Viterbo, a Sustainable Province thanks also to Facebook

by Silvia Musso

Communicate to engage. And getting better and better environmental results. In recent days, the Province of Viterbo (Italy) launched a multimedia communication and awareness campaign with the aim to become a more "Sustainable Province" through the efforts of its citizens.
The corporate image of the campaign is based on an immediately recognizable logo, consisting of a green leaf, bearing the recycling symbol and accompanied by the slogan “Viterbo Provincia Sostenibile”.
This logo stands out on the social network Facebook “fan page”, specially created with the dual purpose of directly involving the users and providing an ideal forum for the dissemination and sharing of local news on environmental issues.
The campaign also includes the airing of two different television spots, that recalling even the slogan “I nostri valori fanno la differenza” (Our values make the difference) used so far to the provincial communications related to management of the waste integrated cycle. The first is devoted to the collection and policies implemented by the Province for the recovery of resources and the reduction of emissions; and the second is also focused on the provincial plan for reduction waste, with an invitation to make concrete gestures on a daily basis (like drinking tap water, make home composting or refuse junkmail) to reduce the amount of waste produced annually by each inhabitant.
The spots are on-air on the three major broadcasters in the territory (Ies TV, Rete Oro and Tele Tuscia Sabina) and on Internet, distributed via the channel "Erica Web TV" on You Tube, are planning similar advertising on local radio.

«In these past 5 years of administration, we have tried to direct all our efforts towards sustainability and we achieved important results -declares the Assessor o Environment in charge, Tolmino Piazzai- We have focused primarily on the saving energy and the waste. The attention to our territory has never failed. For this we can say that this new campaign is the culmination of a long work. We started with a data which in 2005 was 3.95% of the separate waste collection. Now we are getting to 30% with "virtuous" municipalities that reach or exceed 65%.
With this campaign we intend to encourage citizens, trying to change a cultural aspect of daily life. If citizens are reasserting their trust, we can continue to develop synergy between them and the province institution, and a campaign of communication and awareness is crucial to create active involvement and relationship with the territory».