“For Beautiful City. Clean after Your dog”: a campaign without cliché for Belgrade

by Valeria Rocca

Belgrade makes itself heard. Not so much for its architectural beauty, but for a bold and controversial advertising campaign “For beautiful city. Clean after your dog” created by McCann Erikson Serbia, in collaboration with Alma Quattro, for the diffusion on the Internet.

Just the municipal administration of the Serbian capital demanded and funded this campaign to promote and develop environmental awareness among the citizens of Belgrade, especially those who have a 4-legged friend.The message the team wants to bring out of McCann Erickson is simple and clear, "Helps to beautify your town, remember to collect the needs of your furry friend", but what it’s still controversial are the images used to realize the campaign.

The choice of McCann Erickson is to attract attention with unusual and malicious shots, far from usual traditional clichés.

So Belgrade people have been seeing for a couple of months, on billboards around the town, irreverent photos showing in the foreground the B side of some models, and a model, collecting their dogs’ needs.

It’s a choice outside the box, which is controversial: feminists protest, experts are skeptical, the idea is not completely original and even a little corny, anyway success on the Web is enormous. From Facebook to Twitter the pictures of the campaign make go crazy and comments are enthusiastic and fun.

You can take a look here.

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Arte Mare Scienza Festival: a sea of history, science and culture, all to be enjoyed

by Anna de Polo

Imagine sitting in a bar after a long day full of events, enjoying a glass of wine or a cocktail, while someone tells tales of the sea, the sea in all its forms, from the roar of the sea storms to the silence of the submarine world, passing through stories of sailors and fishermen. This tempting experience can be enjoyed in occasion of the "Aperitivi con la Scienza” (Appetizers with Science), meetings in the middle between tale and scientific divulgation that are just one of the more than 150 proposals presented in the Arte Mare Scienza Festival: four days of events dedicated to all lovers of sea, nature and culture, where culture means also the rediscovery of the territory and its traditions. Organized by Sheraton Hotel Genova, in collaboration with the Marine Protected Area of Portofino, the Comune of Santa Margherita Ligure and major research institutions, the festival will take place in June 2 to 5 and will have as main theatre Santa Margherita Ligure.

«The idea -as explained by Alessandra Tixi, Press Office of the festival- comes from a group of friends with a desire to convey the wonders of the territory in which they live, the Park of Portofino, unfortunately known more for its mundane features rather than for its natural characteristics. The desire to create an event dedicated to lovers of nature and environment was what made possible to set up the Arte Mare Scienza Festival. The aim of the festival is to promote sustainable tourism, giving to different people the possibility to discover the territory and the traditions to 360 degrees».

And indeed the calendar is full of suggestions for everyone, young and old, experts, enthusiasts and merely curious. For the amateur of image they will offer contests that give the opportunity to capture glimpses of landscapes of difficult accessibility, as well as a course in underwater photography. Food lovers can discover the specialties of Liguria and learn how to consciously buy the fish, while for the youngests they will organize contests that test their skills in the creative design and the nature photography. In addition to all of this there will be courses, workshops and excursions (including sea-watching, diving, eco-kayak tours and excursions in four-plane above the cape) to know and experience the sciences, the arts and the crafts of the sea. Of note, among the various laboratories in the calendar, the Atelier MarineLife, edited by ArteScienza and Menkab, which presents the visual arts as a tool to communicate ideas and disseminate the scientific knowledge, by giving the chance to build three dimensional models of animals of the Marine Protected Area.

It is precisely this combination of visual arts and science that represents one of the strengths of this event, where the sea is the crossroad between science and tradition and its ability to join people of different cultures, ages and experiences is reflected in the heterogeneity of the events in the calendar. The enhancement of the territory and the communication of science and love for the sea through various modes of expression represent the ultimate goal of the festival, which, in its first edition, looks very promising, with a swirl of events not to be missed.
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Photo journalist for the environment

by Annalisa Audino

You could almost say that the “Big Brother” has an ecological little brother: he’s called Raeeporter.it and he is the new site of citizen journalism promoted by the consortium of the most important producers of appliances, Ecodom, in collaboration with Legambiente, that involves all those people who want to be protagonists every day, in the daily paper and in direct, of the respect of the environment. The task is simple: bring with you a small photographic car and be witnesses to all the RAEEs (Refusals from Electric Equipments and Electronics: washers, refrigerators, ovens, pc.) abandoned on the sides of the roads or in the unauthorized dumps, and therefore not correctly disposed of, reporting them on the site in real time.

Being among the collaborators of the site is fast: it is necessary to compile a form on the site furnishing your own data, a brief description of the abandoned RAEE, the indication of the place (city, street, raced, square) and to upload a photo. The refusal made public, the managers of the site will worry him about signaling him/it to the competent corporate body both it the Commune or a society of urban hygiene, so that can handle the recovery and the transport to the nearer Center of Harvest.

"All the participants will receive a nice complimentary gadget - the organisers explain – It isn’t in fact a competition for prizes but rather a "mission" for sensitive press-photographer to aid in the safeguard of the environment and the guardianship of the resources of our planet. We have chosen a great event media to involve the greatest number of people and to put in action all those people who will want to input his/her own sensibility for the environment and above all his/her own eye of hawk. We have once however I specify, or rather up to December 2010: on the homepage a counter that will calculate in real time all the reached signalings and with a click it will be possible to connect to the map of the peninsula on which as the icons of the sent photos will appear - The three best releases, selected for technical quality and aesthetics by a jury of experts, you/they will also be published on the sites of Ecodom and Legambiente and on the magazine on line of the Consortium, Ecodomnews, of January-February 2011".

The initiative is praiseworthy indeed: every RAEE, even if in different percentages, it represents a "reservoir" of recyclable (iron, copper, aluminum and plastics) materials and to recycle not only means to safeguard the resources of the planet but also to save energy. "The energy used for producing first subjects, in fact -the experts explain - it is decidedly superior to that necessary to reuse and recycle some RAEEs. In the case of the refrigerators and the conditioners, then, the presence in the refrigerant circuits and in the insulating foams of ozone-injurious substances and with an elevated climate-altering power makes it necessary and important that they be treated according to proper procedures and methods to prevent the expansion of so-called “o-zone hole” and the aggravation of the greenhouse effect".
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Environmental communication with strokes of clicks

by Eleonora Anello

On Saturday December the 4th 2010 at 4:00pm, in Sala Beppe Fenoglio, the Municipal Library on via Vittorio Emanuele II 19, in Alba (North Italy), will inaugurate the photography exhibition “Fotografiamo il Paesaggio” (Photograph the Landscape), which is sponsored by the Observatory for the Protection of the Langhe and Roero Landscapes, a consultation with the participation of the 25 local associations involved in the protection and promotion of the local landscape and environment.

To mark the occasion prominent experts were invited, which included: professor Sergio Conti, from the University of Turin, who will speak on geographical economics; professor Lorenzo Mamino, from the Polytechnic of Turin, who will speak on innovation and tradition, and finally professor Marco De Vecchi, from the University of Turin, who will focus on agriculture and soils. The conference will be preceded by a brief video message from Luca Mercalli illustrating land use.

The 75 photographs in the exhibition expose the landscape changes that have occurred in recent years through two types of images: those that represent the positive elements and those that show the bad that man has done. The initiative will also serve as a monitor, intending to highlight what can sometimes escape a casual glance. «It has been launched by using roughly 200 photographs we received from dozens of photographers who have sought to portray our territory in a good and bad way - explains Silvio Veglio, the President of the Observatory - By putting people in front of these images, we want to involve them personally, by calling them into question and focusing on their emotions, not to mention administrations and schools, and other main targets that we want to address. Our intent is not a complaint, instead we want to set off a debate in our target audience so that the landscape will be reviewed by the public in its various forms and dynamics, given the sudden and profound changes it has felt in recent years».

In this exhibition, environmental communication exploits the peculiarities of iconic messages, especially the immediate transmission of content, giving rise to emotional reactions and subjectivism, stimulating associations, attracting attention, and many more eloquent words.

The exhibition has free admission, and will remain open until December the 14th, while on Saturday the 11th at 9:00pm, there will be a screening of the movie “Il suolo minacciato” (The Threatened Soil), that describes and documents the changes related to the urbanization of the wild that has occurred in recent years due to the changes imposed on the Po Valley by man in respect to housing and production needs.

The sight of these works speaks volumes about the degradation of the landscape not only in aesthetics but also in culture, and the large and immediate threat it poses to the local area’s economy.
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Skyscrapers in waiting list

by Eleonora Anello

Can the skyscrapers been regarded as a symbol of modernity today? In a society that has discovered the right quantities, that adopts sober lifestyle in the respecting of the environment, tall buildings over 170 meters can represent it? These are the questions raised by the Committee of Turin “Non Grattiamo il cielo” (Not scratch the sky), created to fill the lack of a wide-ranging and constructive discussion with citizens affected by major planning changes. The decisions imposed from above, concern the construction of two skyscrapers, one of the Intesa San Paolo bank and the other of the Piedmont Region, intended to change the skyline of the historic Savoy city, overwhelmingly silhouetted on those mountains that in 2006 hosted the Olympic Games.

Do the citizens of Turin need a new symbol to identify with? Truly will enjoy the city new found fame? With all the brownfield sites in outlying areas, why building in downtown? How much energy does a skyscraper consume? Are these investments necessary for the city? These are the concerns communicated on the site by protesters that aspiring to involve citizens in the fight against the building of “unsustainable environmental emblems” -citing Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorological Society and AICA (International Association Environmental Communication) Scientific Committee member - relying mainly highly engaging activities through the web, without forgetting the presence on the territory that seeks to involve residents of affected areas to urban changes. One of the latest networking initiatives involved sending photographs depicting the landscape of Turin as it appears today from their window.

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at the Torre di Abele Library of Turin, the Committee turned to the government through the dissemination of an appeal initiated primarily by Italia Nostra (National association for the preservation of historic, artistic and natural heritage) asking to hear the voices of citizens and their economic, urban, landscape concerns. The press release starts from the consideration that the urban landscape, integrated into its natural surroundings and mountains, is a fundamental element of the collective heritage of Turin and it is necessary to support it as a cultural and social need, precise identification element for residents. The two towers are a strong element of striking discrepancy in terms of environmental sustainability in recent times the city tries to pursue. The Committed proposed not only a pause for reflection in order to rethink the project, but a lower impact alternatives aimed to reduce construction costs, management and consumption, and the opportunity was good also to boost petition on Firmiamo.it and on Facebook.

”Siamo vicini ai tuoi sogni” (We are close to your dreams), says the latest Intesa San Paolo commercial campaign, but if the shadow of the skyscraper will befall on its hometown will alienate some of the dreams of those who believe that their city needs care and investment behind the times, choices and sustainable technologies, renewable energy. Publishing the work “Lucia Forte sfida Renzo Piano” (from the Italian romance “I Promessi Sposi”) by Marco Pece alias udronotto, that represents the skyscraper under construction in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II built with LEGO bricks, we hope that the simplicity, the immediacy and the humorism of its message can continue to have a purely informational function that would bring other people to debate on these important changes. More...

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Our lifestyles will be "COOL" in 2030?

by Alessio Sciurpa

How to change our lifestyles in 2030? COOL - Change Of Our Life, the European Commission project operates in Germany, Italy, Greece and Latvia asking it. Five minutes film or six photographs to see how it could change daily life in relation to climate change. This is the theme of the Competition Multimedia International “Klima Clima".

The partners involved in the initiative are: Kolleg für Management und Gestaltung Nachhaltiger Entwicklung gGmbH (Germany), Foundation for Environmental Education (Latvia); Camera per la Cooperazione e Incentivo al Partenariato (Italy), Athens Network of Collaborating Experts (Greece).

“Klima clima” ask to the young participants (no more than thirty years) a photostory or an Internet movie with their vision of energy supply future, on consumption patterns of the coming decades and, more importantly, lifestyle desirable to implement an intelligent energy revolution.
The deadline for the multimedia contents is February 21, 2010.

A maximum of 150 characters will accompany the Photostory, whereas for the Internet movie is a limit of 5 minutes in any format and any device (short film, infotainment, commercials, documentary), in both cases, the products must have no more of two years.
The lack of specific technical requirements for video and the use a common language such as photography, allows to focus on environmental communication content the attention should extend to anyone participating in the contest.

Keep in mind that the works that were not in the native language of the countries that promote the project (German, Italian, Latvian and Greek) will be subtitled or translated in English, while those in the English language will have to declare which of the four countries, but only in one, intend to participate in the contest. Also this will allow participants to give their best, without having the English language limit.

The competition is divided in 2 levels, nationally and internationally, will have a first selection in each of the four countries. Subsequently, the winners of their respective national competitions will take part in international competition.

Each country will deliver a jury of filmmakers, scientists working on environmental issues and communication experts consulted in the website section Jury and Award.
From denote the site of the initiative thus becomes a vehicle for content related to climate change and institutions / organizations that, with scientific rigor, deal with it internationally. Those same organizations that often are cited in the midst of enumeration data and research, and too often confused and lumped together with reality and expressions which frankly have very little of scientific. Welcome, then better information on the work of these together, the topics relevant to the competition. In this regard, we invite you to read the original version of the article by John Tomlinson (The Michigan Mauler) Christopher Booker Prize 2009 winner, right on climate change. More...

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Crossmedia, environmental picture and climate creative

by Alessio Sciurpa

The excellence of environmental communication were awarded today in Turin (Italy). The VI edition awards ceremony of the AICA Prize was the opportunity to listen to the experience of the music band Motel Connection, their meeting with the Polytechnic of Turin and with a new ecology point of view, which have resulted in the cross-media project H.E.R.O.I.N. awarded today with the AICA Prize "Communicating with citizens improves environment. Communicating the Green Innovation ".

Robin Hammond's experience in the satellite link from South Africa, was awarded the Special Prize "Communicating the Kyoto Protocol," the photographer who has made for Panos Pictures the reportage on Tuvalu, a small island in New Zealand almost completely submerged because of the effects of climate change. But also an opportunity to explore a preview of the new project of the Open University Professor Joe Smith "Creative climate", which will be presented during the upcoming COP15 in Copenhagen and through that will explore the contributions of many actors, perceptions and communication of climate change during the next ten years, between 2010 and 2020.

A particular thanks goes to all those who have made the event possible: the City of Turin and the event sponsors Piedmont Region, Amiat and Erica soc. coop. More...

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AICA Prize 2009 - Edition VI

Friday, December 4 at 11.30 a.m. at the Hall of Columns of the City of Turin, Piazza Palazzo di Città, will presented the winning campaigns of the VI edition of the AICA Prize 2009 "Communicating with citizens improves Environment".

The Motel Connection to the complete: Samuel, Pierfunk and Pisti, withdraw the prize "Communicating with citizens improves Environment. Communicating green innovation" for the project H.E.R.O.I.N. - Human Environmental Return of Output/Input Network, cross-media project between music, comics, video game and the environment.

Will also be an opportunity to listen Robin Hammond, photographer, who has created for Panos Pictures the reportage on the island of Tuvalu, which won the Special Prize "Communicating the Kyoto Protocol". By videoconference from South Africa, will tell us about his experience on the island of Tuvalu, and with its population, one of the first examples of global environmental refugees, forced migration as a result of the effects of Global Warming.

Professor Joe Smith instead of the Open University will be awarded the Career Prize "Beppe Comin" and will be an opportunity to listen to his remarks at a few days to the climate conference of Copenhagen.

The awards ceremony will take place with the support of Piedmont Region, AMIAT, ERICA soc. coop. and the patronage of the Municipality of Turin.

Free admission subject to availability. For info and credits: Alessio Sciurpa - info@assaica.org More...

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A sustainable communication prize, not just in words

Announced today the winners of the AICA Prize of environmental communication 2009 "Communicating with citizens improves Environment”. The prize that highlights from six years the best actions of international environmental communication wants this year, just days before the Climate summit in Copenhagen, give a concrete signal. Two of the three winners will participate in videoconference.
Such choice allows to combine the savings in CO2 emissions, that air travel will inevitably leads, with the commitment in providing excellence in the field of environmental communication, without sacrificing the quality of contents for the public who will attend the award ceremony.
On the morning of December 4 with the support of Piedmont Region, AMIAT, ERICA soc. coop. and the patronage of the Municipality of Turin, will be awarded:

AICA Prize "Communicating with citizens improves Environment. Communicating green innovation", Motel Connection for "H.E.R.O.I.N. - Return of Human Environmental Output / Input Network" project;

Special Prize "Communicating Kyoto Protocol", Panos Pictures for the photo reportage on the island of Tuvalu;

Career Prize "Beppe Comin”, Prof. Joe Smith of the Open University.

The appointment is at 11:30 a.m., December 4 at the Sala delle Colonne of the City of Turin, Piazza Palazzo di Città, 1 – Turin (Italy), Free admission subject to availability.

Info e-mail to: info@assaica.org
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“Nonsolopuntaperotti4”. Interview with the Jury President Marcello Saponaro

by Letizia Palmisano

Starts NonSoloPuntaPerotti fourth edition, an italian photo contest created to denounce the “eco-monsters” in Lombardy (Italy), but extended throughout Italy for two years. Tell us something about.
«Born from Punta Perotti, the Apulian eco-monsters blasted with explosives, and from the idea that all eco-monsters that disfigure the Italian scenery deserve the same fate. It’s a game but I think also has a pedagogical value: the people (young and not) that participating, say with each picture to legions of assessors, architects and public officials that the landscape is part of the social, cultural and corporate capital of Italy and must be enhanced, not destroyed».

Any news in the IV edition?
«Meanwhile this edition is national. Like the previous of the rest. And then we have expanded to every digital image or scanned one denouncing urban or architectural havoc. So it is no longer limited only to photographs taken by mobile phone. The important thing is to capture the eco-monsters and report them».

The jury, which you chair, will be made up by who else?
«By historical components Guido Pollice (National President Verdi Ambiente and Società Onlus) and Fabio Fimiani (Journalist of Radio Popolare), by photographers like Fabio Treves and Silvia Tenenti; communication experts and journalists like Luca Conti (Consultant for Social Media) Massimo Mantellini (journalist and blogger), Edoardo Raspelli (Lead televised), Cristina Gabetti (journalist and writer). Edoardo Stoppa (personage tv of “Striscia la Notizia” for animals and ecology), Nicola Mattina (ICT Consultant), academics like Walter Fornasa, (Professor, University of Bergamo) and the business with Angelo Naj Oleari (Entrepreneur in the production and distribution sector of food and textile)».

You are at the fourth edition. What results did you get so far?
«Some buildings have been slaughtered. I am proud because I think a bit of merit it is of our contest also. I refer, for example, at the famous Hotel in Milan built for the World Cup in Zingonia, the one with shaped of " hair dryer". Who lives in Bergamo knows what needs to be reclassified Zingonia area... this is the quality of life goes from there, from the knocking down of the bad. Starting with the ugly. And its reconstruction».

Extension to national level means, up to now and last year, to a national participation? What are the most photographed subjects? There is a "prototype of eco-monsters" immortalized more frequently?
«Yes, the images come from all over Italy and I think that each type of eco-monster has been immortalized: from the industrial skeleton to the houses too "imaginative", from the unfinished bridge to the pouring of concrete. The prototype does not exist, there is a scale of ugliness it sees definitely at the top the abandoned buildings that are increasingly left to decay in our cities, become places of insecurity and deprivation».

In the last two years, other very similar photo contests were born. Do you feel inspired or "stolen"?
«I am sincerely pleased that major newspapers and big associations have sponsored similar initiative. None of us will succeed to win the battle, cultural rather than political, for the beauty alone. I wish that the schools did promoters of similar initiatives and call the public works assessor of the area to chair the jury! Unfortunately, only if and when they will not no longer necessary denounce it will mean we have understood that enhance our territory is our primary economic interest as well as ecological». More...

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Photography and environmental communication

by Alessio Sciurpa

Speaking of photography and environmental communications today in digital-photography era, as a means of representation of nature, is undoubtedly complex. Therefore we remain outside of the semiotic dispute if the photo is language, sign or means, to focus on meaning systems which make of the photography, like any other text in the communicative
meaning, an object of sense. Inspiring by the "Camera Lucida", in which Barthes says: The photograph itself is in no way animated (I do not believe in "lifelike" photographs), but it animates me: this is what creates every adventure.

A good example is the work related to climate change made by Panos Pictures on the island of Tuvalu. We spoke with Anna Stevens, Digital Assistant at the London agency: what is today, for your personal experience, the relationship between pictures and environmental communication?
Pictures can be massively effective in engaging people with issues around the environment, but sometimes they are too abstractly used. People seem to be strangely absent in most communication on the subject. A lot of the imagery on climate change for example has focused on melting glaciers, deforestation in the Amazon, belching chimneys, desert encroachment, often photographed from the air, and hasn’t changed since the 1970’s. Stunning and impressive though they may be, these images, are guilty of de-humanising climate change and rarely present us with anything that might inspire hope and action. I think this though is changing, and hope our work is part of this.

Half of your profits are given to the Panos Insititute to further its work on issues around media and communications, globalisation, HIV/AIDS, environment and conflict, why this choice?

Panos Pictures evolved out of the Panos Institute. After 11 years as part of the institute, it was decided that we could respond more quickly and effectively to the commercial challenges we faced as a company, rather than a charity and so established ourselves as such but the institute retained a major share in the company.

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Environmental communication in our mailbox

by Eleonora Anello e Francesco Rasero

Sometimes we receive e-mails from friends or acquaintances, with the request to forward them again. Some organizations have elected this web-based "Word of Mouth" as their communication strategy, which in most cases becomes effective thanks to the reliability of the sender (which acts as a virtual "gatekeeper") and the versatility of the instrument of multimedia presentations.

In 2007 the south-american organization GIA (Grupo de Impacto Ambiental), with the slogan "Reduce, reuse, recycle ...", made a presentation using several slides depicting some of the works of the Us photographer Chris Jordan and send it via email to “friends”. Two years later, the message has not yet ceased to travel around the world. This is a viral campaign produced at no cost that travels in millions of email accounts and each receiver exponentially multiplies the number of receivers.

The images of the presentation are part of the work by the American artist dedicated to environmental issues. "Running the Numbers" (2006-2009) focuses on contemporary consumerism and its huge waste production. To raise awareness, the artist publishes the first series of photographs named "An American Self Portrait", which reveals the numeric quantity of waste produced by his compatriots. In 2008 Jordan broadens his perspective and publishes the first edition of "Portraits of global mass culture" which portrays the same phenomena but on a global scale. The photographer claims to feel dismayed by the amount of waste produced nowadays in the world and with his works hopes to raise questions about the roles and responsibilities of individuals within our society.

The GIA has chosen Jordan’s work because it believes that people today are accustomed to sterile statistics and numerical communication of serious and important phenomena does not hurts anymore human consciousness. So, the “Power Point” presentation, collecting photos by the American artist, is designed to involve the user, inviting him to guess what lies behind the images appearing in full screen. As you go into detail you will see the "truth", what really the photos are made up: 426 thousands of mobile phones thrown every day, or 170 thousand batteries produced every 15 minutes or even 60 thousand plastic bags thrown away every five seconds or two million plastic bottles than every five minutes ends in landfills only in the United States.

The artistic image is then adopted as a means of environmental communication capable of entering into empathy with people, unlike the cold numbers that nowadays leave the recipient almost indifferent. Those who Jordan defines “the horrors of our time", thanks to the GIA have reached millions of mailboxes, with the intent to bring light on waste production issues and to spread the culture of recycling.
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