Reintegration Economy
Reintegration Economy is a concrete proposal to change the current economic system. Fondazione Capellino (the Capellino Foundation) has created this unique model with the objective of making an experimental, but real, transition towards a social-cultural-economic model that has a positive impact on biodiversity. At the center of Reintegration Economy is the constant and multiform search for a “wholeness” that is evident of the interdependence of humans and the planet, which can be “reintegrated” with each other only after recognizing that our economy has become "extractive" of value and knowledge.[1][2], and therefore the cause of continuous division. It calls for 100% of the revenue (after expenses and taxes; therefore the dividend) of a Foundation Owned Corporation, also known as a Foundation-Owned Firm, to be allocated to serving the common good.[3]
Definition
The term, “reintegration,” describes a renewal action or process to restore elements that have become disparate to unity[4]. Its meaning is built from the Latin verb, "integer," which suggests the idea of "whole," "entire," "complete" or something "from which nothing has been taken away," "from which nothing is missing," so that the act of "integrating" would lead to "a rendering whole, or entire."[5][6] The idea of integrity also has a moral value in the meaning of "unharmed," "uncorrupted," "pure,” and “unimpeachable, good, honest.”[7] It is typically used to describe a socio-economic re-integration as defined by the European Commission[8] and in academic articles[9]. The term Reintegration Economy was coined by Fondazione Capellino[10]. It is defined as an economic and business proposal built on a holistic perspective where biodiversity is integrated into business logics and the dividends generated are given back to nature through a foundation.[11] Reintegration Economy specifies that today, it is necessary to first “reintegrate” biodiversity into the economy and into business in order to restore the integrity of the relationship between humans, nature and society.[12]
Reintegrating Common Good into Economy and Business
Championing the findings of the 2021 report, Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, that says mainstream economic thinking is badly flawed and needs to be reformed to avoid environmental disasters and reduced wellbeing, Reintegration Economy views nature as integral, yet detached and excluded, from the current capitalist paradigm. The fact that current economic models have left out natural capital has led to demands on the environment that far exceed its capacity to supply resources, which has put biodiversity under high pressure[13]. Reintegration Economy promotes the Dasgupta findings that biodiversity strengthens natural ecosystem processes like biomass production, nutrient cycling, etc., putting a crucial focus on natural ecosystem health in order to protect the common good. According to the Reintegration Economy nature must be reintegrated with profit instead of being taken from to increase individual wealth, or in more general terms, profit must protect the good of all rather than eroding it.
Translated into concrete action, Reintegration Economy calls for a serious and restitutive economic action to protect biodiversity, ensured through a Foundation Owned Corporation model[14] where 100% of a company’s profits (after expenses and taxes, otherwise known as dividends) are voluntarily and irreversibly destined to a foundation forever. This establishes a rich relationship between the proprietor, the foundation, and the company it holds, both in economic terms and in terms of cultural and value transmission.[15]
Value Generation
The business concept of value is moving away from the economic component alone to increasingly integrate other dimensions, such as the social, relational, cultural, institutional, fiduciary and innovation dimensions: it no longer seems to be enough for businesses to "produce" value, but that they must also consider how it is generated, with whom and how it is redistributed, invested, consumed and regenerated.[16][17]
Reintegration Economy aims, on the one hand, to generate economic value through innovative nature-based solutions and the re-integration of biodiversity into the processes, practices and policies of business. On the other, it employs the surplus economic value generated by entrepreneurial action to take care of biodiversity through trans-disciplinary projects that focus on respect for mother nature together with the protection and enhancement of living beings and their differences. The focus of value production hence transcends the financial realm to include a socio-environmental focus.
Development of the Reintegration Economy
The idea of Reintegration Economy takes root within a panorama of new economic proposals. Starting in the late 60s, the recognition of the importance of the environment with respect to economic action expanded with seminal works including Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1969), The Entropy Law and the Economic Process by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1971), Mankind and Mother Earth. A Narrative History of the World by Arnold Toynbee (1976), The Brundtland Report also known as Our Common Future (1987), the Millennium Development Goals (2000) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015), a theme still present in movements today like Fridays For Future. Reflections on the functioning of the economy are also rooted in socio-economic inequalities[18], the concept of limits[19][20] and the inter-independence seen in living systems,[21] which have led to a plethora of alternative economic proposals.[22][23][24]
Reintegration Economy stems from the desire of Fondazione Capellino, an Italian foundation established by Pier Giovanni and Lorenzo Capellino, to translate and effectively disseminate a way of living and trading responsibly on Earth, that is supportive of all living things through economic and business action that advances a new model of sustainable development and contribution.[11]
Its conceptual origins flow from the entrepreneurial experience of the Capellino brothers and the maturing of their values across their endeavors in the pet food industry. The sense of responsibility to valorize and protect biodiversity led them to donate their entire company, Almo Nature, voluntarily and permanently to Fondazione Capellino. This donation gave birth to an ecosystem that aspires to generate a global, with respect to the dimension of space, and intergenerational, with respect to the variable of time, impact in favor of biodiversity. Fondazione Capellino took this heritage and extracted an economic and business model to propose to others.
Timeline
The conceptual terrain for Fondazione Capellino’s definition of Reintegration Economy can be traced through the life and development of Almo Nature, today the only company recognizing itself as an example of Reintegration Economy.[25]
2000 Almo Nature, a pet food company unique for (Human Food Chain), its line of wet cat food made with ingredients fit for human consumption, is launched. The centrality of cats and dogs, defined as Almo Nature’s real customers, is present from the beginning, evident in their first slogan, “from their point of view,” making the animals the protagonists of their narrative.[26]
2009 The company narrative is expanded with the decision to not solely communicate their values through the quality of their products, which remains today a key aspect of their offer, but to also reinforce their values of respect and solidarity towards companion animals through media campaigns and third sector partnerships dedicated only to the diffusion of their culture towards animals. The slogan was changed to “pet food + aLmore.”[27]
2013 Almo Nature begins to support projects in favor of resolving environmental problems. The idea of transforming Almo Nature into an instrument of change for the protection of animals and biodiversity is planted, a solution which rejects the simpler option of selling Almo Nature to one of its many suitors.
2018 Fondazione Capellino, a nonprofit foundation, is established with a mission to protect biodiversity and every form of animal life and to develop cultures and natural, bio-sustainable methods with the goal of protecting all forms of life.
2019 Pier Giovanni and Lorenzo Capellino permanently donate Almo Nature to Fondazione Capellino, establishing a unique and rich ecosystem.[28] The Foundation is classified as a commercial nonprofit entity capable of managing and valorizing its shareholdings in joint-stock companies according to the foundation’s principles, with the objective of obtaining increased profits for the protection of animals and biodiversity.[29] This triggered the gradual alignment of the operations of Almo Nature with the mission of Fondazione Capellino, starting with rendering it a benefit corporation. Almo Nature’s slogan is modified to “owned by the animals,” capturing the proprietor relationship between the foundation dedicated to protecting animals and the company itself.[27]
2021 Fondazione Capellino begins to translate its experience into a new model of sustainable development and contribution to fixing the current extractive economic system, called “Reintegration Economy.”
Reintegration Economy in Action
Almo Nature (entirely owned by Fondazione Capellino) practices Reintegration Economy by committing 100% of its revenues (after expenses and taxes) to projects for the greater good, which include safeguarding biodiversity and fighting against climate change. To follow Reintegration Economy, in 2021 Almo Nature reconfirmed its commitment to produce the highest quality food products, inspired by the nature of cats and dogs, defend the rights of companion animals and reach zero impact on biodiversity by 2030. Under the following terms, Almo Nature and Fondazione Capellino considers itself an example of Reintegration Economy:
- Fondazione Capellino is classified as a commercial, non-profit entity; it is able to own and manage assets regulated by its scope, today exemplified by, but not limited to, its ownership of Almo Nature.
- All of the Foundation’s subsidiaries, current and future, use their profits for the common good supporting the Foundation’s projects to protect biodiversity and stop climate change. Today, 100% of Almo Nature’s dividends are destined to the Foundation through the Foundation Owned Corporation model established in the entire and irreversible donation of the enterprise to the Foundation.
- Fondazione Capellino’s subsidiaries are held to producing multifaceted value across their production chains by aligning themselves internally to the mission of the Foundation. Almo Nature has made an internal commitment to operate in such a way that benefits the common good through concrete actions (solidarity projects, responsible supply chain management, governance structure, etc.) regulated by its status as a benefit corporation.
Fondazione Capellino champions that the current extractive economic system must reintegrate respect for and solidarity with nature into its logic. To this end, the Foundation has developed the praxis of the Reintegration Economy and works across six lines of intervention[30], seeking to bring the importance of biodiversity to the forefront of society and into the everyday consciousness of individuals.
- Protection and Restoration of Natural Terrestrial and Marine Habitats
- Global Warming and Climate Change
- Regenerative Agriculture
- Measuring Human Impact on Biodiversity
- Recovery of Historic Buildings
- Promoting Reintegration Economy
Under these areas of intervention it has built a network of partners playing complementary roles to protect and enhance biodiversity; this network approach mirrors natural habitats where all living species are important actors in the generation of a sustainable equilibrium that considers the condition of all, a condition which is only enriched by the diversity of its members. It translates this commitment into not only financing external collaborators to achieve its mission but also through the operations of its holdings.
Academic Study
Reintegration Economy has been analyzed by the Centre for the Anthropology of Religion and Cultural Change (ARC) of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) in Milan in addition to being presented in academic settings like the Salone di CSR[31] held at Bocconi University and at The University of Genova’s online events on management and economy[32]. Moreover, Reintegration Economy is the object of a three year study of a doctorate program in the Department of Sociology at UCSC sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education for research about innovation and green practices. [33]
References
- ↑ Stiegler, B. (2011). The Decadence of Industrial Democracies. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Search this book on
- ↑ Stiegler, B. (2012). Reincantare il mondo. Il valore spirito contro il populismo industriale. Napoli: Orthotes. Search this book on
- ↑ "Almo Nature: "Entro il 2030 diventeremo a impatto zero sulla biodiversità"". La Repubblica. 8 November 2021.
- ↑ "Reintegration". Oxford Languages.
- ↑ "Reintegrare, Redintegrare". Etimo.
- ↑ "Integrare". Treccani.
- ↑ "Integrità". Treccani.
- ↑ Sironi, Alice; Bauloz, Céline; Emmanuel, Milen, eds. (2019). International Migration Law Glossary on Migration. Switzerland: International Organization for Migration (IOM). p. 176. ISSN 1813-2278. Search this book on
- ↑ "Reintegration". Research Gate. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fondazione Capellino. "Reintegration Economy European Union Trademark Information". Trademark Elite. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Reintegration Economy". Fondazione Capellino. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Crivelli, Giulia (15 November 2021). "L'economia rigenerativa di Almo Nature". 24 Economia (in Italian).CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ Dasgupta, Partha (2021). The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review (PDF). London: HM Treasury. ISBN 978-1-911680-29-1. Search this book on
- ↑ Hansmann, Henry; Thomsen, Steen (2021). "The Governance of Foundation-Owned Firms". Journal of Legal Analysis. 13 (1): 172–230 – via Oxford Academic.
- ↑ "La Reintegration Economy". Almo Nature (in italiano). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Venturi, Paolo; Zandonai, Flaviano (2016). Imprese ibride, Modelli d’innovazione sociale per rigenerare valore (in Italian). EGEA. ISBN 8823835798.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Porter, M.E., Kramer, M.R. (2019) Creating Shared Value. In: Lenssen G., Smith N. (eds) Managing Sustainable Business. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1144-7_16
- ↑ "Oxfam International". Oxfam International. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ↑ Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K. et al. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461, 472–475. https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a
- ↑ Meadows, Donella H.; Meadows, Dennis L.; Randers, Jørgen; Behrens Ill, William W. (1972). The Limits to Growth (PDF). New York, New York: Universe Books. Search this book on
- ↑ Bateson, Gregory (1979). Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity (PDF). New York: E.P. Dutton. Search this book on
- ↑ Felber, Christian (2012). L’Economia del Bene Comune, Un modello economico che ha futuro (in Italian). Milano: Tecniche Nuove.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Cappelletti, Patrizia (2015). L’Italia generativa (in Italian). Trento: Erickson.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Magatti, Mauro, ed. (2018). Social Generativity. A Relational Paradigm for Social Change. Routledge. Search this book on
- ↑ Scaletti, Odoardo (18 April 2018). "Capellino cede Almo Nature a fondazione che protegge gli animali". Liguria Business Journal.
- ↑ "Almo Nature #mypromise: la nostra opinione sui prodotti HFC". Pet Magazine (in italiano). 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Fondazione Capellino. E gli animali diventano i proprietari di Almo Nature". Quotidiano Nazionale (in italiano). 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2021-12-15. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "L'imprenditore genovese Capellino: «Tutti i profitti di Almo Nature agli animali e alla biodiversità. Bisogna restituire al Pianeta quello che abbiamo preso»". Il Secolo XIX (in italiano). 2019-07-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Almo Nature riconosciuta dall'Agenzia delle Entrate: è la prima fondazione a essere "posseduta dagli animali"". Il Secolo XIX (in italiano). 2019-06-26. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "I nostri ambiti di intervento". Almo Nature (in italiano). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Purpose beyond profits. Il Purpose Playbook incontra la generatività sociale". Il Salone della CSR e dell'innovazione sociale (in italiano). 30 September 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "I fini e la natura dell'impresa: una frontiera in divenire" (PDF). Università di Genova Dipartimento di Economia. 20 May 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Admission for the allocation of resources of the National Operation Programme in "Research and Innovation" 2014-2020 to active and accredited Doctoral Programmes" (PDF). Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano. p. 22. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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