Venice 2012, the Degrowth as an opportunity

by Francesca Morra

In Venice, from September 19th to 23rd will be held the third international conference on the degrowth, ecological sustainability and social equity. The conference will develop three priority areas of common goods, jobs and democracy that have already been widely expressed in the preparatory phase of the conference, through spreading on the site and social networks.

We asked a representative of the association Degrowth in Campania, Rosaria Di Girolamo, to tell us more about this event.

The theme of the decrease is very large, explained in a few words?
It is true that the theme of the degrowth is large, but it can be easily synthesized with the eight “R“s of Serge Latouche. These represent specific actions: re-evaluate (first of all sobriety) and reconceptualizing; restructuring, concept which follows to relocate and redistribute. The last three "R"s are reuse, recycle and reduce: waste, energy and resources. These same themes were also tackled by the conference in October 2011 in Genoa.

What is the role of citizens in degrowth?
To take awareness of the size of the economic crisis, on energy and waste of human resources and food. This ending can also be part of the individual waste through the exercise of good practices in daily life, finally giving justice to the other concept so propagated by the media and contained in the philosophy of degrowth: sobriety.

The program "towards Venice" is already in place? What media you used primarily?
Yes it is, since the last fall you can activate an account on the official website to share ideas and post contributions as photos, videos and articles. They will be published after the screening of the organizers. This allows the democratic participation of individuals and of several Italian and foreign committees, who have the opportunity to learn through other posts Degrowth and good practices in order to apply them in their territory. There are several different political campaigns that deal with the theme: KM/0, Slow Food, NO-TAV and the same movement Cinque Stelle, each one with its own address and style. But a-politically speaking, the Degrowth is a trust agreement established within a community as a voluntary choice in applying best practices.

Finally, why a snail as a symbol of the Conference?
Concerning the use of the image of the snail you may think that metaphorically is the symbol of slowness and a slow way of life. But not only, in mathematics it represents a curve that starts from any point, but known, expanding in a contained manner.

Waiting to see the fruits of the conference, we hope that the positive trend advocated by the organizers, triggering a virtuous spiral in the coming months, in order to involve as many people as possible to follow the snail.

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Spazio Etico presents his project: Voce del verbo “RI-CELLULARE”

by Valeria Rocca

Have you ever heard about the “Witness of the snail”? The Austrian thinker Ivan Illich said «The snail teaches us the way to think of a happy and friendly “de-growth society”. Building the delicate architecture of its shell with larger and larger coils, the snail has to stop and begin to create diminishing convolutions to avoid that a too large one, rather than contributing to its wellbeing, become a serious overweight». The metaphor is easy to understand: the man must pursue his welfare making choices in respect of the environment and the world, exactly like the snail, without excessing.

Spazio Etico, an association working in many different fields in Lazio, supports this philosophy. According to Spazio Etico, if our everyday decisions can positively affect the world around us, why not to commit ourselves to avoid waste? Among their many activities, the project “Voce del verbo Ri-Cellulare” deserves special attention.

Recent studies say the cell is the most popular gadget in the world and the most frequently replaced. Do the people recycle their old mobile phones? Only the 3% of the word population. Recycling mobile phones is instead very important because it enables to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from landfill disposal of mobile phones and their batteries, to correctly dispose toxic materials contained in the cellphones (lead, cadmium, lithium), to prevent health problems, and to recover valuable metals. For more information we asked Mauro Speranza (project manager) some questions.

When was the idea of the project “Ri-cellulare” born and what are the main reasons that prompted you to promote it?
«The project "Voce del verbo Ri-cellulare”, was ideated in late 2009 as part of SPAZIO ETICO. On one hand we had the willingness to do something for helping the world we live in while on the other hand we realized that the increasing quantity of mobile phones does not correspond to an easy disposal system. In fact, very few people go to depots to dispose phones. So? Highly polluting items crowd the landfills or, at best, lie in drawers full of unused equipment».

Through which means was the project promoted?
«We planned a specific communication campaign using different channels, both classic and modern. First, we use the internet: the association’s website hosts a dedicated section and in the same time we use social networks. Furthermore, we don’t forget traditional channels such as social and cultural events. Information meetings and workshops were carried out in order to spread the activities and raise public awareness about the environmental impact of mobile phones, especially if they are not disposed by law. Collaborating with other associations which share the same values is very important for spreading knowledge of our activities. In addition to the associations, we are trying to involve the public bodies of the Lazio Region and of the Province of Rome (which sponsored the project) and the Municipality of Rome. An information campaign is also about to start in many schools».

Which objectives do you want to achieve with this project?
«We want to collect a growing number of used mobile phones in order to spread an environment-friendly culture, intended as a set of daily activities anyone can achieve in his daily routine. Furthermore, the association is trying to spread the culture of the “de-growth” and of the waste fighting, and this project pursues this aim».

Are you currently satisfied of the achieved results?
«The satisfaction is twofold: on one hand first results are encouraging in terms of number of collected phones (more than 2000), but above all we are realizing how much people can do if properly informed about the consequences of their actions».

Are you planning to export your project to other Italian regions?
«Exporting the project closely follows the interest it’s having across Italy. It's common to be contacted by other associations and partnerships are starting with some realities, especially in the Calabria region. Indeed, we are willing to support anyone who proves helpful in this regard».

We accept and spread with pleasure the invitation of Spazio Etico. All necessary information are available on the website.

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