This page provides journalists and the media with rapid access to key information on the Institute and its work.
Identity and History
Aspen Institute Italia is a private, independent, international, nonpartisan and nonprofit association chaired by Giulio Tremonti since 2003. The Institute was founded in 1984 by a group of leading Italian political and economic players whose number included Francesco Cossiga, Gianni De Michelis, Sergio Berlinguer, Giorgio La Malfa, Marisa Bellisario, Franco Reviglio, Umberto Colombo and Arrigo Levi.
Aspen’s mission from the outset has been to internationalize the country’s entrepreneurial, political and cultural leadership, providing a neutral ground for debating strategic issues and devising and fine-tuning appropriate and innovative action through the exploration, discussion and exchange of knowledge, information and values.
This documentary tells the story of Aspen Institute Italia in the words of its chairmen from its foundation to the present day: Francesco Cossiga, Gianni De Michelis, Giuliano Amato, Carlo Scognamiglio and Giulio Tremonti.
Aspen Institute Italia’s headquarters is in the historic Palazzo Lancellotti, overlooking Piazza Navona in Rome. Aspen Institute Italia also has offices in Milan and in Venice.
The Aspen Community
The Aspen Community is made up of Sustaining Members, Ordinary Members, Friends of Aspen, Aspen Junior Fellows (including the group’s subcategories – Aspen University Fellows and Aspen Junior Fellows Alumni), Italian Talents Abroad and the Aspen Corporate Initiative.
Aspen Institute Italia’s institutional bodies are the Executive Committee, the General Council, the Chairman and Vice Chairmen, the Honorary Presidents, the Secretary General and the Board of Auditors.
The Executive Committee – the Association’s governing body – comprises both ex officio members and 30 members chosen from among the members of the General Council, appointed in equal number from among representatives of the Sustaining Members and the Ordinary Members.
It is a composite and confidential community with several different kinds of membership, but it is also open to anyone in Italy or abroad eager to contribute ideas and proposals consistent with the Institute’s program. Members enjoy priority access to interaction and dialogue with the four pillars of the Aspen world: institutions, business, academia and media.
Aspen Network
Aspen Institute Italia is a partner in the Aspen network in Europe and in other parts of the world. Independent but coordinated Aspen centers are found in France, Germany, Japan, India, Romania, Spain, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Colombia and New Zealand, and of course in the United States, where it all began in 1950.
Programs
Aspen Institute Italia’s programs are effective and impartial forums devised to foster constructive dialogue on themes of national and international interest. The Institute’s activities take place behind closed doors and any media representatives attending do so in a strictly personal capacity. In connection with certain select conferences, Aspen also organizes encounters with journalists to acquaint the media with any analyses and proposals that may have emerged in the course of those conferences. On other occasions, the Institute grants exclusive coverage to national TV networks and press sources.
The Institute’s programs are broken down into a variety of formats: International and National events; the Aspen Seminars for Leaders; dedicated activities for the Friends of Aspen, Italian Talents Abroad, the Aspen Corporate Initiative and Aspen Italia Seminars.
The Institute also produces papers and engages in research activities with working groups set up in conjunction with its members and with the broader Aspen Community, which are then presented at its events. In 2016, Aspen Institute Italia established an award for scientific research which it assigns to projects involving cooperation between Italy and the United States. The award is designed to encourage and to develop international leadership and to strengthen the transatlantic bond. Since 2020, the community of Aspen’s members has also been involved in an initiative entitled Aspen Collective Mind, drafting a document by that name with a group of experts. This puts forward proposals for planning the country’s future and for inspiring decisions and actions for innovative and sustainable growth in the longer term. Aspen Institute Italia is also active in the e-book field, producing publications on topical economic and social issues.
Aspen Institute Italia has contributed to Italy’s political, economic and cultural life since its foundation. Its quarterly, entitled Aspenia, was first published in 1995, and its digital publication, entitled Aspenia online, first appeared in 2008. The journal’s main themes are regularly debated and analyzed in the course of meetings known as “Aspenia Talks”. These are held by invitation and are open to the media.
Traditionally, Aspen Institute Italia events were always in person, with a limited number of participants, in a beautiful setting. The pandemic, however, inspired the Institute to start organizing events in digital or hybrid formats, while nevertheless continuing to maintain its traditional “off the record” approach. The Aspen Community was thus encouraged, over online platforms, to discuss strategic issues of international and domestic importance. Debates were thus held with leading national and international players from the worlds of politics, international relations, the economy, health, culture and the media.
Ideas and suggestions voiced in the course of these meetings have been developed in short videos published in formats known as “Aspenia Ideas On”. These offer an intellectual contribution to the Aspen Community through a series of multimedia products on topical and shared interests at a time when the world is facing daunting challenges.
Funding
The Institute is funded by the dues paid by Sustaining Members and by businesses that belong to the Friends of Aspen.
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Transparent Administration (Amministrazione Trasparente)
Organization, management and oversight model – arts. 6 and 7 Legislative Decree dated 8 June 2001 no. 231 (Modello di organizzazione, gestione e controllo – artt. 6 e 7 Decreto Legislativo 8 giugno 2001 n. 231)
Ethical Code (Codice Etico)