Focus

During the exclusive evening Live Vision – the Future of Brands, the media showcase organised at the Spazio Gessi in Via Manzoni in Milan by Mondadori Media Area Magazine and Piemme Media Platform, Mondadori Media’s exclusive retailer, the directors presented the values and future strategies of the publishing brands in an innovative way, answering questions posed by the talents of the TAAG! interacting with a special middleman: artificial intelligence.

Carlo Mandelli, Director of the Mondadori Media Area Magazine, said: “Piemme is the ideal partner for enhancing some of our brands, due to its important network of investors in strategic sectors. The collaboration, which started a year ago with TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and Chi, and more recently with the Focus system, is generating excellent results. For the future, thanks also to this collaboration, we plan to continue pursuing a multimedia strategy, offering exclusive content on all platforms, from magazines to digital, from events to talent”.

Walter Bonanno, Director of Piemme S.p.A., stated: “Our corporate strategy is focused on the development of advertising and storytelling, and I would like to emphasise the strategic role of the partnership with Mondadori Media in enhancing the publishing brands. Looking to the future, we reaffirm our commitment to a multimedia strategy that integrates all available platforms in a comprehensive and effective way. We will continue to invest in creating exclusive, high-quality projects, while keeping a close eye on emerging trends and the needs of our audience. We also want these initiatives to not only inform and entertain, but to inspire and stimulate critical thinking among readers and users. So, we’re excited to continue our collaboration with Mondadori Media and to work together to build a successful future”.

Here is what we can expect in terms of future brand strategies.

FOCUS

Science populariser Marco Martinelli interviews Raffaele Leone, editor of Focus, Focus Storia and Focus Live.

The Focus brand, founded around the principle of spreading science so that it’s accessible to everyone, and not just enthusiasts, has always been committed to making science current and relevant in various areas of everyday life, reaching a generalist audience through its platform.
Focus will continue to focus on its multi-channel strategy, which includes a magazine, website, social media, videos, talks, podcasts, a TV channel, an academy for students interested in science journalism, and a science outreach festival. Emphasis will also be placed on training, especially for students and teachers, and in-depth study of areas such as sustainability, green energy, mobility, robotics, artificial intelligence, health, and many other topical issues.
Focus intends to maintain its position as a leader in science popularisation, increasing its reach and positively influencing the general public’s understanding of science, thanks to teamwork involving the entire editorial staff and talent involved.

FOCUS JUNIOR

Science populariser Marco Martinelli interviews Sarah Pozzoli, Director of Focus Junior, Focus Wild and Focus Pico.

The values of Focus Junior are centred on an educational approach that stimulates curiosity and critical thinking in children, with a strong focus on STEM subjects – environment, sustainability, art and history.
The goal for Focus Junior is to remain at the forefront of children’s education and information, adapting to the changing needs and interests of the new generation. Thus, the strategy envisages strengthened collaboration with schools and companies to promote innovative educational projects; expanded digital and interactive content to better engage children in the technological age; a focus on topics such as climate change, fake news and science journalism to educate children to become informed and aware citizens; and the development of new initiatives and workshops that encourage hands-on, experiential learning.

TV E SORRISI

TV host and influencer Giulia Salemi interviews Aldo Vitali, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni Director.

Thanks to its authority, recognisability, credibility and clarity, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni has been a leader in the world of entertainment, television and show business for over 70 years. The management of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni stands out for its ability to provide exclusive previews, in-depth interviews and a broad spectrum of content ranging from TV to music, from cinema to streaming, as well as integrating topics such as travel, food, mobility and current affairs.
For the future, the strategy will focus on innovation and adaptation to new trends in media and entertainment, including through collaboration with talent. There will be an increased focus on interactivity and personalisation, thus responding to the needs of an audience seeking tailor-made and technologically integrated entertainment experiences. However, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni will continue to direct the tastes and preferences of the Italian public, continuing to provide rich and varied content and remaining an authoritative standard in the sector.

CHI

Host and performer Pierpaolo Pretelli interview Massimo Borgnis, director of Chi.

Founded on values like engagement and interaction, with a strong commitment to social media and innovative formats such as ‘CASA CHI’, the Chi brand stands out for its credibility and authenticity, offering real stories and exclusive scoops. Chi also explains trends and lifestyles, influencing consumption and becoming not only a cultural standard, but an entertainment one, too. Chi differs from traditional gossip magazines in several respects, relying on a special, trusted relationship with celebrities and offering exclusive interviews and insights into their lives, projects and passions.
The brand will continue to go beyond just gossip, offering an in-depth and respectful account of public figures and offer a wider range of content, focusing on fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, cooking and wellness.

The evening closed with a DJ set by Federico Chimirri, DJ, chef and influencer.

Mondadori Media is Italy’s leading multimedia publisher, with a distinctive positioning and audience on the publishing market. The Mondadori Group’s social multimedia company caters to the passions of the Italian people through its brands – food, beauty, fashion, health and wellness , science and tech – and reaches more than 27.5 million unique users every month (source: Audicom November 2023) and more than 100 million fans (source: Comscore Shareablee + Pinterest Insight December 2023).

Piemme has six of the most important newspapers (Il Messaggero, Il Mattino, Il Gazzettino, Corriere Adriatico, Nuovo Quotidiano di Puglia and Leggo), websites (online platforms for the respective newspapers and licensed third-party sites: Aranzulla.it, Centro Meteo Italiano, Funweek.it), magazines (Molto, Mondadori Media, Mondadori Scienza, Periodici San Paolo), TV (Telenova), Piemme designs projects tailored to customers’ settings, producing multimedia campaigns that synergistically integrate print and digital, radio and TV. Piemme also manages local advertising on Radio Subasio and RCS media in its reference areas.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will be participating in National Space Day celebrations with a series of initiatives to promote research and the Italian space industry. The event is organized by the diplomatic-consular network, Italian Cultural Institutes and Italian Trade Agency Offices.

‘The strong support for Italian National Space Day reflects the priority given to space diplomacy, which is an integral part of our foreign and security policies and a tool for internationalising businesses,’ says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani. He reiterates that ‘by reinforcing the network of Space and Science Attachés working at embassies and consulates, [the Ministry] supports companies in seizing opportunities related to the new space economy to encourage investment.’

’This year’s edition,’ adds the Deputy, ‘is particularly significant in view of the International Astronautical Congress, which will be hosted by Italy in Milan in October 2024. This is why we wanted to launch “The Italian Spaceway” project, an exhibition on Italian space research and industry that will travel the world from now until late 2024.’

‘The Italian Spaceway’ is produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the IAC 2024 Milan Organising Committee and curated by Focus, the science communication brand of the Mondadori Group. It recounts the contribution of Italian research and Made in Italy products in the development of space technologies, with a focus on sustainability. The exhibition presents an engaging and interactive experience to stimulate reflection on the need to protect space and preserve its sustainability in order to protect planet Earth.

Italy is a leading country in the space sector and among the first in the world in terms of activities and research: €7 billion of public investment in the 2021–2026 period, €2 billion in turnover, 300 companies, 12 districts and 6,000 employees.

Mondadori Media, the leading Italian multimedia publisher on social media and in the digital area, has exclusively entrusted Piemme, a concessionaire of the Caltagirone Group, with the sale of advertising spaces in Italy  in magazines, digital channels, social networks, apps and event sponsorships for the educational brands Focus, Focus Junior, Focus Pico, Focus Storia, Focus Scuola and Focus Wild.

“Piemme is the ideal partner to raise awareness about some of our brands, thanks to its important network of investors in strategic sectors for our Science area and its widespread presence in the territory”, said Carlo Mandelli, Mondadori Media CEO. “The collaboration, which started in January 2023 with Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni and Chi, is generating excellent results. The extension to the Focus system brands strengthens the path of diversifying business activities undertaken by Mondadori Media and the strategy of repositioning our product portfolio”, Mandelli concluded.

The agreement is part of a process, which began with the brands Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Chi, Guida Tv and Telepiù, of progressively expanding a strategic partnership that has proved successful thanks to the combination of the publisher’s leading position, on the one hand, and the expertise of the concessionaire, on the other.

“The exclusive partnership with Mondadori Media represents a significant step for Piemme in its strategy of expanding and strengthening its media platform, which is able to offer an increasingly excellent level of opportunities across print, digital, radio, TV and local events. The opportunity to manage the collection for these famous brands is a great responsibility for us: as well as being an iconic brand, Focus is one of the main standards for science and technology popularisation in Italy, with a huge fanbase that makes it well-known among the public”, declared Walter Bonanno, CEO of Piemme S.p.A. “We are thrilled to once again receive the trust of a leading and discerning publisher like Mondadori Media. We are confident that this innovation will further strengthen our collaboration and enable us to realise innovative projects that satisfy our customers and enhance the strength and diversity of the Focus brand on different platforms and channels”, said Bonanno.

Focus, in its different forms, is the brand leader in the popularisation sector in Italy with a fanbase of over 6 million users (social media accounts + Focus creators), more than 3 million unique users (source: Shareablee, 2022), a monthly circulation of over 136,000 copies (source: Ads, January – August 2023) and more than 3.3 million readers each month (source: Audipress 2023/2). Focus, Italy’s most widely read magazine, edited by Raffaele Leone, has been the standard for all science enthusiasts and the curious for more than 30 years: from technology to sustainability, from robotics to medicine, from AI research to space missions and nature. It has a unique editorial system divided into various subject areas and different channels, including magazines, websites, social accounts, video talks and podcasts. It also has a television channel, an exclusive academy for students interested in science journalism and, finally, a major event focusing on popularising science that completes the editorial offer: Focus Live.

Mondadori Media

Mondadori Media is Italy’s leading multimedia publisher, with a distinctive positioning and audience on the editorial market. Through its brands, the Mondadori Group’s social multimedia company caters to the passions of the Italian people – food, beauty, fashion, health and wellness , science and tech – and reaches more than 26 million unique users every month (source: Audiweb January-August 2023), with an overall fanbase of 100 million people (source: Comscore Shareablee + Pinterest Insight October 2023).

Piemme

It has six of the most important newspapers (Il Messaggero, Il Mattino, Il Gazzettino, Corriere Adriatico, Nuovo Quotidiano di Puglia and Leggo), websites (online platforms for the respective newspapers and licensed third-party sites: Aranzulla.it, Centro Meteo Italiano, Funweek.it), magazines (Molto, Mondadori and Gruppo Editoriale San Paolo), and TV (Telenova). Piemme also manages local advertising on Radio Subasio and on RCS media in its own areas. Piemme designs projects tailored to customer needs, creating multimedia campaigns that seamlessly integrate print and digital, radio and TV.

With over 18,000 visitors, the format of the Focus Festival of Knowledge, held for the sixth consecutive year in collaboration with the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, is confirmed to be a winner. For three days, this major event attracted an active and interested public audience, who had the opportunity to engage with the scientific world and experience the most innovative technological advances, meet and listen to communicators, experts and professionals in information, medicine, science and sports, as well as immerse themselves in worlds of virtual reality.

“We have once again travelled from the stars to the deep sea, from space missions to genetics, from plants to robots, from animal noises to artificial intelligence, giving this edition of Focus Live — entitled Visions — a fun overview of science and knowledge, research and history.  And we got to experience it hands-on by offering immersive virtual reality experiences, samples of the metaverse, and workshops for adults and children. We also mixed genres by combining science, music and theatre. But the most spectacular “vision” was the record turnout and participation of thousands of curious, attentive and enthusiastic people. They are the best reward for our efforts and encourage us to always do better,” said Raffaele Leone, director of Focus.

The more than 70 sold-out events featured eighty personalities, including scientists, researchers, astronauts and communicators, along with active participation in games, workshops, edutainment, interactive experiences and meetings in the Experience Area. There was clear awe and interest in the more than 40 installations, starting with the giant and colourful animals of Cracking Art. Lots of children flocked to the kids area for the Geronimo Stilton show and all the playful and scientific activities organised by Focus Junior, Focus Pico and Focus Wild, in collaboration with Mondadori Education, Way Experience, Shake and UniversiKid.

Providing an exceptional backdrop, the National Museum of Science and Technology was divided for this special initiative into five major thematic areas (Technology, Sustainability, Science, Space, Medicine and Health) with three separate stages — the Main Stage, Speakers’ corner and Creators’ corner — for talks and meetings.

Tons of content contributed to the success of Focus Live Visions: from the surprises of the Animaloids — robotic quadrupeds such as HyQ Real1, capable of challenging humans (and win!) at Twister — to quizzes animated by Stefano Bartezzaghi; from the physics experiments of Vincenzo Schettini, the star professor of TikTok, to the lunar earthworms of the future, to the sustainable comics of activist Altares; from the Telegatto delivered to Carlo Conti to the experiences of sportsmen such as freediving champion Mike Maric. Plus sailing icon Giovanni Soldini as a hologram, former soccer coach Arrigo Sacchi, astronaut Roberto Vittori, communicator Barbara Gallavotti and philosopher Luciano Floridi, immunologist and scientific director of Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Alberto Mantovani, and Stefano Mancuso, Italy’s most influential botanist, together with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Milan guided the audience in discovering the intelligence of plants. Evolutionary scientist and communicator Telmo Pievani and actor Marco Paolini closed the packed three-day schedule with a science show dedicated to Charles Darwin, one of the most visionary scientists in history.

Also confirming the brand’s strength and formula for success were the hundreds of thousands of views and social media interactions related to live broadcasts, with posts and videos shared on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter. All the content was widely captured by the print, digital radio and TV media, and will remain available on Focus.it, the website of the monthly magazine Focus, which has seen peak views these days due to Focus Live events. The content will be enriched with extra contributions to continue to intrigue and win over fans, both young and old.

This edition of Focus Live was developed through the support and collaboration of the Civic Aquarium of Milan, Italian Air Force, Asi, Biokip Labs, CNR, Enea, Bruno Kessler Foundation, Giotto (Fila), IIT, Il Piccolo Teatro, INFN, Joint Research Centre, Italian Navy, Milan Civic Museum of Natural History, Milan Symphony Orchestra, Shake srl, Milan Civic Planetarium, Polytechnic University of Milan, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, University of Padua and Way Experience.

Focus Live is a Mondadori Media event organised in partnership with the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology, Mediamond and numerous other entities:

MAIN PARTNERS: Koelliker Group
PARTNERS: Carglass, Honor, Humanitas University
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNER: European Commission
CONTENT PARTNERS: AIRC, CDI, Mondadori Education, Opera San Francesco, Rilegno, TUV SUD
ART GUEST: Cracking Art
TECHNICAL PARTNER: Lete
OFFICIAL RADIO: R101
KIDS AREA powered by Focus Junior

Progresses of Artificial Intelligence in science and everyday life, robotic zoos, time travel in Virtual Reality, and even science-themed escape rooms, insights on medicine, sustainability, and novel points of view: that’s Visions, the theme that will be explored and experienced at Focus Live 2023, a project created by Mondadori Media, Mediamond and Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, scheduled November 3 to 5. 

The Festival of Knowledge conceived and organized by Focus – the Mondadori Group magazine directed by Raffaele Leone as well as the most widely read monthly magazine in Italy by enthusiasts and those curious about technology, science sustainability and innovation – reaches this year the sixth edition and confirms its successful format that, in 2022, won and involved more than 15 thousand visitors in attendance and obtained more than 250 thousand interactions on social media.

“Having reached the sixth edition, I can say that this knowledge festival is increasingly Focus and increasingly Live,” says the director Raffaele Leone. “More and more Focus because the spirit is that of the magazine: to increase knowledge by stimulating curiosity and fun. More and more Live because we are striving to find formats and events that are not just a live meeting with scientists or popularizers but in which we experiment with all available technologies (augmented reality, viewers, samples of the metaverse) to “immerse” ourselves in knowledge. If we then add other disciplines that we enjoy such as music, theatre and science, you go a full circle.”

Focus Live, open to the public and completely free of charge (reservation required), for the past six years has aimed to illustrate with popular language the horizons of human knowledge: from physics to medicine, from biology to genetics, from environmental advocacy to technology to digital communication. Innovation, creativity and curiosity will be the guidelines of this special edition, which will feature over a thousand square meters available to visitors, with 40 installations, five thematic areas and a very rich program of meetings, talks, workshops, performances, in the company of nationally and internationally renowned scientists, popularizers and creators.

This year’s Festival of Knowledge once again comes to life at the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia, the largest technical-scientific museum in Italy, a bridge between the past and future of scientific culture for 70 years. In this edition, the audience will be able to range between artificial intelligence, interactive digital art installations and Virtual Reality.

Among the protagonists of Focus Live 2023 will be, among others: navigator Giovanni Soldini, who will speak in the form of a hologram, Ilaria Capua, who will bring her show on circular health together with actress Antonella Attili, immunologist Alberto Mantovani, the physicist Alessandro Vespignani, the botanist Stefano Mancuso who will try his hand at a performance straddling science and music with an ensemble of the Milan Symphony Orchestra, the president of the CNR Maria Chiara Carrozza, the philosopher Luciano Floridi who is one of the foremost experts on artificial intelligence, disclosers such as Barbara Gallavotti, Silvia Moroni (sustainable talk), Massimo Temporelli, TikTok star professor Vincenzo Schettini, explorer, mental coach and environmental popularizer Alex Bellini and TV host and author Carlo Conti, who will receive the Telegatto from the director of Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Aldo Vitali.

Also on stage will be astronauts including Roberto Vittori, sportsmen such as Mike Maric, former world freediving champion, and former AC Milan and national team coach Arrigo Sacchi, who will talk about technology and artificial intelligence in soccer.

Closing the packed three-day schedule will be evolutionary scientist and popularizer Telmo Pievani and actor Marco Paolini, in a science show dedicated to Charles Darwin, one of the most visionary scientists in history.

What’s new
There are many new features in this edition, starting from new formats on stage: from Ted’s with VR experiences to quizzes with the audience-for example Stefano Bartezzaghi will engage the audience in a space-themed crossword puzzle -to special events, to exclusive theatrical or musical performances. The exhibition area will enclose five major thematic islands, Technology, Sustainability, Science, Space, Health curated by scientific or publishing partners that will alternate with sponsor activities: visitors will be able to attend interactive workshops, as well as interface with robots and bots powered by Artificial Intelligence, experience the thrill of simulators for time and space travel, and experience science-themed escape rooms and games. The works of Cracking Art will animate the Museum’s outdoor spaces, marking the 30th anniversary of the art movement that has always linked its creations to the themes of the relationship between nature and artifice, sustainability and the environment. More than 200 square meters will, finally, be dedicated to the Kids area,with experiments, workshops, meetings and games by Focus Junior to bring the youngest children closer to S.T.E.A.M. subjects.

Reservations to events can be made starting from today, Tuesday, October 17, at www.focuslive.it. Two shifts: morning (10 am to 2 pm) and afternoon (2 pm to 8 pm). Those who wish to stay all day can of course book tickets for both half days.

Looking forward to Focus Live 2023
There will be many initiatives leading up to Focus Live 2023. After the meeting on dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History in Milan, the concert lecture on Mahler organized by the Milan Symphony Orchestra and the real time travel in Virtual Reality by You Are Verdi, which allowed the many people present to experience the Milanese city, between the premiere of Nabucco at La Scala, the turmoil of the Five Days and the spirit of the Risorgimento of those years,on October 21 at the Civic Aquarium of Milan double date, at 18:30 and at 20:00, with La musica del mare: an unmissable opportunity to listen to the voices and songs of fish, corals and cetaceans, with marine biologist Sabina Airoldi, head of research at Tethys Institute in the Pelagos sanctuary. And not to feel too nostalgic about Focus Live 2023,on December 2, at the Ulrico Hoepli Planetarium in Milan, at 21:00, Adriano Fontana, an Inaf astrophysicist, and one of the scientists who routinely use the Webb telescope, will explain to the public how it works and present us with the latest findings.

This edition of Focus Live is realized thanks to the support and collaboration with Acquario Civico di Milano, Aeronautica Militare, Biokip Labs, CNR, Enea, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Giotto (Fila), IIT, Il Piccolo Teatro, Infn, Joint Research Centre, Navy, Milan Civic Museum of Natural History, Milan Symphony Orchestra, Shake srl, Milan Civic Planetarium, Politecnico di Milano, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, University of Padua and Way Experience.

Focus Live is a Mondadori Media event organised in partnership with the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Mediamond and numerous others:

MAIN PARTNERS: Koelliker Group
PARTNERS: Carglass, Honor, Humanitas University,
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS: European Commission
CONTENT PARTNER: AIRC, Mondadori Education, Opera San Francesco, Rilegno, TUV SUD
ART GUEST: Cracking Art
TECHNICAL PARTNER: Lete
OFFICIAL RADIO: R101
KIDS AREA powered by Focus Junior

For the 2023/2024 school year, numerous initiatives aimed at teachers, students and families have been organised. All conceived by Focus, Focus Scuola, Focus Junior and Focus Wild, the brand leaders in publishing in Italy for the Mondadori Group, which, once again this year, are confirmed as promoters of innovative educational proposals for the school world.

With the start of the school year, the Focus Scuola website will, as always, be available to teachers with news, insights and useful tips to make their lessons more engaging and inclusive.

The Focus Scuola Newsletter, curated by the editorial staff of Focus Junior in collaboration with a team of specialised, professional journalists, is back. The Newsletter, which has more than 20,000 Italian teachers already subscribed to it, is aimed at primary and secondary school teachers. The main goal is to provide ideas and playful and innovative proposals to get the students more involved during lessons. Each week Focus Scuola Newsletter offers topical insights for lectures and group work, ideas for science labs, STEAM worksheets to make science a more exciting subject, in-depth features explained in a simple way to explain complicated topics, and features on innovative teaching methods and classroom management thanks to advice from top experts. In addition to being able to preview all Focus initiatives for the school world, teachers will also have the opportunity to share class projects with the entire registered teacher community.

Here is the link to subscribe to the Newsletter.

Starting in October, the Academies by Focus Junior, Focus and Focus Storia which, every year, involve hundreds of classes and thousands of students, will resume.
Focus Junior’s Journalism Academy, aimed at young people in primary and secondary schools and in which more than 500 classes and over 10,000 students took part last year, includes a three lessons course dedicated to media and environmental education. The first two events explain how to create a magazine, how to write an article, and how to recognise fake news in a simple and fun way, while the third deals with climate change and ecological transition. The goal of the Focus Junior Academy is to encourage critical thinking and inform the youngsters on two topics that are crucial today in order to become informed citizens. The Academy is organised in collaboration with the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (Cicap) and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (Cmcc).

“Thanks to the Academies’ initiative the editorial staff of Focus Junior help schools and teachers throughout Italy to explain complex issues through engaging storytelling that captures the attention of the youngest learners,” said Sarah Pozzoli, Director of Focus Junior. “We journalists have the same goal as teachers: to raise future citizens who can think critically and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle”, she concluded.

The Academies of Focus and Focus Storia, aimed at students in secondary schools and in which more than 100 classes and over 2,500 students participated last year, involve a course of four events during which young people step into the shoes of actual editors for each issue, actively participate in source and image research, attend editorial meetings, and are involved in analysing the commissioned work and publishing content on the various social channels, where their proposals and ideas will be added and promoted.

Raffaele Leone, Director of Focus, thus reiterates the importance of establishing synergistic collaboration with schools: “The school world is doubly important to us: on the one hand because we feel that teachers and their educational mission are close to our hearts, and on the other hand because discovering a dialogue with the new generation, who increasingly keep themselves informed through additional tools and channels besides print media, is a strong motivation for us. We’re dealing with a positive two-way exchange: showing how to make a science magazine gets young people involved in the topics covered, in reading, in researching sources. Seeing how they draw on tools other than print prompts us to create formats and languages that are more suited to them. We can say that Focus is one of the most innovative tools on the market in terms of dissemination and multimedia, with its magazines, website, social media platforms, podcasts, Academies and live events that make the annual Focus Live a success,” concluded the Director.

Completing the Focus offer for schools for the 2023/2024 school year is a great new feature: the Focus School Camp, innovative educational projects aimed at all Italian schools on all levels, representing a revolutionary way of thinking about and experiencing educational trips. A comprehensive new proposal that starts with classroom training, moves through practice during camp, and ends with the development of a final digital project that will be presented in class and posted on the Focus School Camp digital bulletin board. The themes of the School Camp by Focus Junior, Focus Wild, Focus and Focus Storia are varied, and designed specifically to meet any educational needs of different school classes and age groups of students.

After the great success of two editions of the Focus Junior Summer Camp, the Focus School Camp is again collaborating with Sunnylife, the market-leading tour operator in the school trip and summer camp sector.

Finally, teachers will also be able to subscribe to the Focus brand magazines this year using their Carta del Docente and, from mid-October, the Bonus Scuola returns, allowing educational institutions to apply for a subsidy for subscriptions and magazines purchased during the school year by making a specific request to: sgc@mondadori.it.

Focus, Focus Storia, Focus Junior and Focus Wild launch the first School Camps edition, a new project conceived in partnership with Sunny Life, a company specialised in tourism and cultural travels for children between 6 to 18 years of age and affirmed tour operator of the Focus Junior Summer Camps.

The School Camps provide innovative and complete educational offers focused on students and teachers, starting from in-class training to on-field experience at the camp and ending with the drafting of final summary in digital format.

The Focus system brands pursue their licensing development through this initiative, by further extending their educational offer to educational trips: real training, interdisciplinary and customised courses – using the tested STEAM approach – to spread knowledge on scientific and mathematical subjects with the help of other disciplines such as art, history and architecture.

Such activity, designed for primary and secondary school students, aims to stimulate and involve the youngest by exploiting knowledge and developing skills. Such project asserts the attention of the Focus, Focus Storia, Focus Junior and Focus Wild brands towards both the education of the youngest and highly topical issues, such as sustainability and inclusion.

In addition to being real learning workshops, the 2023/2024 School Camps allow children to live truly unforgettable experiences under the guidance of professionals.

• Focus, a leading brand of scientific information, provides a package of ideas specifically designed for secondary schools and studied around the most current educational topics, with particular interest and insight into the technical, scientific and technological fields.
• Focus Storia, a magazine dedicated to the most striking historical and cultural facts and great protagonists of the past and present, offers a special catalogue conceived for secondary schools and designed to revive those places in which traces of our history are still evident.
• Focus Junior, a point of reference in the kids’ segment, suggests experiences developed to introduce topics such as innovation, sustainability and inclusion to primary and secondary school students – through a multidisciplinary and transversal approach – always according to the needs and age of such young learners.
• Focus Wild, an intergenerational brand dedicated to the world of animals and nature, provides primary and secondary schools with a vast repertoire of experiences conceived to specifically attract the students’ attention towards the most current and urgent environmental issues, always in an engaging, fun and exciting way.

Verona, Milan, Genoa, Rome, Pompeii and Matera are just some of the destinations planned for the School Camps of Focus, Focus Storia, Focus Junior and Focus Wild. All destinations were selected by the Mondadori Group brand among the vast range of cruises and school trips suggested in Sunny Life’s catalogue.

The complete and updated catalogue will be available on the following link: http://focuscamp.it/.

Focus, the Mondadori Group brand that’s the leader in popular science, is on the newsstands this month with a special issue dedicated to the latest advances in cancer research.

An updated guide full of insights to let readers discover the latest innovations and therapies, including experimental and anti-cancer: from the analysis of DNA alterations to vaccines, from proton therapy to targeted treatments that are more customised and effective, as well as the tools and perspectives that Artificial Intelligence can offer in this field.

A report – created with the collaboration of specialists from the most important Italian universities and centres of excellence at the forefront of cancer research worldwide – which underlines the role of Focus as a leading magazine for an audience of readers and users who are passionate about the great scientific and technological issues, including in the field of medical information.
Thanks to a clear and direct style and a careful and dynamic look at everything that is innovation, the brand reaches an audience of 5.5 million readers and users and 3.6 million followers on social networks every month.

“What emerges today with increasing evidence from oncological research,” says Raffaele Leone, Director of Focus, “is the variety of treatments and therapeutic approaches”. Cancer is a disease that has always been with us, a ‘malignant natural error’ that is nevertheless facilitated by harmful habits (smoking being the most typical) and pollution in the surrounding environment. It is a cellular mutation that often has the ability to camouflage itself so as not to be intercepted and neutralised. Today we are able to invent increasingly customised and targeted cures against the various types of mutation, to unmask them and attack them”, concludes Leone.

In the new issue of Focus we will talk about projects with an international scope, such as Palm (Pediatric Acute Leukemia of Myeloid origin), but also Italian projects such as the Molecular Tumor Board, a national network to standardise procedures and create a network of consultancies throughout the country.

Through numerous fact sheets – which have also been created thanks to the contribution of scientists and experts – the most widely read monthly magazine in Italy sheds light on the importance of prevention through vaccines against Hepatitis B and HPV, and the possibility for smokers to get free lung scans with the aim of raising awareness and giving hope.

The creation of such a rich and in-depth report has been possible thanks to constant contact with research institutes, universities, hospitals and foundations, which Focus has always collaborated with to keep its readers informed and updated.

This issue made use of the valuable collaboration of:
IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas [Humanitas Clinical Institute Research Hospital]
San Raffaele Hospital
National Cancer Institute
European Institute of Oncology
Umberto Veronesi Foundation
Airc Foundation
abmedica
RevoLuTion_Innovation in Cancer Care 

And it involved:
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
Italian Association of Medical Oncology
Centro di riferimento oncologico (CRO) di°Aviano [Aviano Oncology Referral Centre]
Centro di Senologia del Policlinico San Martino di Genova [Centre for Senology of Hospital Policlinico San Martino of Genoa]
Oncohematology Clinic of Padua
MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston
Bambino Gesù Children’s Research Hospital
Italian Pulmonary Screening Network
Italian Society of Oncological Urology
University of Milan
University of Palermo
University of Turin
University of Melanoma, Oncological Immunotherapy and Innovative Therapies IRCCS INT-Pascale Foundation of Naples

Focus, the Gruppo Mondadori brand leader in scientific dissemination, is launching “Talks”, a new web and social media channel which, through direct interviews with scientists, researchers and science communicators, will talk about the innovations and transformations that will change the world in the next thirty years.

In this video library with original contents, available on Focus.it, Facebook and YouTube, Focus will give a voice to the most authoritative representatives of the scientific and academic community: well-known and respected speakers will share their views and vision on the future of science, technology, environment, medicine, nutrition, lifestyles and sustainability, in a variety of formats that range from presentations and debates to live events.

Challenges, progress and evolution will continue the story that the brand started with Focus Next 30, the series of special initiatives and in-depth talks that Focus launched to celebrate its 30^th anniversary in 2022. This journey can build on a strong and constantly increasing digital audience, with over 4.2 million fans on social media that add to the 5 million readers and users.

The Focus “Talks” will be inaugurated with 4 exclusive videos, premiering online:

Nanomedicine for challenging tumours
Marco Ferrari, an academic and entrepreneur, involved in studies on nanotechnologies applied to tumour therapy, will speak of his experience in academia and his research that focuses on the development of nanomedicines.

The motor of water
Giulio Boccaletti, one of the world’s most important experts in environmental safety and natural resources, will speak about water, sharing his experience at The Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest environmental non-governmental organisation, where he directed programmes on this resource in over 70 countries and territories.

The first environmentalist
Paolo Colombo, professor of History of political institutions in the Faculty of Political sciences in the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore [university] in Milan, will talk in detail of Alexander Von Humboldt, a naturalist, explorer and scientist who, two centuries before anyone else, spoke of the dangers and consequences of man recklessly exploiting the natural environment.

Fantasy & Science Fiction
Two people will hold this talk, the fantasy writer Laura Troisi and Luca Perri, an astrophysicist working in the Merate Observatory and the Milan Planetarium, which has been dealing with science dissemination for more than ten years. In their talk, they will speak about how literature, fantasy and science seep into one another and mix.

The “Talks” format will be expanded by talks from scientists, astronauts, athletes, artists and experts from all over the world who took part in Focus Live. Every year, the unmissable Focus festival of science offers an audience of fans a thick programme of meetings, events and experiences, with the participation of well-known international figures. Available for the first time on demand, there will be talks by Telmo Pievani, Stefano Mancuso, Giampiero Accinelli, Barbara Mazzolai, Norma’s Teaching, Alberto Mantovani, Luca Parmitano, Bebe Vio, Oliviero Toscani, Tommaso Ghidini, Vittorio Sgarbi and many more.

This digital library of exclusive videos will be with the Focus community until the event’s next edition, which will be held from 4 to 6 November in the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan and streamed live.

Source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, October 2021
Source: Shareablee + Insight, January 2022

Focus, the Mondadori Group brand leader in spreading scientific knowledge, has completed its first 30 years and is looking to the future with Focus Next 30: a multi-touchpoint special project which will accompany readers and users throughout 2022, exploring key themes in science, technology and the environment and examining the innovations that will fuel development in these areas over the next 30 years, with contributions from distinguished international figures.

The initiative leverages the strength and the successful formula that have always characterised the brand.

Focus has been a household publication since 1992, satisfying people’s curiosity and desire for knowledge with an unmistakeable clear and direct style which, combined with contributions from scientists and specialists, has made the brand a go-to magazine for a community of 5.2 million readers and users (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, May 2021).

In its 30 years, Focus has been a reliable source of information on science, technology, the environment, medicine, nutrition, lifestyles and sustainability, in print, on the web, on social media, through local events such as Focus Live, through Academy for schools, TV and podcasts: a complete multimedia information platform, making new discoveries accessible and exciting for an ever growing public, helping readers and users distinguish fake news, learn about history and make their way in the various branches of knowledge.

The great questions of yesterday, today and tomorrow will be at the heart of the Focus Next 30 special project: a year of events and discussions on all the brand channels to get ready for the changes coming in the next 30 years. The journey begins with the innovations recounted by Focus since it was first published and will move ahead – with the faces of tomorrow, chosen from the top names in the scientific community – to look at how our world will change.

“We want to give this 30th anniversary the meaning that any birthday can have: to change, grow and become even more what we already are. Out of interest, I leafed through the issues from the first year of Focus, 1992. Two things struck me straightaway: the same sense of eager curiosity we still have today and the incredible strides that have been made in science, technology and medicine in just thirty years. So, with each issue, you’ll find the format that came to mind. It will be a fascinating journey through the past, present and future, highlighting the extraordinary capabilities of scientific research, the speed of improvement, our aptitude for progress through intelligence and the human soul,” said Raffaele Leone, editor-in-chief of Focus.

Renewable energy, sustainability, medicine of the future, home automation, mobility, food, cybersecurity and much else: for each topic, every month Focus will turn to an international specialist, young talents from the worlds of science and information, who will share their vision with the brand community, offering a new perspective on the future.

In the latest issue of Italy’s most widely read monthly magazine, on the news-stands from 22 January, the cover story will look at digital medicine, intelligent apps that follow patients and the growing use of technology to link physicians and patients remotely. The magazine will also examine the volcanic eruptions forecast in the first issue from 1992, to discuss the future of this discipline.

Another important feature in the new issue will be fourth-generation nuclear energy, particularly of interest given the possibility that the European Union will include it as a sustainable source of energy. The nuclear question will be linked to a survey to investigate the opinions of Focus readers and users. The questionnaire will be available on the brand website and social profiles, which will also publish its findings.

The Focus Next 30 project will continue throughout 2022 on all the channels of the Focus system with a circular dynamic offer: in the magazine readers will find a theme-based dossier starting with an article published in 1992, the first year of Focus, to investigate the changes and developments that have taken place since them and the forecasts and expectations for the coming years.

On Focus.it, users will be able to look in detail at the themes covered by Focus Next 30 in a special section providing in-depth features and exclusive video-interviews on the theme for the month.
On social media, Focus Next 30 will offer a range of content designed to engage the brand’s 4 million fans (source: Shareablee e Insight, December 2021), with live content, posts, surveys, quizzes, as well as podcasts – where Focus currently has more than 2 million downloads – with the Focus Storia special documentary series “Focus Next 30, dal passato al futuro”.

The Focus Next 30 initiatives will culminate with the new edition of the Focus Live event, an important festival of knowledge hosting researchers, scientists, explorers, artists and communicators, with a packed schedule of meetings and activities. Starting in the spring, this year’s Focus Live, to be held in November, will be flanked by a series of live and digital events, including talks, meetings and round tables on the subjects covered by Focus Next 30.