• Held in collaboration with Industrial Association of Novara and financed by CRT Foundation
• Birla Carbon awarded students from different high-schools and challenged them on their soft skills
• Participation sets the pace for a gradual return to normalcy for the communities

With the world currently living in these trying times under lockdown and maintaining social distancing, academic virtual conferences are on the rise. In line with this, 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, in the Piedmont region of Italy.  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 of HSE course deadlines required by law, 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. Thereby, being able to use a single database where the deadlines of the compulsory courses shared between the HSE and the HR functions could be monitored. Birla Carbon 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.