The environment twittering

by Eleonora Anello

What is the best use of Twitter by the environmental communication is an entirely new subject, little known but certainly of great interest. The year we left behind will go down in history as that of social networks. In Italy it was no doubt the boom of Twitter.

In the environmental field the last brave to jump into microblogging was the Arpat inaugurating his account @arpatoscana.

To tweets, short messages containing no more than 140 characters, have been given updates on the Tuscan environment and the main events that involve the agency. In particular, news and information on the environmental status of the territory; flash events on the agenda and control activities, updates on new legislation, any information relating to environmental emergencies, reports of meetings and events, publications of reports produced by the agency; as well as multimedia materials such as videos and images.

«Experiment and test its presence on social networks is one of the goals ARPAT was given in 2012 - said in a press release - Among the possible options, Twitter was chosen for the natural aptitude towards this social media to support the real-time information and frequent snapshots. Twitter inserts the information tools of the agency acting as a sounding board for news already spread through the website or other media but it also offers as a new channel, able to receive and convey information assets, unexpressed, as in the case of updates flash».

And to encourage dialogue and action with others, in sharp contrast to the behavior observed in the use of Twitter by public administrations, Arpat decided to integrate the new channel in its system by exploiting the capabilities of listening and dialogue sharing. The agency is indeed frequently used for operations such as selecting a group of accounts to follow (the following), the recovery of environmental information from third-party account by using the "retweet", use the hashtag, preceded by the words pound sign (#), to encourage dialogue and interaction with others.

Till now the public administration presence on Twitter is in many ways similar to their debut on the Web, where sites actually exist, but only served as a showcase. We are confident that the adoption of Twitter by the institutions concerned with environmental issues will boost soon from this initial phase, where the mechanisms of use are not yet consolidated, and learning is still in progress. In this context, Arpat represents the avanguardia of this new and fascinating way of communicating.

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I click "I like" and save a forest

by Silvia Musso

Thousands of peopl use social networks every day, so what better tool to give your messages the widest echo possible? From this simple but true observation the campaign "One like One forest" by Lifegate, launched on December 14th, has derived. For each Facebook user who clicks on "I Like", a square meter of forest in Argentina, is saved helping to preserve an area rich in biodiversity. Today there are nearly 19,000 users who have clicked "I like", number that is equivalent to as many square meters of saveguarded forest.

«With this initiative we want to share the idea that doing something concrete for the environment is simple and requires no great sacrifice or effort - says Enea Roveda, Marketing Director of LifeGate - in this case, to contribute to the protection of a forest a click is enough».

While the campaign is having a great success, it is also true that Facbook users spend several hours a day to post messages, make comments, report links and chat, and "I Like" "I do not like" is the fastest, but sadly superficial way, to share your opinion: it is not the best way to create environmental awareness about an issue. Often, those who click on the thumb icon do not take an active part in discussions and shy express their opinion without exposing themselves.

But perhaps the goal justifies the means, considering the thousands of collected "I like", that are as many square meters of forest saved, but the work of communication to create a common and widespread awareness to save the forests can not be reduced to this.

Lifegate is surely aware of this, as shown by its many initiatives. LifeGate is in fact the first network for sustainable development that througout different communication channels – magazine, radio, web – promotes a new way of life and an economic model "People, Planet and Profit" where people, planet and profit live in harmony.

Among the many initiatives, we stress "Zero Impact", the first Italian project that since 2002 realized the intent of Kyoto Protocol alongside people and companies on a path of reducing and offsetting their CO2 emissions by contributing to the creation and protection of forests in Italy and worldwide, and the recent "Zero Impact Web" that will reduce and offset carbon dioxide emissions arising from the use of the Internet.

Original is, finally, the "Second day of sustainable beauty". Monday, February 13th hairdressing salons and wellness centers offer some bueaty services. The contribution is free and will go to forest conservation projects in Italy and Madagascar.

"One like one forest"is part of the Lifegate's largest communication project and aims to remember that every little gesture, in everyday life, counts and is useful for the planet's salvation as to turn off the water while soaping under the shower, turn off the monitors' LEDs, turn down the temperature by one degree.

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Farmville really exists! Be a Cyber-farmer

by Annalisa Tancredi

Once in his life anyone thought of leaving everyday life to start a new one in the country, growing sweet plants in his own garden. How many people would prefer to pick fruits and seed tomatoes rather than wriggle out of shelves and shopping carts to the rhythm of cash beeping?

Grow the Planet is a new social network, the Farmville of the real world, bound to become the new mean for sharing experiences among agriculture’s lovers and among those who want to transform a balcony into a mini-greenhouse for vegetables. The project is made in Italy and has been already approved by H-Farm, italian venture incubator, which has invested 70 thousand dollars in it. The portal was launched during TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, the most important competition for web startups.

Users can improve agricultural skills using a set of tools: on-line planning their garden, consulting vegs information sheets, exchanging tips and sharing demo video; they can also monitor the climate for protecting their greens in case of occasional showers.

In addition, the geolocalization of the garden has an added value for cyber farmers because it allows them not only to cultivate friendships and join in local communities to exchange seeds and vegetables, but also to get closer to potential customers, promoting the direct producer-consumer relationship, and facilitating the creation of joint purchasing groups.

"Grow the Planet is all about helping the home farmer, either expert or beginner, to build up their own garden. We would like to show how fun and easy is for everyone to grow organic vegetables on their own, in order to enjoy better food while doing something good for the environment" explains Gianni Gaggiani, the founder.

Grow the Planet highlights the need for the social networks for an evolutionary leap towards qualification in sector: users targeted, specialized contents and greater connection to real life. Eating healthy food "made in my garden", in fact, is good both for people’s health and for safeguarding the food chain and the biodiversity of our planet.

“It’s time to grow up and make a better world”… with rakes and mouse!

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