How was Green Cards born? Michele De Luca, Green Cards project manager, brings us his gaze on a simple question that has a complex answer
There is a question that, at a certain point, started to come back to our minds more and more often. A simple question, at least apparently: who really manages sustainability in companies? I have asked myself this several times in recent years, working in Project School together with Antonio and the rest of the team, dealing every day with companies, public bodies, associations, young professionals. We asked ourselves this during the courses on social innovation, we asked ourselves this when organizing Southstainability, we asked ourselves this while listening to entrepreneurs who, more and more often, told us “We know that we have to deal with ESG, but we don’t know where to start”.
Because the point is precisely this: today almost all companies talk about sustainability. But few really know how to govern it. In recent years the topic has become structural. The new European directives on sustainability reporting (CSRD) have significantly expanded the number of companies obliged to measure and communicate their impact. According to 2024–2025 data from LinkedIn Economic Graph and various green work observatories, professions related to ESG, sustainability management and impact reporting have grown in Europe by over 30% in five years. In Italy, Unioncamere and ANPAL estimate that by 2026 more than 60% of medium-large companies will require structured green skills.
Yet, on the territory, what we saw was different. Speaking with Apulian companies, often thanks to the connection and listening work carried out together with Confindustria Puglia, the same paradox always emerged: the demand was there, but the right skills were lacking. Or, rather, there was a lack of people capable of keeping strategy, data, communication, regulations and territory together. Sustainability was often entrusted “to someone who knows a little about it”. To the quality manager. To the marketing department. To a willing administrative figure. To an external consultant. With inconsistent results.
From here a second question arose: but where are the people who should deal with all this trained today? There are masters, courses, certifications. But they are rarely thought of in an integrated way. Many are purely (if not solely) theoretical, disconnected from business. Others are very technical, but lack a systemic vision. Something was missing that really brought together training, work and territory.
As Project School, over the years we have learned that projects only work when they arise from listening. Not from announcements, not from fashions, not from the keywords of the moment. But from real needs. And so we started doing what we do best: talking to people. With entrepreneurs, managers, public officials, third sector operators, young people. We collected data, impressions, difficulties, expectations. We analyzed the training needs. We observed how the ecosystem moved. From this work a very clear picture emerged: new figures were needed. Hybrid. Able to read a balance sheet, but also an impact report. To compile ESG indicators, but also to credibly tell what a company is doing. To dialogue with the leaders, but also with the communities. Essentially, real Sustainability Experts were needed.
This is where Green Cards was born, as a path, as a new posture of sustainability. A bridge between young people and businesses, between classroom and territory, between theoretical skills and practical application. Thanks to the joint work with technical and institutional partners, the contribution of AFG Formazione Globale and the aggregation role played by Confindustria Puglia in the direct involvement of companies, we have managed to build a model that brings together certified training, workshops, paid internships and professional support. When we officially opened applications we didn’t really know what to expect, but within a few weeks we received over one hundred applications to join. From Puglia, from other regions, from abroad. Different profiles, different backgrounds, but a common thread: the desire to work on sustainability in a serious, structured, professional way. An important confirmation, an injection of confidence towards a “big” sustainable present and future.
Today Green Cards started: the class is formed, the lessons have started, the Green Cards Companies are involved. But we are only at the beginning. Because this path is not designed to be a point of arrival: it is a territorial laboratory, an open experiment, a concrete attempt to build a new generation of professionals capable of moving within the complexity of the ecological and social transition. As Project School, we believe that our role is this: to create spaces in which young people, businesses and institutions can grow together. Without watertight compartments. Without shortcuts. Without rhetoric.
If today someone asks us how Green Cards was born, the answer is simple and complex at the same time. It was born from a question. He grew up through listening. It came true through relationships. And it continues to evolve thanks to the territory. And this is where we want to continue starting from. Michele De LucaProject manager di Green Cards
PakarPBN
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.
In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.
