Our position on sustainability
At MAIZE, we believe innovation should be sustainable, by default. We see sustainable innovation as a systemic challenge that requires systemic changes. We approach all projects thinking about the impact on people, organizations, societies and the environment, interconnected dimensions that we address with our broad spectrum of competencies and our ambitions for sustainable innovation at heart.
We help our clients unveil new opportunities by improving products, services, businesses and organizational structures. We also use Strategic Design to reveal unknown patterns, behaviours, motivations, systems, and connections that aren’t obvious at first glance. Diversity is a driver for innovation and beyond rising DEI requirements, we understand the importance of leveraging and bringing together a variety of perspectives through intense collaboration.
Companies must not only meet normative and legal compliance requirements but take an active role in line with their core business. They find several challenges implementing sustainable and impactful strategies: these may contrast with some elements of the business goals, a corporate culture not ready for change, the salesforce and stakeholders who may have needs that conflict with ESG objectives. We support leaders in identifying those challenges and envisioning ways to turn them into opportunities for sustainable growth.
We have a set of assets that help us execute projects in a careful and distinctive way: people-centric methodologies, transversal competences spanning business, tech, content, and service design, and a solid network of trusted partners and experts. Our approach is strategic and guides clients through these steps:
1. IDENTIFY PRIORITIES
When a clear plan hasn’t yet been defined, we help organizations navigate the initial chaos. We map tensions between business priorities and the broader world they operate in, asking the questions that can’t be dodged: What does a ski equipment company do when there’s no more snow? What’s the role of insurance when everyone lives in a red zone? These are the material questions that form the groundwork of business resilience. A key asset here is our Cultural Factory, which monitors nascent trends across society, policy, technology, and markets – keeping our guidance distinctively forward-looking.
2. TRANSLATE GOALS INTO A PLAN
Starting from a company’s sustainability objectives – and its sustainability report or materiality assessment, where available – we identify the key projects to coherently address them. We define how to execute with a strategic view that reduces fragmentation of ownership and activities, and we co-design new organizational configurations to make sure initiatives integrate into the broader transformation, not alongside it.
3. DESIGN THE SOLUTIONS
We leverage transversal competencies spanning service design, tech, business, content strategy, and organizational design. We also invest in proprietary R&D – through internal Crews like Prisma, Slack.Insights, Burning Issues – developing frameworks and tools that keep our approach genuinely ahead of the curve. Where internal expertise has limits, we rely on a solid network of trusted external partners.
4. INVOLVE PEOPLE
Change happens when people recognize themselves as part of what’s shifting – when they act, decide, and create from within it. Starting from leadership and extending across teams and customers, we design ways for everyone involved to shape, test, and evolve sustainability initiatives, so they become lived practices rather than top-down mandates.
We have identified four areas of impact that enable organisations to be resilient, inclusive and, especially, to innovate and grow sustainably.
Responsible business
Shape regenerative value propositions and circular business models that create value for the entire ecosystem.
How can we identify new value propositions that generate both impact and revenue? How can sustainability trends become a concrete business opportunity? And how do we turn customers into active participants in circular systems – not just end users?
We explore and design regenerative business models that create positive impact across the value chain – from circular economy solutions to responsible consumption patterns. Circularity only works when customers are given the motivation, tools, and responsibility to actively participate. We make sure they are.
Market research and scenario building · Regenerative value proposition design · Circular business model design · Sustainable ideas acceleration · Nudging dynamics and gamification
Play Nice
Open innovation program to accelerate sustainability ideas across business units.
Ageas INsure
Open innovation program designed to find new business models that create value for clients and communities.
Bright Sight
A team of AI agents that turns ESG regulatory complexity into clear, actionable strategy.
ENGAGED COMMUNITIES
Become an active player whose core business creates real, lasting impact on external communities.
How can we support communities that align with our values? How can we make a positive impact on the territories we belong to – without stopping at awareness campaigns?
We help companies co-design outreach experiences that go beyond economic value. We map the company’s needs and align business goals with ESG priorities; we also work the other way – gathering urgencies from associations and NGOs, then connecting them with the right partners. Either way, we co-design every initiative together.
Training and empowerment programs · Awareness and prevention campaigns · On-field experiences and local regeneration · Co-design workshops for transformational partnerships
Unveiling the Invisible
Support ecosystem for a rare disease (mastocytosis), co-designed with patients and caregivers
CSL Behring
Social innovation path co-designed with rare disease patients to improve their daily lives.
Aurora
Italy's first RAG-based chatbot for insomnia, designed to support and inform patients 24/7
INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION
Build a people-centered culture that makes your organization genuinely inclusive and resilient.
How can we support employees’ safety, motivation, and wellbeing? How can the company truly embrace diversity — and leverage it? How can corporate practices spread virtuous behaviors, inside and outside of work?
People inside organizations are the first agents of change. We listen to their needs, map inclusion gaps, and co-design practices that make a real difference – from leadership to frontline teams. We apply equity and inclusion principles across the entire design process: diverse research panels, cross-functional co-design sessions, and outputs designed to work at scale.
Organizational wellbeing assessment & opportunity framing · Inclusive process design (recruitment, onboarding, performance management) · Internal communication campaigns · Training programs (live sessions, e-learning)
RESPONSIBLE OPERATIONS
Challenge existing processes and behaviors to make your organization more efficient, less impactful, and waste-free.
How do we reduce waste in internal operations by involving the entire organization? And how do we find external partners who genuinely improve sustainability outcomes – not just tick boxes?
We design targeted programs that activate virtuous behaviors across the organization, grounded in deep listening, behavioral analysis, and co-design. Changes need to be concrete, measurable, and shared – so we make sure people understand the why before asking them to act differently. We also address process digitization and 3D prototyping as practical tools to reduce physical waste.
Awareness campaigns and gamification (sustainable mobility, waste management) · Paperless initiatives and office waste reduction · Operational toolkits for external networks (agents, suppliers) · Process digitization · 3D prototyping to reduce physical waste
