Foundation

Foundation

To give new impetus to its long-standing commitment to the island of Elba with a dedicated structure, to expand the impact of its activities on the island and to contribute to improving the quality of life of the people who live there. This is the inspiration behind the Acqua dell'Elba Foundation, a non-profit organisation designed to develop the island and its heritage, focusing on the environment, education, culture, health and art. After 22 years dedicated to sustainability, Acqua dell'Elba has given birth to a "sea green sister" which, away from the logic of the market, will help protect the island's ecosystem and promote its social and cultural heritage.

More specifically, on the environmental front, from 2022 onwards it will be the Foundation that oversees the historic "Via dell'Essenza" project, to create a footpath around the island. To date, five stages of the path have been completed. With the transfer of the project to the Foundation, the aim is to create new and more important synergies, also to accelerate the completion of the path.

Meanwhile, the goal of the "education" project will be to enrich the libraries of Elba's secondary schools: the schools will be able to receive around 100 new texts each year on subjects of their choice, together with a selection of titles focusing on the theme of female empowerment, a topic close to the hearts of both the Foundation and Elba's school community. Focal point of the "culture" area will be the SEIF - Sea Essence International Festival, which will also feed into the projects of the Foundation.

SEIF is a multifaceted event which, embracing both reason and emotion, aims to raise public awareness of issues relating to the sea and celebrate its beauty through a multidisciplinary approach involving history, economics, art, politics, music, cinema and society which reflects the multifarious spirit of the sea. The "health" area will see the Foundation throw its weight behind two extraordinary local entities committed to supporting people suffering from serious or disabling illnesses. The first is the newly founded EndoElba Association, which supports women that suffer from Endometriosis: a widespread female disease about which still very little is known and which requires early diagnosis and continuous support. The second is the historic local association "Diversamente Sani Elba NPO", a point of reference on Elba for cancer patients and their families. The Association is involved in projects that enrich the process of rebirth that each patient undergoes during the course of their illness, providing support and living every stage until they are cured.

Finally, the "art" area will transfer to the Foundation the historic "Artists of Elba" project, through which Acqua dell'Elba supports art and creativity by promoting contemporary artists, organising exhibitions and purchasing works, and the Acqua dell'Elba Arts Prize, an initiative developed in collaboration with the Brera Academy of Fine Arts that aims to reward the creativity and talent of young students about to enter the world of work. New projects are planned for 2023 and the years to come, largely shaped on the basis of feedback from the community.