Experience LAB at Cascina Sant'Ambrogio

On 4 June, nearly 40 colleagues from our Italian Business Units gathered at Cascinet – Cascina Sant’Ambrogio for the Experience LAB, the concluding chapter of Manager in Progress, the company’s managerial coaching programme facilitated by Lisa Bonfatti, founder of Volver Studio.

Originally conceived for a small group of professionals, Manager in Progress has evolved into a strategic investment in our people, reflecting the growing recognition that leadership development is essential to nurturing the talent, vision, and responsibility required to shape the studio’s future. Over the years, the programme has become a platform for empowering emerging leaders, strengthening managerial capabilities, and fostering a culture of collaboration across the organization.

The choice of venue was particularly meaningful. The Experience LAB took place at Cascina Sant’Ambrogio, one of the flagship sites of the European project HeritACT, funded by the Horizon Europe programme. HeritACT promotes cultural heritage as a catalyst for sustainable urban development, demonstrating how historical places can be transformed into drivers of environmental resilience, social inclusion, and community well-being.

In Milan, the project focuses on the city’s historic cascine, reimagining them as living infrastructures where nature, culture, and society intersect. At Cascina Sant’Ambrogio, the E.C.O. P.L.A.Y. Ground initiative has regenerated an underused area into an inclusive public space dedicated to learning, social interaction, and environmental awareness through the integration of Nature-Based Solutions that enhance biodiversity and reconnect people with the natural world.

Against this backdrop, the Experience LAB represented far more than a training session. Bringing together participants from the 2025 and 2026 editions of Manager in Progress, the day translated months of coaching into practice through immersive exercises focused on leadership, assertive communication, teamwork, and personal accountability. Participants were challenged to reflect on the qualities required of contemporary managers: the ability to listen, build trust, navigate complexity, and create the conditions for others to thrive.

The setting itself reinforced many of the values explored throughout the programme. Just as HeritACT seeks to regenerate places for the benefit of communities, effective leadership is ultimately about creating environments where people can grow, collaborate, and contribute to a shared vision. The transformation of Cascina Sant’Ambrogio from an underutilized space into a vibrant community asset offered a powerful metaphor for the role of management: recognizing potential, cultivating connections, and generating long-term value.

By the end of the day, the link between place and purpose had become evident. Surrounded by a landscape that has been reconnecting people with Nature since 2023, participants experienced firsthand how regeneration (whether of public spaces, communities, or organizations) depends on the same fundamental principles: vision, community and care.