The power of computerization of environmental communication

by Eleonora Anello

A Department of awareness. An administration sensitive to the computerization applied to the environmental communication. We talk with the Dr. Massimo Materi, assessor for Information and Statistics Systems, energy policy, consumer protection and the Culture of separate collection of the Municipality of Vercelli (Piedmont, Italy).

Assessor Materi, among the tasks of your Department the consumer protection, the awareness and the diffusion of the culture of the waste separate collection and the monitoring of the results achieved. Could we almost define his as a commissioner which is also involved in environmental communication?
«Certainly yes, the marketing is in this specific case an essential tool for communicating with the citizens. With this delegation, in fact I deal with "Environmental Communication", so the awareness of citizens aimed at the culture of waste collection, is implemented through its various innovative advertising instruments».

Why has your administration chosen to focus on this type of address?
«Unfortunately, we start from a situation of "ecological backwardness”, in the sense that we started late with the differentiation of the waste, also in our territory have always been few the initiatives to involve the citizens with an emphasis on environment. Our Mayor, the lawyer Andrea Corsaro, thought therefore giving greater emphasis to the project of "Separate collection" creating a delegation aimed at raising awareness of the latter! I say you in effect that the results are starting to come to our great satisfaction».

Among the prerogatives of your Department, also the computer and the statistics systems. How do they relate with the environmental issues?
«Truly, as the name suggests, are two distinct and distant delegations as themes, but I tell you how allowed me to tie these two assignments: in terms of awareness of the separate collection, among other things, I'm pursuing an urban experiment (just tested with success a few months ago for my campaign). This is specifically an initiative of viral marketing. We are creating on the territory a series of events with schools, advertising billboards and… of course a special section of our web site and not just, where more than communicate the results of the progress of the separate collection, consistently we show a "good use of waste" without telling the citizen what to do, in that we doesn’t force him to do something, but we intrigued him! In some cases, we launched a message relating to the environment that can arouse curiosity and encourage the citizen to gather informations on its own initiative in terms of differentiation. The goal that is achieved with this method is a responsible involvement, spontaneous and convinced by the user, just because he is forced anything directly, but it's as if he had whispered something of useful. The curiosity then makes its own the rest».

Thanks assessor and good work.