Skip to main content

Kofi Annan helps formwork specialist Pilosio take CSR to the next level

Italian formwork specialist Pilosio held its fourth annual Building Peace Award in the historic setting of Venice’s Scuola Grande on Friday 12 September. This year’s winner was politician Samia Yaba Nkrumah, the daughter of Ghana’s first democratically elected president, highlighting her planned project to build a new library and learning space in Akosombo, near Lake Volta, dedicated to her father. Over 300 guests from around the world, including 150 Pilosio clients, attended the event and heard keynote sp
September 16, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations
Italian formwork specialist Pilosio held its fourth annual Building Peace Award in the historic setting of Venice’s Scuola Grande on Friday 12 September. This year’s winner was politician Samia Yaba Nkrumah, the daughter of Ghana’s first democratically elected president, highlighting her planned project to build a new library and learning space in Akosombo, near Lake Volta, dedicated to her father.

Over 300 guests from around the world, including 150 7163 Pilosio clients, attended the event and heard keynote speaker Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the 3262 United Nations, speak about the event’s theme: ‘Women as builders of Peace”. Annan also outlined the importance of corporate social responsibility and the need for the public and private sectors to work together:

“Given the problems we face, we cannot rely on governments to deal with it,” he said. “We need the private sector, civil society and we need foundations.”

Pilosio’s Building Peace Awards demonstrate a more direct approach to communicating and networking with clients and stakeholders. The firm has cut out all exhibitions except one, preferring to communicate its ethos and culture directly through this event.
For Pilosio CEO Dario Roustayan, the awards are an important way to connect with clients and strengthen the business; the combination of altruism and marketing make perfect sense: “What we are doing here is only possible and sustainable if we have a successful business,” he said.

Pilosio also used the event to reveal its ‘Shelters for Refugees’ project. Working with Habitat for Humanity founder, architect Cameron Sinclair, the firm has developed buildings for refugees constructed of scaffolding tubes and local materials such as sand or gravel.

“We felt the need to become stakeholders, to do something concrete,” said Routsayan.

With the possibility of combining the ‘L’ shaped units to create single homes, communities and buildings such as schools or clinics, the first two pilot school projects are already planned for a refugee camp in Jordan. The idea is that the structures can be dismantled at the end of a camp’s life and used to rebuild homes and community facilities in the refugees’ home countries.

The event also included a panel discussion of five influential women identified as Builders of Peace. These included Carolyn Miles, CEO of Save the Children, Khalida Brohl founder of the Sughar Empowerment Society which fights honour killings in Pakistan and Salini Costruttori board member and Poste Italiane chairman Luisa Todini.

Pilosio’s approach was very well-received among guests, with Tarek Al-Nassar, managing director of Arabian Roots Scaffolding taking to the stage to praise both Roustayan and Pilosio’s leadership.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road surface quality is vital to safety and policing - TISPOL 2015 conference
    January 18, 2016
    The state of Europe’s road surfaces “is absolutely vital” if TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, is going to achieve its target of halving road deaths across the continent by 2020 says AA president Edmund King Speaking at the 2015 TISPOL annual conference in Manchester, King warned that the deteriorating state of Europe’s road pavements has become “a serious problem” and that the number of potholes is now an important road safety issue for the enforcement community.
  • Engineering specialist Ramboll acquires ENVIRON
    December 17, 2014
    Engineering specialist Ramboll has acquired the US-based global consultancy, ENVIRON. The deal gives Ramboll a strong market position globally, particularly in the environmental sector. At the time of the acquisition, the combined revenue of Ramboll and ENVIRON exceeds US$1.7 billion, of which 34% will be generated outside the Nordic countries. Measured on revenue the US will become the fourth biggest geography after Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Commenting on the acquisition Ramboll Group CEO Jens-Peter
  • Digital opportunities: Eurasphalt & Eurobitume (E&E) event, Berlin
    July 3, 2018
    Traditional players in the European bitumen sector need to grasp digital technology in all its forms to survive. Kristina Smith reports from the recent E&E conference in Berlin.
  • Better asset management will reduce costs and improve efficiency
    August 22, 2013
    The FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2013 (FIRM 2013) raised key issues in transport innovation The key theme for FIRM 13 was advanced and innovative construction and maintenance, highlighting the importance of efficient asset management. Infravation, or infrastructure innovation, was another focus area for the event. Joris Al, FEHRL president said, “We aim to bring interested parties together. We’ve decided to build on existing knowledge rather than starting with front edge technologies and working