagoons and the sea, with high environmental and economic benefits.
Enactus Polimi will represent Italy at theEnactus World Cup 2022 from 30 October to 2 November 2022 in Puerto Rico. The competition will feature innovators, creators, global citizens and business leaders, students and academics who want to act now to change the world forever. Stay tuned!
