Common Home: The most disruptive ideas from Luiss students, awarded by Assoholding

Rome, June 23, 2022 – Shades of Blue and Griin.City are the two winning projects of the X-Labs Awards, presented today at Luiss Guido Carli during the launch event of Common Home. Sponsored by the Lazio Region, in collaboration with the Luiss Department of Law and the Master’s program in Law, Digital Innovation, and Sustainability (LDIS), the event introduced the new open platform created by Assoholding and the Regenerative Marketing Institute. The platform aims to promote the principles of the regenerative economy and technological innovation for sustainable development.

Financing for water infrastructure development, ethical crowdfunding, mobility as a service, hydrogen valleys, energy communities, open and inclusive innovation platforms, and smart cities in Africa are just a few of the key themes addressed in the eight ideas presented by first- and second-year students in the Luiss degree program in “Law, Digital Innovation and Sustainability.” These ideas were developed within X-Labs, a pre-incubation program that fosters open and collaborative innovation, based on multisectoral challenges posed to students by public, private, and social organizations.

Shades of Blue and Grinn.City, selected by a jury of Luiss professors and company representatives (BIP, MSD, Unicredit, Assoholding, Regenerative Marketing Institute, Enel, Poste Italiane, Legance Avvocati Associati, Fater, TUC Technology, Ferrovie dello Stato, CVC Portfolio Company, EticaNews), were named winners based on criteria including scientific rigor, a business model that is ethical and inclusive, stakeholder mapping and governance tools, engagement capabilities, the enabling dimension of technology, uniqueness, and contribution.

Assoholding will support the winning ideas with two prizes of 16,000 euros each. These funds will go toward key activities that will accelerate and bring the LDIS students’ projects to life, such as drafting the articles of association and incorporation, creating the website, managing the accounting for the first year, and providing the share capital. The audience also awarded a special mention to Open Urbania as the third deserving idea. This will be further developed with support from Luiss research centers and labs, such as DREAM, BILL, and LabGov.City, as well as through the new Luiss LDIS lab courses.

Multi-stakeholder engagement and a mission-oriented approach based on concrete challenges and recognizable, shared goals are the cornerstones of the “Inquiry-based” educational model at the university named after Guido Carli. Here, students connect research and innovation, learning by co-generating new knowledge. This approach has been put into practice in the LDIS pre-incubation program through laboratories (R&I Lab, X-Labs, Z-Labs), curricular internships, and additional Luiss activities. In fact, the students were tasked with working and engaging with various stakeholders, addressing real-world needs and collaborating as professionals in innovation units alongside partners to develop “job on the training” solutions. The results achieved are further strengthened by the development opportunities provided by “Common Home.”