It is of great importance for a society like ours to reward those who excel through their particular commitment and outstanding achievement. To meet the increasingly complex challenges of our world we need people who are well-qualified, determined and have a thirst for knowledge. Ensuring the visibility of talented, innovative, high-achieving and creative people was and is a major concern for the Südtiroler Sparkasse Foundation: we are therefore proud to be a partner of the “FUTURA – sponsorship award for young South Tyroleans abroad” project. We all have an interest in watching these individuals and following their careers, as they represent the capital for the further development of our society. They are the “poster children” who will help shape the decisions affecting our future and, in addition – and this makes us particularly proud – act as ambassadors for our land. FUTURA helps create a network for these young people, thereby connecting to their homeland those talents that have emigrated, along with their special qualifications and knowledge.

“Südstern, the network of South Tyroleans abroad, is proud to have been supporting the Futura Award as a partner since 2006. Since then, more than 30 Südstern members have been among the winners; since 2010, 18 of the 19 winners have been “Südsterners”. This obviously gives rise to a strong and common interest in supporting and promoting young South Tyroleans who accomplish extraordinary things abroad. It has for some years now been a special pleasure for us to offer the winners of the Futura Award a stage at the traditional Südstern annual event held on 28 December and to celebrate their achievements surrounded by 300-400 Südsterners from all over the world. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Futura’s initiators and sponsors on its 30th anniversary and to thank them all for their excellent cooperation. I would also like to congratulate all the award winners once more for what they have achieved, and I look forward to welcoming the 2020 winners to the Südstern annual event on 28 December.”

Since the founding of the Futura Award, FORST, the special beer brewery, has been a supportive partner committed to fostering local talents in their careers abroad. The idea of encouraging youth is one of particular importance to the company, with the FORST Brewery sponsoring the outstanding cultural and sporting achievements of our best and brightest, whether those who are aiming to pursue noteworthy careers abroad as ambassadors, or those who are returning to South Tyrol to shape and help determine our future. The FORST Brewery wishes this support to assist such talents in continuing to develop their fledgling careers in their chosen fields.

“We live in unsettling times, looking for ways out of one large and many other smaller crises. As a university teacher and researcher, I know that new ideas and new approaches come primarily from those who live in the world that we bequeath them. South Tyrol has so many brilliant young people who are achieving success all over the world. Even if we cannot, as I so often wish, persuade them all to come back, we should at least make use of their knowledge, expertise and connections for the benefit of our land. In whom should we invest, if not in youth?”.

We at Despar have been ardent supporters of this project since the founding of Futura. We have been active in South Tyrol for over 60 years now, our very deep roots in this land reflected by a total of some 170 Despar stores located in almost every municipality throughout South Tyrol. The career opportunities offered by Despar are correspondingly diverse. With Futura we are supporting a wonderful platform to promote young South Tyroleans and, in doing so, we are making a contribution to the future of our land. We can only hope that these young emerging talents will one day find their way back to South Tyrol and take root here, just like us – and maybe even with us.

I have been a jury member of the Futura sponsorship award for young South Tyroleans abroad for 14 years now. As a founding president of the European Academy Bolzano – EURAC Research, and as one of the founding fathers of the Free University of Bolzano, my enthusiastic participation in this initiative was a given: recognising the creative, risk-taking, talented and high-achieving young South Tyroleans who have excelled abroad, while making them known to a wider public in South Tyrol. During these years I have also seen how the quality and extent of such talent has constantly increased, making it more and more difficult to limit the winners to just three. These are and will remain – even should they not return from abroad – a great source of enrichment for South Tyrol.

The Futura Award for young South Tyrolean abroad was created at the end of the 1980s and has supported financially and ideally 75 young and hard-working South Tyroleans in their professional careers. A big thank you goes to Inga Hosp, president of the Jury, as well as to the partners of the initiative, the Athesia publishing house, the Dolomiten newspaper, the foundation Südtiroler Sparkasse, the FORST brewery and the ASPIAG Despar food chain, as well as the Südstern network and Eurac Research. "The Association of Hoteliers and Innkeepers (HGV), together with the sponsorship award partners, will continue to play a leading role in supporting and promoting young South Tyroleans at home and abroad in their professional careers," stresses HGV President Manfred Pinzger.

South Tyroleans travel the world and often have considerable experience of it. While today they do so voluntarily, in the past they had no choice should their homeland not offer sufficient inducement for them to stay. Nowadays young people will quite happily say “We’re off!”, by which they mean off to see the whole world. But they may subsequently return “home” once more if they can find the right job – and the opportunities for this are better than ever before. FUTURA has for 30 years now been following in the footsteps of young South Tyroleans all over the world, rewarding the extra dedication and commitment needed to establish yourself in another place. The FUTURA Awards are thus a friendly “thank you” donated by the FUTURA sponsors and partners, who are in turn to be thanked for their loyalty.