Collaboration with universities and schools

We have been committed for years to projects involving schools and communities, aimed at bringing young people closer to the world of work. These projects, developed in collaboration with high schools, represent an important opportunity to reaffirm our contribution to local communities.

Continuing from previous programmes, “IdeAzione”, “La Scuola che vorrei”, “GenerAzione Digitale”, “GenerAzione Connessa”, “GenerAzione 2030”, and “GenerAzione per la Transizione – Clima ed Energia”, the eighth edition of the Transversal Skills and Orientation (PTCO) programme, “GenerAzioni per il Futuro”, took place in 2025, created in collaboration with the ELIS Consortium.

The initiative involved over 350 fourth- and fifth-year students from 11 high schools across Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, and Campania. The project offered students the opportunity to get closer to the world of Acea, gain a deeper understanding of our businesses, engage directly with our professionals, and tackle the concrete challenges we face every day. Students collaborated with 24 experts from the Group’s companies.

The five finalist teams presented their projects to President Barbara Marinali and the Group’s Management. Projects were evaluated based on feasibility, benefit for the company, and the effectiveness of their presentations.

The winning project was “Palo Galileo”, presented by the team I Pannelli from ITIS G. Galilei in Rome, developed in collaboration with Areti’s experts. The proposal consists of a smart public LED lighting system integrated with a charging station for electric vehicles, aiming to enhance energy efficiency from a smart city perspective.

The following projects were also selected as finalist projects:

• “C-02” – Liceo Scientifico Ceccano (Ceccano), in collaboration with Acea Ato5’s experts.
• “I Messicani” – ISS Marconi (Nocera Inferiore), in collaboration with Gori’s experts.
• “Current Flow” – IIS Giorgi-Woolf (Rome), in collaboration with Acea Produzione’s experts.
• “Gruppo Funzionale” – ITI N. Parravano (Arpino), in collaboration with Acea Ambiente’s experts.

We are always looking for collaborations with the university world because cooperation with these organisations contributes to innovation and development within the business and the territory. In recent years, we have strengthened our relationships with some of the major universities, such as Tor Vergata, La Sapienza, LUISS Guido Carli, Lumsa, University of Tuscia, Politecnico of Milan, Sant’Anna of Pisa, Cassino and University of Napoli Federico II.

An example of our commitment to research activities is Acea Ambiente’s collaboration with universities such as the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Tuscia for the finalisation of projects to develop new research technologies and for the mitigation of strategic site environmental impacts.

We have renewed the conventions for curricular and extra-curricular internships with the Universities of Roma Tre, Tor Vergata, La Sapienza, LUISS Guido Carli, Uni Marconi, Bocconi, University of International Studies of Rome - UNINT, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - UNICAS and with the Gabriele D'Annunzio University of Chieti - Pescara. We also initiated new contacts and relationships with the placements departments of the Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Bari Aldo Moro, the University of Camerino, the Parthenope University of Naples, the University of Pisa and the Universities of Palermo, Catania and Messina.

Finally, during 2023, an agreement was developed with the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences at the University of Naples “Federico II” for the quantitative assessment of groundwater resources pertaining to some aquifers, with a view to developing a water availability prediction model, with scientific support from the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering at the Federico II University and the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, as part of the Water Action Agenda’s implementation.

Thanks to these collaborations, every year we are able to hire young graduates in the various Group companies and in 2023 activated a total of 14 training internships and 22 curricular apprenticeships.

Again, with regard to training, we put professional skills of our people at disposal during university courses and masters or technical projects. In 2023, our colleagues spoke as lecturers or with company testimonials in masters programmes that dealt, in particular, with issues related to energy, the environment, sustainability and innovation.

Are you a university student and interested in becoming part of Acea Group?