Bocconi’s Third Mission: Our Dialogue with Society in Milan and Beyond

Fulfilling the third mission and achieving social impact are crucial objectives for Bocconi over the next three years, as indicated by the Strategic Plan and the Rector's Mandate. "We seek to expand our participation in Milan’s cultural life," says Rector Francesco Billari, "but we also look at the rest of Italy and Europe, by devoting a special attention to vulnerable communities. A challenge taken up by Marta Cartabia who has joined the Rectoral Committee as Dean for Social Engagement and Institutional Affairs."

Marta Cartabia, Bocconi Professor of Italian and European Constitutional Law, has a sterling reputation for her commitment to constitutional rights and her experience as President of the Italian Constitutional Court and Justice Minister during the Draghi Government. She is in charge of strengthening Bocconi's projects that have a positive impact on disadvantaged communities, and promoting a culture of inclusion and social responsibility. Under her leadership, Bocconi will continue to invest in legal clinics, prison education projects and collaborations with nonprofit entities, further expanding the University’s role as a driver of social change.

Bocconi Activities in Schools

Over the next three years, Bocconi will give new impetus to projects that have a specific focus on expanding access to education for all, through the dissemination of knowledge across society and the new generations, with an ever-increasing commitment to partner with secondary schools. Over the past year, approximately 1,000 initiatives and meeting opportunities were organized involving 280,000 students from all over the world.

In Italy, Bocconi promotes projects aimed at high school students to prepare them for the challenges of the future by guiding them in the choice of their university careers. Over the past year, the university reached out to over 38,000 students attending 1,700 high schools, through a wide range of initiatives that aim to spread fundamental knowledge on crucial topics such as social inclusion (A Scuola di Inclusione), climate change (AdaptAction@School), civic education (GenerazioneEU), data analysis and STEM subjects (including Numbers and Math Games).

Bocconi for Socially Vulnerable Communities

Bocconi is strongly committed to supporting the socially disadvantaged communities and promotes initiatives that aim to make a real and lasting impact. Among these, there is the Prison Project, which allows inmates to follow degree courses and pass exams within the penitentiary system. The project has been launched for the Milano prisons in Opera (2016) and Bollate (2023). It is joined by another specifically dedicated to education on constitutional rights, which offers sentenced inmates the opportunity to study the legal system and gain greater awareness of their rights, and especially by project of the Legal Clinics, which provide free legal assistance to inmates and citizens facing economic hardship. Bocconi law students, supported by the faculty and law professionals, put their legal skills into practice in real contexts while actively contributing to social justice. Another example of social engagement is the collaboration with the Pane Quotidiano canteen for the disadvantaged: Bocconi students and staff participate on a voluntary basis, distributing food and basic supplies to the most vulnerable.

The focus on volunteering and the third sector is assisted by the constant presence of the Bocconi Volunteer Desk born from a collaboration with the CSV, the Volunteer Service Center, and the Students for Humanity association. The Desk provides general information on volunteering and guides those who want to dedicate themselves to social engagement activities. 

Finally, a Bocconi Community Volunteer Fair is organized every year: about 30 organizations participated in the 2024 edition this October.

2025 Events in Milan

“Milan and its residents are some of our main stakeholders and for this reason we are increasingly committed to opening our campus and actively contributing to the city’s cultural, economic and social development, along with the projects and events in which the city plays a leading role,” underscores Billari. Starting from the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, an event that, like Expo Milano 2015, will be a turning point in the development of Italy’s business capital. The University has signed a Framework Agreement with Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026: a wide-ranging agreement that includes both research projects and management training.

And remaining on the topic of sports, the Bocconi Sport Center has become a reference for the Bocconi community of athletes and sports enthusiasts (it currently has 4,000 members), and for the 13,000 Milanese residents who regularly attend the gyms and swimming pool at the center.

Last but foremost, there are the events organized either by Bocconi or of which the University is a partner which make a major contribution to Milan’s cultural life. Here listed below the main ones for the upcoming year:

• Bocconi will be main partner of the AI ​​Festival (hosted by Bocconi on 26-27 February), an event dedicated to artificial intelligence and its applications, which will offer an opportunity for reflection and debate on the ethical and technological implications of this paradigm-shifting discipline, by inviting experts, professionals and ordinary citizens.
• Pact4Future, organized in collaboration with Corriere della Sera, will have its second edition on 25-27 March 2025. This international forum will focus on three key themes: People, Purpose and Planet. The first edition involved over 80 international speakers, 3,000 participants in person and 800,000 viewers online.
• On the occasion of the Milan Design Week (7-13 April), a collaboration with Domus magazine continues with the special formula of Domusbreakfast@Bocconi, by involving personalities from the world of industry, architecture, finance, art, culture and design.
• Next is organized in collaboration with the ISPI Institute of International Politics, and the next edition will be held on 5-6 May 2025. It will explore future global scenarios, with a particular focus on geopolitics, economics and innovation, offering local residents an opportunity to interact with international relations experts and diplomats. The Next event, which this year brought to Milan 1,000 Future Leaders from over 60 countries, has established itself as the prime event in the city’s intellectual offer.
• Bocconi will be scientific partner of the 24^th Triennale International Exhibition, entitled Inequalities, scheduled from May to November at the Triennale Museum of Art and Architecture. In particular, the Bocconi Social Inclusion Lab will chair the panel zooming in on Milan, offering a reading of the city that looks at the social contrasts that characterize it.
• The next edition of Bocconi Art Gallery (BAG) will be held in September of next year. BAG has opened the doors of the University and its artwork since 2009, offering the Milanese a great opportunity to enjoy contemporary art on campus.
• Isole Sonore, in collaboration with Yamaha pianos, will reach its third edition. This music festival ranges from classical repertoire to jazz to some of the most innovative forms of musical entertainment, bringing international artists to the stage
• Meet Me Tonight, a two-day event dedicated to science and research, will return on 27-28 September 2025. Organized in collaboration with other academic institutions in Milan, this year it managed to attract over 2,000 visitors: during the event, participants had the opportunity to interact directly with researchers through workshops, seminars and meetings devoted to highly topical issues in science and tec