In line with its 2025–2028 Multi-Year Planning Document, which recognises internationalisation as a means of consolidating alliances and expanding opportunities for collaboration, the Foundation participates in global networks and initiatives, believing that knowledge, dialogue and multilateralism are essential resources for addressing shared challenges. From this perspective, philanthropy helps to build connections and create favourable conditions for the production and circulation of knowledge.
Initiatives that reflect this commitment include support for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board, collaboration with Philea, the European network of philanthropic foundations, and the GESDA (Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator) Foundation, which focuses on science anticipation.
Dialogue with international organisations such as UNESCO finds a further point of connection in the partnership with the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, a research centre founded in 1964 by Nobel laureate Abdus Salam and physicist Paolo Budinich. The centre operates under the joint auspices of UNESCO and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), with the support of the Italian Government.
The acquisition of the Adriatico Guesthouse, which has been home to ICTP for the past 40 years, was announced in New York on 16 October at an event attended by the key partners involved in the project and by Ambassador Gianluca Greco, Italy’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN. It is the result of an international collaboration between Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Simons Foundation International (SFI), the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and ICTP.
At the heart of the transaction is the partnership between SFI, which has made a contribution of $15 million, and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, which purchased the historic building. The initiative is also supported by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which has committed €4.25 million, and ICTP itself, through its “ICTP 2.0” fundraising campaign, which has already raised more than €8 million. This approach brings together international philanthropic capital and public and private resources, offering an example of multi-level governance that coordinates the efforts of different stakeholders to support the redevelopment of infrastructure that is strategic to research.
As part of this arrangement, the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo has become the owner of the property and made it available to ICTP through a long-term lease at a nominal rent. This solution meets a requirement set out in the Centre’s international statutes and enables it to plan investments and activities on a stable footing.
The acquisition makes it possible to move away from the previous lease arrangement with a private entity, freeing up resources for maintenance, technological upgrades and research activities. Built in the 1970s, the building hosts more than 40% of ICTP’s lectures and seminars and welcomes around 4,000 researchers from over 150 countries every year. The redevelopment will transform it into an integrated hub for research, advanced training and international collaboration that is modern, accessible and energy-efficient, ensuring the continuity of ICTP’s activities.
The “ICTP 2.0” campaign continues to play an important role in this process, helping to complete the co-financing required for the first phase of the redevelopment and supporting the Centre’s future development.
To address the complexity of this project, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo is also contributing its expertise in real estate and the management of complex design processes. The transformation of the Adriatico Guesthouse is the subject of an international competition covering architecture, engineering and construction supervision. The first phase concluded on 14 October, and the selection of finalists, who will be invited to submit full design proposals, is expected by December 2026. Approval of the design and award of the contract are expected in spring 2027.
The project builds on the established experience of the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo Group in managing complex property developments and overseeing international design and regeneration competitions. These international competitions have included projects such as those at the Cavallerizza Reale, the Museo Egizio, Turin, and the GAM – Turin’s Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and Torino fa Scuola.
This challenge brings together science diplomacy, philanthropic innovation and urban regeneration expertise in a single initiative. It offers a model of how philanthropy, in collaboration with public institutions, can help not only to support research as a global public good, but also to strengthen the infrastructure and conditions needed to ensure its long-term development, with both local and global benefits.[/vc_column_text][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width=”2″ css=”” grid_id=”vc_gid:1792596473449-9636f043-260a-6″ include=”47280,47282,47284,47286,47288,47290,47292,47294,47296,47298,47300,47304,47306,47308,47310,47312,47314″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”sdg-list-wrap”][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTVCbW9zdHJhU0RHUyU1RA==[/vc_raw_html][vc_raw_html]JTVCU2V6aW9uZV9Eb2N1bWVudGklNUQ=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]