Università Bocconi

Bocconi Students Awarded at futurEU 2026 for Innovative EU Energy Policy Proposal

A concrete proposal for a more resilient and integrated European electricity network earned a team of Bocconi students, comprising of Filippo Branchi, Anna Montanari and Camilla Cantarini, third spot in the 2026 futurEU Competition held at the end of May in Berlin.

futurEU is a student-led initiative that brings students' ideas into real policy debate, providing a platform for the next generation of policymakers to address some of Europe's most pressing challenges. The annual competition is open to students from the CIVICA Alliance partner universities and invites students to develop policy proposals to face the EU’s main challenges – with this year’s topic being ‘Europe's Path to Resilience: Shaping the Future of Security & Defence’. 328 students from 10 CIVICA universities participated, forming 123 teams and following several rounds of evaluation 8 teams advanced to the finals in Berlin.

The team of Bocconi students was awarded 3rd place for their policy brief, "From Bottlenecks to Backbone: Rethinking EU Electricity Grid Regulation." Their proposal focused on one of the key challenges facing Europe's energy transition: electricity grids. As renewable energy production and electricity demand continue to grow, distribution grids risk in fact becoming a major bottleneck. The team identified fragmented national regulatory frameworks and a lack of forward-looking investment planning as two key obstacles and proposed reforms to support a more resilient and integrated European electricity network.

"It was a great opportunity to explore a historically national issue that now needs to be addressed at the European level. Seeing a competition inspire students to engage with so many topics about Europe’s future truly made me feel that we are on the right track," says Filippo.

First place was awarded to a team of Sciences Po students for their policy brief ‘From Spending To Capacity: Bridging Europe's Defence Resilience Gap’ examining one of Europe's key defence challenges: the gap between increased defence spending and actual production capacity. Second place went to another Sciences Po team for their policy brief, "The Arsenal Nextdoor: Ukraine's Solutions to European Drone Insecurities" - exploring how the EU could integrate Ukraine's extensive expertise in drone technology into its own defence industrial base.

could make university teaching more inclusive, rather than simply more efficient?

It is often said that hashtag must not be viewed as an alternative to human intelligence, but as a way to make time-consuming, energy-intensive tasks easier. In this role, AI can also become a powerful driver of hashtag . This is exactly what happened during the History of Economics class taught by Marco Molteni Adjunct Professor at Bocconi. Molteni has developed an approach that uses hashtag not as a shortcut for students, but as a tool to foster participation, collaboration and critical thinking. The project, recognized at the Bocconi Teaching Awards, is built around a simple idea: students should learn to engage with AI critically, not delegate their work to it. To achieve this, AI is used transparently in the classroom and openly discussed, becoming part of the learning process rather than an invisible assistant.

At the center of the methodology is the concept of a “safe space,” where students feel comfortable contributing regardless of their confidence level or familiarity with technology. Through anonymous AI-supported surveys, even the most reserved students can actively participate and provide feedback, helping create a more inclusive learning environment.
The approach also introduces what Molteni calls “impossible tasks.” Students are asked to complete assignments that would be unrealistic without AI support, such as summarizing the history of economic thought within a very limited timeframe. The objective is not speed, but evaluation. By comparing outputs from different large language models, students learn to identify inaccuracies, question assumptions and recognize the limitations of AI-generated content. The goal is to strengthen logical reasoning rather than encourage passive consumption of information. In this setting, AI becomes a catalyst for learning rather than a replacement for effort.

Students also reported benefits that extend beyond the course itself. Martina Monte highlighted how the experience improved her ability to craft prompts and use AI as a complement to her work rather than a substitute for it. Giuseppe Spina emphasized how AI can lower barriers to access and facilitate the use of tools that would otherwise require advanced technical skills.

The broader lesson is that hashtag does not necessarily weaken learning. When used transparently and methodically, it can help create more engaging classrooms, encourage dialogue, and strengthen critical thinking. In this perspective, AI is not the teacher, nor the student. It is a tool that can help both teach and learn better.

What transforms a university from a place people pass through into a place that shapes futures? What makes a place truly matter?

Inspired by the theme This Must Be the Place, Bocconi’s Donor Event 2026 reflected on Bocconi as more than a campus: a place where talent, trust, knowledge and come together, and where individual contributions generate impact far beyond themselves.

Introduced by a piano performance by our alumnus Paolo Alderighi, the event opened with a theatrical performance by Gioele Dix, who brought to life the words of founder Ferdinando Bocconi through his 1898 letter. At the origin of the University, philanthropy emerged not as charity, but as an act of faith in education’s ability to transform potential into collective progress.

Setting the tone for the evening, Erika Zancan focused on a central idea: every donation begins with trust. For a student, it means knowing someone believes in their future. For a donor, it means investing in a possibility not yet realized. This relationship between trust, responsibility and opportunity is what allows impact to multiply.

The stories shared throughout the evening gave substance to this vision. Student Irene Palma explained how scholarship support provided her not only with financial assistance, but also with the freedom to choose her own path. The donor perspective was represented by Carlo Bronzini Vender, interviewed by Dean Antonella Carù, in an emotional conversation about the importance of lasting commitment and responsibility across generations.

Research and knowledge remained central: as Professor Andrea Beltratti highlighted, philanthropy supports not only scholarships and chairs, but also the conditions that allow knowledge to be created. Dean Stefano Caselli then guided the audience through a brilliant video tour of the beautiful Grafton building.

The artistic contributions of Gioele Dix, the poetic reading by Professor Eleanor Spaventa, and the music of Paolo and Stephanie Alderighi added another dimension, reminding us that a university is also a place of culture, imagination and shared meaning.

President Andrea Sironi and Rector Francesco Billari connected Bocconi’s philanthropic origins with its future ambitions. Their message was clear: the future is never built alone. It requires a community willing to support talent, advance knowledge and create opportunities across generations.

To our , , partners and : thank you for helping make Bocconi a place for the future. A place where potential becomes opportunity, knowledge becomes impact, and the future begins.

Bocconi Alumni Community, SDA Bocconi School of Management

Reflections. You catch it between lectures, in the blur of a passing hallway, or in your campus reflected on a classroom window. Student life is made of these fleeting images: who you were, who you are, and who you are becoming, all layered together. Sometimes clear, sometimes distorted.

What if students became teachers of ?

It's not a joke and not a tool you delegate your work to, but rather an interlocutor that needs to be challenged. This is the vision of underlying the teaching project that Simone Autera (Lecturer at the Bocconi Department of Management and Technology) has developed for the course "The Global Industry of Imaginaries."

The idea is simple, but powerful. Through structured prompts provided by Autera, students guide the AI, evaluate its responses and correct its mistakes. Students set up the conversation framework in which the AI responds as if the were a learner on a range of topics chosen by the students (which are part of the syllabus students are expected to explore in class). The goal is not to obtain perfect answers from the machine, but to strengthen students’ understanding of the course material. Teaching the AI requires them to study, interpret and explain concepts clearly, turning AI into a tool for active learning rather than passive delegation.

The project is based on a broader principle: knowledge is consolidated when you are able to transmit it. As Autera explains, if students are able to teach a concept correctly, it means they have truly understood it. AI then becomes a testing ground for verifying your own understanding. The initiative also places strong emphasis on collaboration. Students work in pairs, discussing responses, comparing interpretations and helping each other fill knowledge gaps. In this sense, the classroom becomes less individual and more collective, bringing back forms of peer learning that are often overlooked.

Students themselves highlighted how the process changed their relationship with AI. Lisa Cancellieri, a third-year BEMACC student, explained that interacting with ChatGPT forced her team to rethink questions, request clearer explanations and apply theoretical concepts to real-world examples. Christian Smeriglia, from the CLEACC program, emphasized that correcting mistakes made by the AI helped consolidate knowledge and reinforced the idea that AI should remain a support tool rather than a replacement for professors.

The broader message goes beyond one course. In a context where many fear that could weaken learning, this experience suggests the opposite. When used with structure and awareness, AI can become a tool for deeper understanding, helping students develop and engage more actively with knowledge. Ultimately, the quality of AI-generated answers still depends on the quality of the questions being asked. And learning how to ask better questions may become one of the most important educational of all.