Consorzio Zip
In Veneto a public company has promoted development, new jobs and economic growth for 50 years- Mission
- Main activities
- Strategy
- Governance
- Staff
- Quality certificaton
- History
- Projects for the future
- Communication
- Environmental commitment
- Social commitment
"The development is sustainable if it meets the needs of the present generations without jeopardizing the possibility to meet the needs of the future generations" Burtland Committee on Environment and Development, 1987
So, not only must an enterprise create value (economic sustainability) and disseminate it (social sustainability), but it must do it without impoverishing the surrounding environment (environmental sustainability).
Therefore, in order to manage the industrial area, Zip must help to keep under control the environmental impact caused by the activities of enterprises located in this territory. Actually Consorzio Zip believes that ensuring an harmonious integration of the industrial area with the rest of the town territory is one of its fundamental "entrepreneurial value".
To that end, its investments tends to achieve three main objects:
- balance between green areas and industrial estates
- preservation of the real estate
- improvement of the road system
The environmental commitment of Consorzio Zip
18% of the Consorzio territory consists in green areas, which improve its look while protecting its ecosystem and helping to cut down air pollution. The costs of maintenance of these green areas account for 23% of the costs for the improvement and maintenance of the whole area.
So, within the Zip territory, there are almost 1,900,000 square meters of green areas, which by far exceed the standards required by law. According to the town planning, over 1,200,000 square meters of them are for town parks and forest areas for the environmental recovery, whereas the rest concerns private green and street furniture.
In 2004 about 11 thousand new trees were planted in the green areas, which act as a buffer with the town, since they cut down noises and attract the avifauna.
The project Parco Fenice (Phoenix Park), has been carried out within the framework of this "awareness". It is the result of the cooperation between Consorzio Zip and the Scout Department of Cngei (National Corps of Italian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides) in Padua, with the support of Fondazione Cariparo (Saving Bank of Padua and Rovigo Foundation) and the Veneto Region, and aims at recovering and improving a territory which was in a state of great social-environmental decay.
This project concerns an area of 14,000 square meters, owned by Consorzio Zip, which is located within a paleo-river bed of the Roncajette river. There is a number of initiatives aimed at fostering its eco-sustainable development. A pedestrian and bicycle path of about 4 kilometers has been built. A farmhouse in the area will be the seat of both a centre for environmental training (for Zip enterprises, schools and voluntary organizations) and a hostel.
An initiative involving primary and lower secondary schools in the surrounding areas has been promoted to make children aware of the environment where they live through the project Adotta un albero (Adopt a Tree) – a tree for every child, every child has her/his own tree.
However, Consorzio Zip has also the task of keeping under control the enviromental impact caused by the activities of industrial plants in its territory.
In this regard, fruitful and close relations have been established between Padua and Freiburg, which have been twinned for several years, and between Consorzio Zip and the Fraunhofer Institut, which have made a cooperation agreement aimed to develop issues concerning renewable energies, energy conservation, the cycle of water for industrial purposes and sustainable development, by fostering the use of these new technologies in the enterprises of these two areas.
Actually, within this framework the building of industrial waterworks and a district heating plant has been considered.
The waterworks will allow to prevent the use of drinkable waters within industrial production cycles, and save this valuable resource by the creation of a system of recycling and reutilization. The building of a district heating plant at the service of the whole area will allow to save on energy costs and reduce polluting emissions.
Furthermore, Consorzio is involved – in cooperation with Magazzini Generali (General Warehouses), Interporto (Freight Village), Centro Grossisti (Wholesalers' Centre) and Mercato Ortofrutticolo (Fruit and Vegetable Market) – in the project Sunrise, financed by the Veneto Region. It aims at supplying the logistics infrastructures in the area with alternative energies by solar and photovoltaic systems. A way to reduce energy costs by offering a cheaper service and, above all, to comply with the environment European regulations.
It is worthwhile remembering that these regulations are increasingly obliging the Countries which have just joined or are waiting to join the European Union to renew thier structures of energy supplying. Thanks to this project, Zip has already committed itself in the development of the most advanced and innovative research in the field of the so-called alternative energies.
Zip has lately carried out another intervention very important from an environmental point of view: the undergrounding of the 132 kV long-distance power line between Camin and Bassanello, which goes through the industrial area of Padua. It cost over 6 million euros and brought about also an important recovery of a building area.
As abovementioned in "Plans for the Future", Consorzio Zip is also involved in the project Siam whose aim is to develop and test a model of sustainable production area [>>> see also: Projects/Siam (pdf 554kb)] as well as in the creation of Parco dei 3 Comuni which will include green areas and advanced enterprises operating in the field of research and innovation. [>>> see also: Projects//Harvard (pdf 385kb)]
Its many stakeholders are different for typology and dimension:
- first, enterprisesare its main interlocutor; they live and thrive thanks to the human element (every day over 27 thousand people work within the Zip territory and over 50 thousand come here for business)
- secondly, Consorzio Zip deals not only with partner bodies, but also with all the architects of the industrial and political development
- thirdly, like for every good "condominium of enterprises", for its mangement and activities Zip turn to suppliers with which it establishes sound and lasting relations, if possible
- finally, the development of Zip over the last years has resulted in an increased number of tasks and activities which have given birth to new relations with other companies and bodies (business partners)
Not only do enterprises look for sites where they can locate, but they are also interested in areas where there are appropriate services and infrastructures from a logistic, strategic and systemic point of view. They require not only roads, sanitation and facilities, but also convenient public and private services (computerised and information systems, bank offices, insurance offices, etc.) besides cultural and social structures.
Even though Zip does not provide these services directly, it fosters their presence by building the required infrastructures. Actually, a modern industrial system is characterized by the quality of its basic infrastructures as well as by the fact that it can provide production, business and supply activities with good, advanced and strategic services.
The new Service Centre in via Messico has been designed by taking into account these needs, in order to create an industrial environment which can improve the quality of work [>>> see: Projects/New Service Centre (pdf 387kb)] It is completely integrated with the activity carried out by the existing 5 service centres, where there are post offices, hotels, restaurants, banks, professional offices and every kind of activities necessary for enterprises and people.
In confirmation of the fact that Zip takes care of the workers' social needs, within the new Centre there is also an area for a nursery school.
The interventions aimed at improving the industrial context include also the restoration of a farmhouse located at Granze, where areas rich in past vestiges will be used for refreshments and leisure.
Zip takes care of the over 50 thousand people who every day reach the area also by a careful planning of the road system.
Actually, the whole Zip area can be reached by public transport, the road maintenance is continuously carried out, and many car parks have been built in the area so that the many people coming here for business might park their car without problems. The territory has increasingly been improved thanks to the extension of its green areas, where new trees and flower-beds have been planted and well-trimmed and pleasant corners have been created. Its daily activity includes the updating of road signs, the asphalting of roads, the maintenance of the sewerage system, the sweeping and reduction of dusts in the streets, etc.
Furthermore, within the Paduan economic system, not only does Consorzio act as "controller" of the price of the industrial sites, it also influences positively the way these sites will be used and brings off its institutional tasks with minimum social costs. In this regard, in 2002 Granze was parcelled out to build new houses and eleven lots of land was given to as many families who had been moved from where they lived before.
By carrying out a continuous maintenance of its real estate, Consorzio Zip prevents decay situations which would end up depressing and downgrading the whole area.
