Ahead of the G7 Environment on 11 and 12 June, Bologna becomes the capital of sustainability with hundreds of institutional and fringe events.
Bologna, capital of the environment. That is how the Italian city has been described as it hosts, from 5 to 12 June, the #All4TheGreen initiative — a programme of 70 events open to everyone, organised in collaboration with Connect4Climate, with the aim of arriving well prepared for what is the most important G7 of the year, even more so than the one bringing together heads of state and government in Taormina. We are talking about the G7 of Environment Ministers of Italy, Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, chaired by Italy's Gian Luca Galletti, on 11 and 12 June.
"We envisioned this week of great mobilisation in the city — explains Minister Galletti, who also happens to be from Bologna — as a unique opportunity for shared knowledge and awareness. We face a G7 Environment with many important open questions and steps forward to be taken: this decision-making process is not separate from society; we are all protagonists in it, on an equal footing. Institutions and major companies, environmental associations, operators and the university world have chosen to come together in #AllForTheGreen for the care of the environment — not only as a place of conservation, but as a lever for a new economic growth."
Bologna is no stranger to this kind of commitment and challenge linked to sustainability. Last March it had already been chosen to host the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (Ecmwf), putting itself forward to become a technology hub of global importance. A far from coincidental choice, given that the region already concentrates 70 per cent of national computing and data storage capacity, with over 1,700 researchers involved.
That is why the G7 "is also a crucial moment — Galletti concludes — for my city: today it truly has the foundations to establish itself as a place of environmental innovation." The Mayor of Bologna, Virginio Merola, shares the minister's view; he recently called on society to make a commitment on the fronts of climate change mitigation and adaptation. "In March we launched the call to action 'Collabora a Bologna città resiliente'. The results will be displayed in an exhibition accompanying the G7 events, which will remain open throughout the summer at the Urban Center.
Another unmissable event is the first forum on the circular economy, taking place at Palazzo Malvezzi on 7 June, entitled Ambiente, economia e territori: fare rete al tempo dell'economia circolare. The event is dedicated to sustainable growth and the positive experiences being realised in Italy, demonstrating how this form of development in our country is not only possible, but already a reality and an example for the rest of Europe. Materials, networks, green jobs, communication: these are the four keywords that best represent the environmental, social and economic potential of the circular economy as applied to the cycle of materials, the jobs of the future, the opportunities of network and distributive economies, and the role of communication. This gathering will then be followed by the first international water forum, to be held in September in Milan, again within the framework of #All4TheGreen.
Alongside the official events, it is also possible to take part in various parallel gatherings organised from the grassroots by organisations such as Legambiente and Greenpeace and by Bologna's social centres — including Tpo, Link and Labas — united under the banner G7M – Ambiente alla base, non al vertice. The venue chosen for most of the initiatives is the Parco 11 settembre 2001. It is also the starting point for the march planned for the afternoon of Sunday 11 June, the same day the G7 proceedings begin.
"The G7 Environment hosts positions and figures who deny climate change — the alternative summit declares — and others who support a model that is itself harmful to the environment. We want to rise to the great challenge this event brings with it: to succeed in delivering a message that breaks out of the bounds of invisibility and affirms that an alternative exists and simply needs to be put into practice."
All of this is proof, in practice, that the commitment invested over the years at every level of society — in Italy as in Europe — cannot in any way be undermined, slowed down or even threatened by the personal and political choices of a handful of people who still place profit and the interests of the few above those of the Earth, of biodiversity, and of the billions of people who believe in a future built on respect for and care of our common home. The only one we have.
