April 22 is the Earth Day, established by the United Nations in 1970 in the wake of a student movement that in that year, in the United States, had organized a large protest demonstration against the oil spill into the sea from a well off California. A historic event, the first steps of environmental awareness. Today it is celebrated in 175 countries, almost all over the world, for remind everyone of the need to protect and safeguard the environment, the ecosystem and for sustainable economic and social development for man and nature.
Also in Italy there will be many demonstrations, the main one will be held in Rome on April 22, at Villa Borghese and on the Pincio Terrace, with the Concert for the Earth, musical event with a notable participation of artists, organized by Earth Day Italia, a national extension of the international Earth Day network, together with the Focolare Movement. To find out more, let's talk to Pierluigi Sassi, president of Earth Day Italia for 8 years. I'm in full implementation phase. The proximity of the event makes Sassi's activity frenetic and to find the time you have to resort to that of dinner. The appointment is in a well-known club in Rome near Piazza Navona where Sassi has to make a promotional intervention for the event during a concert by the Twins Father's Band, a musical group with a strong social commitment, made up of doctors with a passion for rock with a pinch of irony they tackle delicate issues. The band will also star in an evening of Village for the Earth, the all-Italian format to celebrate the event dedicated to safeguarding our planet, for the moment they are the background of our chat. From Sassi we will know more.
Let's start. What edition of Earth Day is today?
“It's the 49th edition. Earth Day was born out of a student movement which in the 70s brought 20 million American citizens to the streets. This edition is enlivened by a new student movement that is finally raising its head. Young people seemed drugged by social networks and instead here they are claiming the sacrosanct right to have a planet at least like we did” attacks President Sassi.
What edition is it in Italy?
“We started in 2009 so we are celebrating the first 10 years. For 4 we have created the format of the Village for the Earth. Before we were a concert, today we are a real environmental demonstration. Hundreds of organizations actively participate in the creation of this village which is not just entertainment but a real village of sustainability".
Il Villaggio per la Terra will take place in Rome from 25 to 29 April at the Villa Borghese riding track and the Pincio Terrace. Five days of initiatives dedicated to protecting the planet with a focus on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and celebrated with corresponding multimedia squares, each with a rich and varied calendar of conferences, videos, workshops and laboratories.
How did the 2018 edition go?
“It was a real triumph. We had 150 visitors, 170 million contacts gained through the media and over 620 events organized within the fair. Numbers that make it clear how much the environmental issue is felt and how much there is a part of society that feels the urgency of a change”.
Sassi, graduated with honors in Social Psychology and Communication from Massa at the Sapienza University of Rome, many work experiences for institutions, national bodies and in the voluntary sector with particular attention to the themes of the social economy and environmental sustainability, reveals a certain satisfaction.
What will you do?
“This year we are bringing the theme of the natives, the theme of the indigenous people, to public attention. In 2019 Survival, which is the world organization in defense of all the natives of the world, turns 50. She is the guardian of a great truth. In this market society we have completely forgotten the balance between man and nature, totally set aside the beauty of a cultural richness that risks being lost due to a consumerism that no longer gives anyone satisfaction.
“A man from the Amazon is happy, in harmony with nature despite the endless threats to his culture. If we think of the Amazon we often consider it only for the forest but the Amazon has 390 cultures, 240 languages, within these there are 100 cultures that have never yet been contacted by advanced civilization, the Amazon we all think is a natural explosion of nature, where there is 20% of drinking water and 10% of natural biodiversity, is actually a project of man in its native dimension. That is, these natives have a natural technology to design the ecosystem that we no longer know where it is. This year is the year of the native languages of UNESCO, which among other things is our patron body and the Synod of the Church will also be held on the Amazon” our interlocutor continues with enthusiasm “another point we will address will be that of innovation".
How can the economy change?
“It can change by trying to ensure that the innovation processes that today push the world of the economy towards change are contaminated at their roots by the principles of sustainability. If you tell an entrepreneur who is innovating, let's write the rules of this innovation together, I'll make you earn but I'll also make you earn in social and environmental terms, that's the magical moment in which change can be produced, therefore also a sustainable innovation ” he then adds “another major topic will be that of health and climate change. Walter Ricciardi former president of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità highly authoritative figure on an international level, author of the Charter of Rome, in which last year 500 researchers from all over the world gathered to focus on the increasingly close link between health and change climate. This event of ours is the first fallout from the Charter of Rome. We are proud to host him”.
You have many authoritative participations, including sports.
“We have 35 Sports Federations, the national Archery championships, Olympic champions who come to give wonderful testimonies such as Vezzali who has helped us since November in a campaign against violence against women to underline how that and violence on planet have the same common root; a degeneration, from the beauty of custody to the ugliness of possession.
Instead of enjoying the beautiful things we have, guarding them, protecting them, as the natives do, we want to put them in our pockets, in the drawer, we possess them then we burn them, we use violence on them. Mother earth and women always end up being mistreated. This is a great cause and the athletes have distinguished themselves by espousing it."
Go on. Earth Day Italia, the Concert for the Earth and the Village have many prestigious collaborations, patronages, participations. Institutions, bodies, associations, cultural and economic enterprises. Did you have an easy dialogue?
“Absolutely not” he says clearly “the issue of sustainability at the level of corporate organization and at the level of institutions is an issue on which to speculate, which tends to be exploited commercially but on which committing oneself concretely is an enormous effort. We put a lot of energy into it but if there weren't these 250 organizations that actively contribute to generating it, the event could not take place. It is also a small pride that we have. This village, in the most absolute transparency, shows how it is possible to create an event totally devoid of economic, intellectual, social and political speculation and which instead lifts the veil on issues that involve people's lives".
Yours is a privileged point of view. Do you have the sensation of a greater awareness of the need for a more harmonious development?
“This growing sensitivity is part of a moral degradation that unfortunately grips us. The conditions of this city are a clear sign of the state of the art. But I see that many people in silence, making little noise, are also building an active awareness. I see people making an effort, even in the face of incredibly dirty, messed up nerds, trying to separate the collection almost as one thinks, does it to demonstrate to those four who are watching them that it is worth doing. The discrepancy between those who do on an almost stoic level and those who should and shouldn't do is embarrassing”.
We conclude. A concrete action that each of us can do to make a possibly tiny contribution to the positive spiral of a better environmental and social future.
“I am super convinced that lifestyles can make a difference, as can energy saving. But where it really affects are the purchasing choices, we need to make responsible purchasing choices. When one person pays and the other sells, it is the one who pays who commands and if the polluter is the one who sells, the choice of purchase can make the difference twice, in my consumption and in its production. There is a semantic and real, practical and concrete short circuit there that really doubles the results and forces everyone to commit themselves on this front”.
We don't go forward. We end here even though there would be so much more. The Concert for the Earth on 22nd and the Village from 25th to 29th April offer many opportunities to learn more. We say goodbye. We go out, outside the club and the nearby ones there are many people who meet, talk, we mix with them as we go towards Piazza Navona which is now night. Here Rome looks different.
