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Local Eni’s reports and schools’ summary documents make reference to all of these activities. The Memorandum of Understanding mentions that Eni implemented a contribution of 32 million euros to the city of Gela. This financement has the purpose of improving the sector of renewable energies and the urban and cultural requalification of the city. At the present time 9,5 million euros have been divided in four Implementing Agreements. The 2018 Eni’s report that refers to its activities in the educational field claims the effectiveness of the projects against school drop-out.

The Ettore Majorana Professional Institute is a relevant example. Thanks to Eni’s contribution, in the three-year period 2016-2019 this school witnessed an important decrease of school drop-out cases from 48% (2015-2016) to 3% (2018-2019). The multinational was committed to teachers training «in order to pursue a new way of teaching» and to the «digitalization of the system». These aims were reached by installing Wi-Fi networks, providing computers, and implementing new ways of learning via tablets.

At the same time, the documents of the Majorana institute show a different perspective on the impact of Eni on the territory of Gela. In the 2016-2019 PTOF (every school’s three-year plan in Italy), you can read that «the petrochemical complex contributed to a demographic growth, but also to the impoverishment and disqualification of the area. From the environmental standpoint, Gela became the zone with the highest carcinomas rate at a national level».

In particular, the classes dealt with four different topics: climate change, energy efficiency, waste and reclamations. These themes were covered in several seminars that took place all around Italy between January and February. The contents shared during the meetings, published by ANP, turned out not to be impartial. In fact, not only specific techniques were explained but also suggestions on «what could be done». Even though the data were provided by the most important environmental networks and reports, the overall opinion on environmental issues shared with teachers was not neutral. As long as climate change is conceived as a fight equally concerning citizens, NGOs, national governments and businesses, the never mentioned ecological transition represents a dual challenge for the energy sector. The waste and reclamation management and the plague of spillages are not mentioned neither in Italy nor in the world. Duccio Facchini told Altreconomia that «Eni wanted to be both present in the analysis and absent in relation to its choices’ impact. This is a huge limitation since the training course was not addressed to mere brand promoters».

This is not the only critical issue of the initiative. Giannelli also mentioned that the choice made was the most convenient one. As a matter of fact, Eni was the only partner that was willing to offer this training for free. After all, the company aimed at improving its image and its social value, they did not have any economic interests. It is not a coincidence that all of the professionals involved in the seminars had taken part in activities of Enirewind (Eni environmental company) and HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environment and Quality). It was a “green” rebranding aimed at relaunching the brand. Anyway “The future does not wait” is just one of Eni’s initiatives to improve its image through the school system. On the matter of students, during the last year the multinational launched Eni+Scuola (Eni + School), with the aim of spreading awareness about circular economy within the schools. This initiative is part of a wider plan called “Eni+1”, that started in June 2019 probably as a reaction to youth protests against climate change. “Enilearning” is another course dealing with the crossroad between school and career. It focuses both on environmental themes and working methods. Also, students can attend it online and it can be considered as a “School-Work alternation” activity. It has already been adopted in many Italian schools.

The partnership signed with university of Bologna is another remarkable case of Eni’s collaborations with Italian universities. It dates back to 1962, when the agreement between Alma Mater and the nuclear section Agip (which is Eni’s property from 1953) allowed to build Montecuccolino nuclear engineering laboratory. As the magazine Repubblica reports, despite the levels of radioactivity are currently extremely low, «the nuclear reactor’s envelope is still there» and «it will not be easy to dispose of it». It represents a burdensome legacy.

In 2017 the head of the university Francesco Ubertini and Claudio Descalzi signed «a three-year agreement providing 5 million euro dedicated to research on topics regarding energy and environment». The CEO claims that this deal «will allow Eni to expand its pool of expertise to a territory which is very important to us». Since this collaboration with UniBo is strategic for Eni, the company provided 1,4 million euro during the first year of partnership. It represents a relevant investment considering that in 2017 Alma Mater declared that its private contributions amounted to 8,5 million euro. According to the social report of 2018, Eni’s funding allowed the activation of seven workshops and eleven research contracts. It was remarked that «15 pertaining groups and 10 departments participated in the research contracts» as well as «competitive partners, both private and public».

Recently, Eni and the University of Bologna further strengthened their relations since the oil company financed two Research Doctorates for the academic year 2019-2020. In particular, Eni supports two scholarships in chemistry involved in research in the fields of «oxidation and stabilization of biologic fats» and «synthesis of bio-ethers, which can be utilized with advanced».

This collaboration has enabled two enterprise’s managers to take part in the candidates’ selection board, in the capacity of «financial institution’s representatives». As a result, the educational matters of this public call are 70% influenced by a private company that responds to market logic. The consequences deeply affect freedom of research.

Eni, moreover, is a company that finances the University of Bologna so, by law, the funds transferred for the financing of researches are integrally deductible from taxes. Eni seems to be remarkably advantaged by its presence in public universities.

As a result, this is a powerful and profitable lobbying aiming at «leading academic research activities toward Eni’s fields of interest». During the academic year 2009/2010 an ambitious project regarding Oil & Gas Master at UniBo was initiated. It involved nine months of learning and three months of working experience for recent graduates, who could eventually be hired with open-ended contracts.

In addition, this Master included the payment of a 5.000 euros fee, but the students who were eventually hired received the money back. In fact, the fee had only to be paid by those students who would not apply their acquired knowledge within the company.

In this field technological knowledge means economic power. Despite this, since the Master was a public university project, Eni’s approach was not legitimate. The possibility to undertake this path turned out to be reserved to students who can afford it or who will work in Eni.

This model risks to loosen academic completeness of research while favoring a high professionalization of students. As a consequence, graduates could become outdated after a few years of working. Giuseppe De Nicolao, professor of Automatica in Pavia, states: «If education focuses on specific needs, the risk is to create an excessive dependence». A graduate must have «the possibility to reinvent himself within a sector in which the company is not interested anymore, but the collectivity is».

Eni’s agenda is very aggressive as far as schools, universities and the field of research are concerned. It is demonstrated by the publicity of its activities, which is more and more insistent.