“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 feel the need for safety and prevention. A need that arises within themselves – continued Fiore – and for itself and not an administrative procedure to follow. This step forward can only be made on the path of knowledge and culture, involving obviously, in their immediate interest, the little ones.
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 territory, the importance of preventing environmental risks, knowing how to manage risk – declared Marilisa Mancino, Head of the Ibsen Comprehensive Institute of Casamicciola – can also help the kids in the behavior to adopt but the kids themselves can act as a vehicle towards the families themselves. What we have done today and we thank the experts, it was really important!”.
Let a model of knowledge start from Ischia.
“May Ischia become a model for Italy! We found young people interested. There were many questions – declared geologist Gaetano Sammartino, President of the Italian Society of Environmental Geology, Campania section – asked by children and teenagers. Two meetings that were truly rich in knowledge with the narration of geology and the territory also 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.
Article published on 26 January 2023 - 18:25
