Support for local communities

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Attention to the needs of local communities, in all of the countries where the Group operates, is a necessary requisite for our doing business. Here are some examples of initiatives we took in 2017.

Bilingual education centre for children from 3 to 6

Italy

Ariston Thermo renews its commitment in favour of the healthy growth of young children and supports Iris Garden, an Italian-English kindergarten in Fabriano, Marche. Arising from an idea by Francesco Merloni, the school is equipped with a wide range of digital devices, as well as sport facilities and laboratories for art, music, science and technology, and operates up to 11 hours a day to help working parents..

36 new homes for needy families

Romania

Ariston has donated thermal comfort systems for the whole Big Build site, 36 new homes for needy families in the area of Bacau, in Romania:
this venture was created and led by the American non-profit organisation Habitat for Humanity, which enabled the construction of 36 homes in just 5 days, thanks to the work of 800 volunteers from across the country.

“Helping hands”

Vietnam

Ariston Thermo Vietnam renews its annual charitable activities to support the community of the province of Bac Ninh, with the
donation of water heaters to the local Mental Health Hospital and Leprosy & Skin Hospital.

“There is no value in the economic success of any industrial initiative, unless it is accompanied by a commitment to social progress.”
Aristide Merloni

SUPPORTING ART AND CULTURE

In San Ginesio, in the province of Macerata, a wooden reproduction of the famous work by Canova “Love and Psyche” was found
intact among the rubble of the earthquake. At the behest of Francesca Merloni, UNESCO Ambassador for Creative Cities, the
statue, as for the Greek myth of the Omphalos, has become the symbol of the resilience of central Italy and the desire for rebirth
of the whole Apennines. The statue is now the star piece of an important exhibition in San Ginesio, which has been opened by
Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO.

SUPPORTING ECONOMIC RECOVERY AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE

During 2017, the Aristide Merloni Foundation, mainly funded by the Ariston Thermo Group, focussed its activities and resources on the areas of central Italy hit by the earthquake in 2016. The aim of the project “Rinasco – Salvare l’Appennino” (I am reborn – Saving the Apennines) is to develop resources still present in the area and reorganise local communities and the local economy, above all through the combination of know-how and digital technologies. Francesco Merloni, Chairman of the Aristide Merloni Foundation, and Enrico Letta, Chairman of the Scientific Committee, appealed for Italian and international personalities from economics and science, to study, draw up and develop concrete projects to relaunch the Apennines. The Foundation’s initiatives have been developed on the specific needs of the community or production chains. The collaboration with Ericsson and E-distribuzione, a company in the Enel Group, has enabled the implementation of a digital platform of dynamic maps for territorial safety. In collaboration with Namirial, a Health Point has been
created, a healthcare centre for remote medicine which enables clinical tests to be undertaken using digital technologies and innovative devices to support, above all, elderly or isolated people. In addition, every economic “tribe” has been associated with an important partner for projects, collaboration and activities: hazelnut production, rearing of suckler cows, development of e-commerce for niche producers; app for “spirit walkers”, home sharing for second-home owners. The Foundation has also promoted the inclusion of twenty consultants at small companies in the areas hit by the earthquake to help them grow with the support of digital technologies.