New World and new visions

by Alessio Sciurpa

It is on the concept of citizenship and the promotion of small daily gestures, that underlies the transition to a more attentive to environmental concerns society. In this cycle of meetings is part of the "San Salvario Eco-Sostenibile” (Sustainable San Salvario) organized by the Association “For a New World” in Turin.

We spoke about it with Silvia Bergamo, Head of Communication and info-cultural area of “For a New World”.

What are the issues affecting part of this initiative?
«"San Salvario Sostenibile” is a project that was created to raise awareness on environmental impact of our lifestyle.So we thought of a short series of seminars during which expert speakers will talk, in a concrete and direct way, as each of us can apply in their daily life good practice in environmental energy saving, how to make our purchases and waste management. These, respectively, the three issues to be debated for three Tuesday evening, November 10 to 24, at 21.00 at the hall of the Oratorio San Luigi, Via Ormea 4. Admission free to all events».

Why the choice of a strong ethnic characteristics neighborhood like San Salvario? Has influenced and influence this characteristic in your work of raising awareness?
«In recent years the neighborhood of San Salvario was able to live their ethnic characteristics and less so as a "problem solving" and more as a resource to exploit, a feature that enhances the neighborhood in terms of culture and society. It 'an area where there is social animation, citizens and local associations express the desire to live in the neighborhood and to participate in collective activities and reflection, we felt it was a very suitable environment and ready to welcome an initiative of this kind. Not by chance, we launched the project with a film screening to Baretti, a landmark in the cultural life of the neighborhood, as we have chosen to organize seminars at the Oratorio San Luigi, which plays an important role in the integration of Italian and foreign families».

Between your general activity even the ethics finance, how to insert this type of activity as part of your initiatives on sustainability?
«When we talk about responsible consumption is normally thought to real "supplies", what we eat and use in everyday life. But our money, our savings are also goods that we can use more or less in a responsible way. When we entrust our money to a bank, make it available to someone who will use our money for some activities likely to be profitable. Have we ever wondered how they will be used? Not all citizens know that most banks operated in large amounts to finance the weapons industry: I am not sure that all citizens will agree to the idea that their money will be used in this way. There are often more ethical finance projects, affordable and practical proposals that allow citizens to use their savings in non-profit, managed with full transparency. One example is the Banca Etica (Italian Ethical Bank), a real bank in which you can start a normal bank account and carry out operations; their savings can then be employed by the Fair Trade cooperatives, for example, which rather than borrow from banks asking them to its members and remunerate them with interest. Ethical finance is a key component for the operation of a sustainable and inclusive economy».