Sustainability Channel

Italian painting resplendent at Bucharest

On Friday 16 September art triumphed at Bucharest thanks to Pirelli Romania, which has brought light back to “Susanna e I Vecchioni”, a masterpiece of Italian art painted in the 17^th century by Alessandro Varotari, known as the Padovanino.

Pirelli sustained the restoration of this important work, which was carried out with great care by the specialists of the National Museum of Art in Bucharest, a difficult task concluded in a record time of almost three months.

President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, who was making a two-day state visit to Romania at the time, inaugurated the masterpiece at the national museum.

Also attending were the Italian Ambassador to Romania, Mario Cospito, the director general of Pirelli Tyres Romania, Giuseppe Cangelosi and representatives of the Italian community in Romania.

The support of Pirelli Romania for the Museum of National Art in Bucharest is part of the numerous social and cultural activities set in motion by the Group in the country. They range from its partnership with the University of Craiova on the subject of technological innovation to the Italian culture promotional project in Slatina, collaboration with the Niguarda Hospital in Milan and the InterCampus initiative with FC Internazionale Milano at Slatina.

‘My Time for Japan’: here’s our project

We have been able to raise a really significant amount of money with our ‘My Time for Japan’ campaign: our many colleagues around the world have donated a total of €112,855.22, and with the company’s contribution that sum has now doubled to over €225,000.

So how do we select the recipients of our money? Well, it’s not that easy to identify a solidarity project in one of the world’s most industrialised countries like Japan. But we have decided to aim for the children and their hunger for “food for the soul”. For their need to overcome the traumas and difficulties of the post-earthquake.

So what have we done?

With the help of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), who were most helpful as our partners in the ‘My Time for Haiti’ project, we made contact with the Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA), ONP internationally active in various parts of Asia and in particular in the area of Japan devastated by the earthquake.

The SVA proposed that we support a community building project, contributing to financing the so-called “itinerant libraries”, which have already been successfully experimented with in other Asian countries in similar situations. Itinerant libraries are a means by which volunteers create aggregation initiatives devoted first and foremost to children, but the relative families who have experienced the earthquake also benefit as many of them live in temporary houses. We are to devote all of the money raised by the ‘My Time for Japan’ project to buying a vehicle that acts as an itinerant library, as well as thousands of books.

Books and reading initiatives will be taken to 32 stations in the Iwate Prefecture, one of the areas devastated by the earthquake including Yamada Town, Otsuchi Town, Ofunato City and Rikuzentakata City to reach 2,500 children.

Fairy stories, poetry, comics, and that’s not all. Thousands of Japanese children will finally be able to go back to reading the books they prefer and receive the necessary support  to smile again, also thanks to ‘My Time for Japan’, a solidarity initiative that distinguishes us for the mobilisation of colleagues and companies together and our direct involvement in choosing the destination of the project.

Request information: mytimeforjapan@pirelli.com

New Pirelli Truck 01 Series: innovation and safety

Pirelli’s truck tyre history spans 100 years, an anniversary that the Business Unit decided to celebrate with a major event at Izmit, Turkey, the Group’s largest industrial centre, which produces both truck and Formula 1 tyres.

Today (15 September) Pirelli presented to the international press three new truck tyres for the winter, highway and gravel market segments. They complete the Serie 01 range, conceived for use in critical winter conditions, for long range transport and by building site vehicles.

To welcome the press to Izmit there was a photographic exhibition telling the story of Pirelli’s century in world transport, from the Ercole 1000×150 tyre to the very latest compounds.

And during this period, Pirelli Truck is launching a series of initiatives to commemorate its transport centenary, aimed at making the industry’s professionals more aware of safety. The project includes the online competition “Give a voice to Safety”, inspired by the principals of the European Road Safety Charter, of which Pirelli is a signatory. Until 15 November, road transporters may leave a voice message of up to 45 seconds, explaining what it means to be a transport professional and give road safety suggestions. The most interesting messages will be assembled and published on the www.Pirelli.it web site in its Truck and Bus section and on www.Trasporti-Italia.com, media partner of the initiative.