GoodGeist
A podcast on sustainability, hosted by Damla Özlüer and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network. Looking at sustainability issues, communications, and featuring global guests from a wide variety of sectors such as business, NGOs and government.
GoodGeist
The Italian Take, with Filippo Nani
Direct (sort of) from the bustling floor of Ecomondo in Rimini we have a great conversation with Filippo Nani, president of FERPI in Italy and veteran strategist in public relations.
Together with Filippo we explore how credible communications can unlock real progress on sustainability, from major strategic decisions to building stakeholder trust, with the stories that inspire action across industries.
Filippo traces his path from journalism and government spokesperson to agency leadership, revealing how narrative craft and public accountability shape the green economy. We unpack the persistent “green vs growth” myth and examine why investors, banks, and customers increasingly reward companies that commit to measurable, transparent climate strategies. The theme is clarity over hype: no easy fixes, but real momentum where incentives, proof, and purpose align.
We also dive into the changing craft of communications. How AI, used well, gives practitioners more time for strategy and better tools for research and analysis. Anchored by FERPI’s Venice Pledge, Filippo argues for ethical AI practices, disclosure to stakeholders, and keeping humans at the centre of every decision.
Listen in to a great conversation about the future of communications - and sustainability - in Europe.
Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.
Good guys. A podcast series on sustainability. Hosted by Damla Eusler and Steve Connor. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
SPEAKER_02:Hello, hello everyone. You are listening to Good Guys, the message on sustainability, which is brought to you by the DNS Network, the global network of agencies dedicated to making the world a better place. This is Damba from Mira Agency Istanbul and This is Steve from Creative Concern in Manchester.
SPEAKER_01:This podcast series explores global sustainability issues, how they communicate and what creativity can do to make positive change happen.
SPEAKER_02:So in this episode, we're going to talk to Filippo Nani, the president of FARPI, the leading national association for public relations professionals in Italy.
SPEAKER_01:With over 20 years of experience in strategic communications and marketing, Filippo is undoubtedly helping to shape the PR industry of the future. So Filippo, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Damon and myself. First of all, we love to find out about how people got to where they are today. So tell us about your journey through to leading the PR industry in Italy.
SPEAKER_00:Well, my professional career became as a journalist, and then I became the spokesperson for a minister in an Italian government, Tiziano Tayo. And from there, my path in public relations communication really started. So after this experience, which was a great learning ground, a very good learning ground, I founded my own agency. And today I'm part of a big agency that is called Epierre Comunicazione, a company listed on a Milano Stock Exchange. I think is the only one in Italy.
SPEAKER_02:And you are also the president of Fermi, but we are at the moment semi-live from the Ecomondo Green Technology Expo in Rimini. And hundreds of green tech companies are here with thousands of visitors. I can't believe how crowded it is. So can you tell us your first impressions about the fair?
SPEAKER_00:Well, Ecomondo is a major showcase, but above all, a place to meet and exchange ideas. For us communicators, it's also an opportunity to tell the stories of our uh clients and the organization we work for. It's a big opportunity to see how how is the future for the green economy and also for the economy of the.
SPEAKER_01:You've been working with the biggest companies across Italy throughout your career, and your focus now is on telling the story of value and what you might call the business for good. Can you tell us about what any systemic tensions you see in transitioning to a green economy?
SPEAKER_00:Well, if we talk about systemic tensions, I think we can ignore how across the Atlantic, in the recent months, there's been a tendency to downplay the importance of the green uh policies in favor of a step backward. But I believe, however, that business association and organization that want to look to the future with confidence cannot deviate from this path. I see this confirmed by the companies we work for with and by two of many FERP colleagues in Italy also and in Europe.
SPEAKER_02:The title of the roundtable, DNS is participating, is Unmasking False Dilemmas. So in your experience, what were the key false dilemmas about the green economy? And do you think are there easy solutions, easy fixes?
SPEAKER_00:I think no, there are no, of course, easy solutions. I think there are solutions that require commitment and above all, awareness. And the awareness that the path of the green economy is set, and that companies and organizations that engage shadows with these issues, recognition from their stakeholders, from employees to customers, and also their financial system, which still today rewards those who can demonstrate they are following this pattern.
SPEAKER_01:Could you tell us a bit about your work in FERPI? What are the trends and shifts that you're observing across the industry?
SPEAKER_00:Well, our field is undergoing major transformations, I think, all over the world. Above all, artificial intelligence in our work. This demands of each us of us to continuous effort to adapt, to grow, and depend our professional skills. And Italy requires increasingly ethical conduct. Because that's why I like to recall the manifesto signed in Venice during the latest edition of its Party PR, that it's the Ferp Public Relations Festival, the Venice Pledge. And Venice Pledge is a document that calls every public relations professional all over the world to the ethical use of EI and transparency with the stakeholders. One of these most important points of the Venice Pledge is the emphasis that the human being must always remain at the center of our activity every day.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so can we go a little bit on that, the Venice Pledge and the world we are living in? I'm going off script now, please forgive me, but it is so curious. So we have a lot of important questions in front of us. I mean, the economy, what kind of economy we will build, because we need to build a new economy, and also the society, we need to build a new society because everything is changing, and a technology that is moving so fast that we cannot adopt our minds to it. So when you look into the future, just future cast me, do you see more hope or are you a little bit down?
SPEAKER_00:No, no, I am I I think that the future is uh a big opportunity for our uh professional, for our community, for the communication uh also. Because uh we have uh the the technology can help us to doing better our work, and we have more time to think about the strategy, because the technology, and AI is an example for uh, for example, can help us to have more time to think, to use our brains.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, that was a good one. So, our final question: our network is ironically called do not smile because we need to make sustainability a subject that brings happiness into the world. So, what object, place, or person always makes you smile?
SPEAKER_00:What makes me smile, and above all makes me happy, is um talking walks in the hills around my home with my two children immersed in the nature, talking together, and uh with no smartphone and no computer and nothing else, and uh to bring uh to to talking about the our life, to talking about uh the school and so on. Uh in the years.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Filippo, we're all ending with a big smile on our faces, and that was without a shadow of a doubt, a beautiful conversation about the future, and we're all headed. So, Damler, John will wrap us up.
SPEAKER_02:So, thanks to everyone who has listened to our Good Geist podcast, brought to you by the Do Not Smile Network of Agencies.
SPEAKER_01:And make sure you listen to future episodes where we'll be talking to more amazing people about how we can work together to create a more sustainable future.
SPEAKER_03:Good Geist. A podcast series on sustainability hosted by Damla Ozuer and Steve Connor. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
