On 22th April 2024, Earth Day will be celebrated. While waiting for this day to come, we, as Beeing, took some time to look around and back to all the sustainable projects we carried and are carrying out with local companies. Those projects are different between them but share a common objective: to ensure that our presence on Earth respects its inhabitants, its ecosystems, its balances.
Among the projects we developed together with companies, there is the one we made in collaboration with Sogema Spa, a vibrant company, determined to have a positive impact on the environment around us.
Sogema Spa has adopted, through Beeing, a honeybee hive, with the aim of preserving the local biodiversity and supporting the work of beekeepers in the area. Alessia Casati, Communication & Sustainability Specialist at Sogema Spa told us the story of the project, how it involved the employees and how it gave life to concrete positive results for the company and for the territory.
Who are you and what role do you play in the company? What does Sogema Spa do?
I am Alessia Casati, Communication & Sustainability Specialist: I deal with internal communication, website and social media management, and also create projects that increase our brand awareness and brand reputation. As far as sustainability is concerned, I draft the non-financial reporting and manage the development of corporate ESG policy.
SO.GE.MA. Spa is a 100% Italian company that has been present on the market for over 40 years, focused on offering logistics services with high added value. The offer includes diversified and customized solutions of warehousing, product customization, up to the integrated management of the entire Supply Chain of the Customer.
What are your values, especially in the field of environmental, social and economic sustainability? What positive impact do you want to have on your area, on the territory and on the community around you?
In SO.GE.MA. we strongly believe that we can pursue sustainable development and create a positive impact on the community and the environment where we operate. In recent years, through small steps, we have begun to actively contribute to the ecological transition of our country. We achieved BREEAM certification for our Fagnano Olona headquarter and are implementing energy efficiency measures.
In the social field, last year we collaborated with the municipality of Fagnano Olona for the project of guaranteed mobility for children and the fragile or alone elderly. The project supports a network of volunteers and associations that deal with transport on the territory.
We choose to contribute to biodiversity through the #SAVETHEBEES project, which involves the installation of playhouses for wild bees and butterflies, with the creation of an internal team responsible for the project management. Our commitment is to align with the international best practices and integrate ESG factors into our corporate strategy to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
How did the partnership with Beeing started? How did the idea of adopting your company hive come up?
Our partnership with Beeing was born from the idea of starting a concrete project to protect biodiversity and raise awareness of our stakeholders that was consistent with our path of corporate sustainability and within the next Report that we will draft. We immediately liked the idea of adopting a honey beehive to preserve the local biodiversity and the work of local beekeepers.
Did the project involve employees? Did it encourage employees to take action to protect the environment?
Since last year, in SO.GE.MA., we started a training and an awareness-raising programme on sustainability issues and the protection of biodiversity. For this reason, starting a concrete project like the one developed with Beeing was immediately appreciated by all employees.
We also installed a hive monitoring kit, which allows us to monitor temperature, humidity and weight of the hive in real time. It also allows us to receive valuable data about our bees’ activity and health, that we will share through reports with all our staff.
What are your future plans to expand or further improve the project?
One of our sustainable development goals is the protection of biodiversity, so we want to continue to invest in projects like the one we started with Beeing. Together with them, we would like to start a project to raise awareness on sustainability and biodiversity issues in schools in our territory. The idea is to start it in September, with the beginning of the new school year.
What is the key message you would like to convey to other companies or organizations wishing to undertake similar environmental sustainability initiatives? What are the basic steps you would advise them to follow to succeed?
Today, the theme of sustainability is very relevant in companies. The logistics area is one of the most impacting on the biodiversity of the planet because of its large consumption of soil, so we have started a virtuous path to compensate for our impacts. This year we are going to draft our second Sustainability Report and calculate our Carbon Footprint.
Our commitment is to demonstrate and communicate transparently how Sogema is moving in the three areas of sustainability (Environmental, Social, Governance). We strongly want to create shared value for people, our community and the planet.
Everyone can have a positive impact and become the voice of change. Sogema, as a company, reminds us of the importance of taking stock of what has been done in the past, what is being done in the present and what else can be done for the environment and for society in the future. And World Earth Day seems to be the perfect moment.
Contact us to ideate together a project to protect biodiversity with bees, which meets your values and needs. Develop your next sustainable action with Beeing!