SOCIAL TRANSITION: AT SEIF THE STORIES THAT CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SEA
SEIF concluded with the spotlight on the Social Transition, presenting the sea through the stories of the people and populations who defend and promote it in the "Le storie che cambiano il mare" workshop led by Rossella Muroni (SEIF 2023 Scientific Director), during which a simple but key message clearly emerged: there can be no transition towards a new model of environmental, economic and social development without a strong cultural change. The workshop was opened by Massimo Canino, a journalist and writer who is sailing around the Tuscan archipelago to tell the stories of the "people of the sea", which will become a book entitled "SEAFRONT, extraordinary stories from the ports of Tuscany".
The focus then switched to Ocean Education with Francesca Santoro (Senior Programme Officer for IOC/UNESCO) who, in the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030, reiterated the need for everyone to be involved, starting with the education system, so that society can benefit from science and find a role to play.
Angelica Ricci (Elba Youth Forum) described the experience of the youths of Elba committed to raising awareness and cleaning the coastline, while Marta Musso, a young marine biologist, outlined her "POSSEA" project: on board an old German postal van transformed into a "sea laboratory", she brings education to the sea with her workshops on the plankton microcosm along the Italian coastline.
Davide Fiz, creator of the Smart Walking project, took to the stage to describe how he is walking right the way across Italy and how, during the SEIF, he walked the entire "Via dell'Essenza" network of coastal footpaths. In fact, the Acqua dell'Elba Foundation and PNAT (National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago) are working together to promote and improve the accessibility of these paths, also through technological solutions, for hikers and amateur walkers, families, children and schools, and to generate walking tourism all year round.
Lastly, Maria Cristina Galli (Lecturer at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts) presented the Acqua dell'Elba Arts Prize, an integral part of the activities of the Acqua dell'Elba Foundation, which shared SEIF's 2023 theme of "Transitions": twenty young artists were asked to interpret the theme from different perspectives, helping to raise awareness of the critical issues and opportunities of the Marine Transition through the language of Art.
To finish, awards were presented by Norman Larocca, Director of the Acqua dell'Elba Foundation, to the Elba school pupils that won the ESA - Elbana Servizi Ambientali Recycling Olympics, an environmental education project that explored topics related to separate waste collection, the recycling of waste, and the correct use of resources.
The event closed with a message from the President of the Region of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani:
"I am delighted to have the opportunity to say a few words at this Acqua dell'Elba Foundation event, one of particular interest this year because it intelligently touches upon and explores themes on which the Region has also been working for some time. At the centre of it all is the sea, the sea of Elba, now universally recognised as one of Italy's most beautiful, as well as its ecosystem, its coastline and its lush hinterland, beautifully designed by nature and history. Nature and man, culture and art, the economy and the environment together to drive the environmental transition and achieve sustainable development. In this sense, I believe that the sea can provide important solutions for the ecological transition that has been the focus of the new Regional Ecological Transition Plan since last October. A strategic tool which directly involves the general public and the world of science with the aim of combating pollution and climate change, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, and developing the Blue Economy"
