“For effective prevention and mitigation of the effects of natural hazards, it is necessary to carry out Environmental Education activities starting from the youngest and doing it with their language.
Infrastructural works are fundamental when we want to secure the territory but non-structural interventions such as planning, monitoring and Environmental Education are equally fundamental. Today we were in Ischia to bring the Environmental Education manual to schools to talk about the environment, territory and prevention and do it with the language of children and young people.
The country is tired of applying the usual post-catastrophic event scheme limited only to a short period of the post-event: the victims are counted, the damage is estimated, national solidarity is created with fundraising and solidarity torchlight processions, attempts are made to understand the causes, a cautious approach is made to understand the technical and political responsibilities, funds are allocated to rebuild.
We want to break this consolidated pattern, we want to avoid as much as possible the repetition of other events.
We must prevent reconstructions in unsafe places, where nature has tried to reclaim its spaces, or that cannot be made safe. We thank the students, teachers and the director of the Ibsen Comprehensive Institute of Ischia. We found children and young people interested and prepared”.
This was stated by geologist Antonello Fiore, National President of the Italian Society of Environmental Geology, while showing the children and young people of the Ibsen Comprehensive Institute of Casamicciola the Environmental Education manual with video and narration.
“We must all work together to take a step forward in protecting the environment and the life it hosts; this remains an opportunity for us, a priority.
Citizens must be the ones to feel the need for safety and prevention. A need that arises within them —Fiore continued— and for themselves, not an administrative procedure to be followed. This step forward can only be achieved through knowledge and culture, obviously involving the youngest, in their immediate interest.
The children, the young people, our sons and grandchildren who sit behind school desks today will inherit the challenges of prevention of natural risks and adaptation and it is towards them that we must direct all possible efforts so that the seed of a new environmental ethic can germinate in the ruling class of the future".
The Ibsen students showed great interest and a high level of preparation, thanks to the constant commitment of the director and teachers.
"Knowledge of the local area, the importance of preventing environmental risks, and knowing how to manage risk ," said Marilisa Mancino, Principal of the Ibsen Comprehensive Institute in Casamicciola, " can also help children in their behavior, but the children themselves can also act as a vehicle for communication with their families. What we accomplished today, and we thank the experts, was truly important!"
Let a model of knowledge start from Ischia.
"May Ischia become a model for Italy! We found many interested young people. Many questions," said geologist Gaetano Sammartino, President of the Italian Society of Environmental Geology, Campania Section, "from children and young people. These two truly informative meetings, which explored geology and the territory as a resource."
Geologists from the Italian Society of Environmental Geology have delivered to teachers and students the manual “The Three Citizens” which, taking inspiration from a well-known fairy tale, describes the risks and raises awareness on behaviors and prevention using graphics, images and languages close to the world of children and young people.
