The Atlas Award has been established with the primary objective of recognizing accomplished business heroes who exemplify an Ethical, Sustainable, and Creative (E.S.C.) approach, and whose companies, operating within Hungary, demonstrate a steadfast commitment to fostering a more promising world.
Following the nomination phase and the evaluation process, the journey ended with the award ceremony on the 7th of November, when Giacomo Pedranzini was named this year’s Business Hero and received the Atlas Award 2023 prize.
In the magnificent setting of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, we had the honor of hosting 150 esteemed guests from Hungary’s business community, involving them in an immersive experience that blended elements of thought-provoking discussions and speeches about the core themes of ethics, sustainability, and creativity. Spoiler alert: one of the event speakers was a Hungarian philosopher nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice…
E.S.C. VALUES
At the beginning of the event, Alessandro Farina welcomed all the guests and then the event started with an interactive game, encouraging people to choose the value (ethics, sustainability or creativity) that they identify with the most.
Speakers of the evening
Afterward, inspiring speeches were given by experts on the themes of Ethics, Sustainability, and Creativity.
“E” FOR ETHICS
Michele Orzan – President of EUCham shared his insights about the business world and its ethics, safety, honesty and integrity.
“S” FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Dr Ervin Laszlo, philosopher, humanist, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee sent us a video, in which he emphasized the importance of sustainability and leadership and supported the Atlas World and Atlas Award.
“C” FOR CREATIVITY
Finally, Marco Veronese, phygital artist, philosopher, and freethinker immersed the audience in his speech about creativity and innovative thinking.
The winner of last year, Dimitry Ljasuk, also sent a special video to congratulate this year’s candidates and winner.
THE JURY
This year the jury included a group of multidisciplinary professionals with backgrounds in communication, art, ethics, sustainability, and creativity: Alessandro Farina, founder of ITL Group and creator of the award, Dimitry Ljasuk, founder of Pozitivo Digital, as well as winner of the Atlas Award 2022, Luigino Bottega, time traveler and author of the book “Io – How to win at the game of life,” Mandy Fertetics, sustainability and ESG expert and consultant as well as managing director of Alternate Consulting Hungary, Marco Veronese, artist and creator of the “Atlas Award” sculpture, Omar Balducci, Sales Director Central and Eastern Europe of Lucart Group, Tamás Botka, CEO and publisher of the Budapest Business Journal, Viktória Vita Griessmüller, president of the Rotary Club of Budapest-City . This year, an exceptional guest was also added to the jury members…Chat GPT, AI language processing model that provided very interesting data on the candidates nominated for the award.
TOP 5 FINALISTS
The jury was amazed by all the inspiring candidates who were nominated, and they shortlisted five entrepreneurs that stood out the most. Giacomo Pedranzini, Albert Wettstein, Mónika Méhész, Éva Pálfi and Zsolt Márkus were the top finalists.
THE SPECIAL MENTION
This year, a new addition was added to the event. Next to the winner, a special mention was given to one of the finalists, a young entrepreneur, Albert Wettstein, well-known as the co-founder of the popular food rescue platform, Munch. He and his team represents great ethical commitment, a sustainable approach and creative innovations and they created an engaging and impactful community through their work. Wettstein was surprised and happy to receive this special prize and expressed his gratitude for the recognition of their work.
AND THE WINNER IS…
By the end of the night, the suspense of who the winner will be, reached a peak. The excitement of the audience was visible when Alessandro Farina revealed the Atlas Award 2023 winner, Giacomo Pedranzini, who showcases exemplary commitment to Ethics, Sustainability and Creativity. He was already a member of the Atlas World community and he was also one of the finalists of the Atlas Award in 2022 and after his newest initiatives and developments, the jury decided that he deserved to bring home the Atlas Award this year.
Unfortunately Pedranzini could not attend the event in person, but was represented by his wife Sabrina Guidi and joined the evening through a Zoom call.
Giacomo Pedranzini is founder and CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt., who shows true commitment to Hungary and to continuous growth and development. His new initiative, HonestFood pays extra attention to ethical issues and showcases his dedication to sustainability as well. Furthermore, through his innovative thinking he is tackling prevalent industry issues and fostering collaborations among stakeholders. Pedranzini’s active involvement in community discussions and improvement, and recognition within the industry makes him a great example of a Business Hero, who is exactly what this award aims to promote.
Pedranzini started his speech by thanking the valuable jury members and congratulating the other finalists. Then, he referred to some ethical values that have been forgotten in the last few years, and he highlighted how our family roots inspire our collective commitment to these principles. He emphasized that the mission of HonestFood, their new, non-profit initiative, which currently operates only in Italy but plans to expand to Hungary, focuses on three goals: ethical food production, fair distribution of value throughout the supply chain, and environmental responsibility. He stated that, as food producers, they are aware of their profound impact on health and they are aware of the more vulnerable people in the production chain. He mentioned how the pressure on prices has disproportionately affected farmers, leading to the abandonment of agriculture in some regions. Recalling the recent floods in Tuscany, Giacomo prompted the audience to think about the consequences of climate change and natural disasters, especially in the neglect of areas left untended due to the abandonment of agriculture.
THANK YOU
A special thank you goes to all the sponsors of the Atlas Award 2023: Tecnocasa, Lucart, MSP Group, Konasec, Style Optika, Vagheggi, Akadémia Klub Rendezvényhelyszín and LLF & Partners.
We are also grateful to our allies who shared our values and with whom we are creating a table of discussion on present and future projects: Mvük, EuCham, The Club of Budapest, Confindustria Ungheria, Bátor Tábor, Rotary Club, IO – How to win the game of life, FirstMed, Accelium Hungary. During the event, a special fundraising was organized for Bátor Tábor.
And a big thank goes to all our media partners that enabled us to spread the word about the important values behind this Award: Budapest Business Journal, Diplomacy & Trade, Helló Magyar, Daily News Hungary, Élet & Stílus, XpatLoop, Economia.hu, Ungheria News.
Our Atlas Award 2023 magazine can also be downloaded through this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N_-NngXKsIGtboQie4FkOoucu7zrp94Q/view?usp=drive_link
Looking at the room full of like-minded, inspiring people, Alessandro Farina concluded the evening with the following words:
“Congratulations to all and thank you to all! Please remember to spread these important values, embrace them, defend them, fight for them…. you are a fundamental part in building a better world!”
Now, you also have the opportunity to put yourself in the game, and join us on a journey so that we can write the NEXT chapter together: sign the Atlas World manifesto, join the Atlas World community, and start acting for a better world.
