The event is expected to by attended by the Minister of European Affairs of the Italian Government, Andrea Ronchi, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, the Spanish Ambassador in Italy, Luis Calvo Merino, the Chairman of abertis, Salvador Alemany, the Chairman of the abertis Foundation, Miquel Roca, and the Chairman of the Foundation’s Italian office, Giancarlo Elia Valori.
The Abertis Foundation will begin its activity in Italy through an agreement with LUMSA University for the creation of the Abertis-LUMSA Chair.
It is ten years since abertis began its activities in Italy, where it has interests in the tollroad and car park sectors.
The abertis Foundation in Italy will today be launched at the Spanish Embassy in Rome, at an event which will take place at 6pm and is expected to be attended by major political and academic dignitaries from the country, as well as the management of the abertis Group.
The Italy office will be the abertis Foundation’s first outside Spain, and is a clear sign of abertis‘ commitment to Italy, a country where it has a significant presence through both its activities in the car park sector, in which the company saba Italia is a market leader, and its stake in the company Atlantia.
The event is expected to be attended by the Minister of European Affairs of the Italian Government, Andrea Ronchi, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, the Spanish Ambassador in Italy, Luis Calvo Merino, as well as the Chairman of abertis, Salvador Alemany, the Chairman of the abertis Foundation, Miquel Roca, and the Chairman of the Foundation’s Italian office, Giancarlo Elia Valori.
The abertis Foundation will begin its activity in Italy through an agreement with LUMSA University for the creation of the abertis-LUMSA Seat, devoted to research, training and the publication and dissemination of the results of research undertaken – through conferences and seminars – in subjects relating to the management and impact of infrastructures associated with large events and social policies, particularly in relation to Mediterranean countries.
The abertis Foundation will also hold a conference in Rome tomorrow in the Great Hall of LUMSA University from 9.30am, at an event which will be attended by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Giuseppe Dalla Torre, the Chairman of the abertis Foundation in Italy, Professor Giancarlo Elia Valori, the Director of the abertis Foundation, Sergi Loughney, the Mayor of Tarragona, Josep Félix Ballesteros, and the General Manager of acesa, Josep Lluís Giménez.
The conference will see the presentation of the project entitled “Ager Tarraconensis. Study of the archaeological landscape of the Augusta Tarraco settlement”, jointly developed in Spain by the abertis Foundation and the Catalonian Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC). The event will be closed by Josep Manuel Basáñez, Chairman of saba Italia, and Giancarlo Elia Valori.
The Abertis Foundation; commitment to the local area
The abertis Foundation is an organisation which, since 1999, has been devoted to promoting and disseminating research on the impact of large infrastructures on the territory, particularly in terms of the economy, demographics and the environment.
As one of the Corporate Social Responsibility responses provided by abertis, the Foundation periodically organises other conferences to present the main conclusions of the research undertaken, in addition to research in issues of social interest, such as historical heritage management, road anthropology, ethical values and social challenges.
Its concern with improving people’s quality of life means that the Foundation also develops an extensive Road Safety Programme, the main aim of which is to teach drivers and pedestrians to be responsible and to help to reduce accident rates.
In its 10 years of existence the abertis Foundation, in the research field, has developed a total of ten projects on demography, four on economics and 19 studies of the environment. In the latter field, the Foundation’s interest in issues such as renewable energy, cutting water consumption, endangered species and public use of natural and national parks is particularly worthy of mention.
The abertis Foundation’s main activities in the field of dissemination have been focused on the organisation of scientific conferences on sustainable heritage management, the environment and telecommunications, economics and demography. It has also published seven highly-regarded books, ten scientific publications and three art catalogues.
For its part, the Road Safety Programme promoted by the abertis Foundation is divided into four main areas of activity: Research, technical conferences, dissemination and awareness-raising activities and road safety education. In fact, in 2007 the Road Safety Programme in Schools won the prize awarded by the Spanish Association for the Development of Business Patronage (AEDME) for the best business sponsorship and patronage initiative in the education category.
Abertis in Italy: 10 years of business relations
abertis entered the Italian market from 1999 to 2000 when, still known as Acesa Infraestructuras, it moved into the car park sector – through saba Italia – and into the tollroad sector, through the acquisition of a stake in the concessionaire Autostrade (now known as Atlantia).
saba began its activity in the Italian car park sector through the acquisition in 1999 of the publicly-owned company Italinpa, the leading car park company in the country. At the time of the purchase, saba Italia was operating around 8,500 spaces, spread over 12 different centres and with a presence in 6 different towns.
Ten years later, saba continues to consolidate its position of leadership in the Italian car park sector where, through saba Italia, it manages a network of 57 car parks with a total capacity of 29,850 spaces, located in a total of 24 cities throughout the country: Assisi, Ascoli, Bari, Bicocca, Bologna, Brindisi, Cosenza, Cremona, Genoa, Macerata, Milan, Montello, Novara, Perugia, Pisa, Rieti, Rome, San Remo, Sassari, Todi, Trieste, Venice, Verona and Vignola. In addition, saba is building new car parks, which it will subsequently manage, increasing its presence in the country to 72 facilities and a capacity of around 37,000 spaces.
Particularly worthy of mention is the project to extend and restore the Villa Borghese car park complex, which will make an innovative contribution to urban mobility in the capital, creating an extensive and well-designed car park for public and private transport, with adjacent services for tourists visiting this cultural area. The project includes an extensive number of activities which will involve an investment of 92.5 million Euros, the largest thus far made by the company in the country’s car park sector.
Once all the ongoing projects in Italy have been developed, the saba Italia network will represent 25% of the total number of spaces that saba currently has in its entire international network, which now has 136,729 spaces spread over 203 car parks in Spain, Italy, Chile, France, Portugal, Morocco and Andorra.
abertis also controls 6.7% of the tollroad concessions group, Atlantia.
Abertis and its links with the academic world
The creation of the abertis–LUMSA Chair represents a strengthening of the company’s links with the academic world. Since 2003 abertis has been promoting creation of different chairs in collaboration with renowned universities and academic institutions. Aware of the importance of its links with the academic world for social and economic progress, abertis promotes training, research and the transfer of knowledge between universities and companies. The chairs specialise in different areas of infrastructure management and are therefore very closely linked to the company’s activity.
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