Birla Carbon Italy, along with other chemical companies, participated on April 30, 2020, in an innovative experimental project of a school-work alternation for the first time. This event took place virtually, when the world was going through a difficult time with the COVID-19 crisis and maintaining social distancing and virtual academic conferences was the new norm.

The ‘Smart Challenge’ project was held in collaboration with the Industrial Association of Novara and was financed by the CRT Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to developing effective and innovative management models. Close to 30 students from different high-schools of the territory were challenged on their soft skills related to the HR field.

Speaking about this event, Giuseppe Zanotti Fragonara, General Manager, Birla Carbon Italy, said, “As a business, Birla Carbon has always focused on giving back to the society in which it operates. We believe in our communities, and participating in an educational event like this where the hard work of the children is rewarded, is one of our ways to share the strength and form long-lasting bonds with them. We believe that events like this will set the pace for not only our offices and plants but also the communities to return to normalcy amidst these difficult times.”

The project proposed by Birla Carbon was on the theme of training with the creation of an accessible database where all the courses of the local training plan and monitoring had to be put together. The students presented a concept on how to manage the company database, dedicated to staff training in a functional way.

Birla Carbon Italy awarded the team that demonstrated high problem-solving skills, creativity, innovation, and teamwork, along with the applicability of the project in the context of the plant.