How will future generations judge us? Favourably, if we commit to leaving behind a healthier, cleaner world. Only then will we be good ancestors.
What we know about past generations depends on what they left us: stories, documents, objects. Through these testimonies we reconstruct and judge their lives and habits — that is what makes History so fascinating, far more so than the dates of great battles. But if that is the case, if we judge our ancestors by what they left behind, what will stop our great-grandchildren from doing the same? What will they think of us, of the pollution we produced, of the waste dumped in landfills and in the sea, of our consumption habits that drove global warming? In short, will they consider us good ancestors? What must we do to become one?
These reflections gave rise to the project conceived by LifeGate Come essere un buon antenato (How to Be a Good Ancestor), a three-phase training course developed by Pastificio Garofalo with the aim of raising awareness among the residents of the Gragnano area, where the company has operated since 1789. The underlying idea was to bring two different yet interconnected generations face to face — the "grandparents" and the "grandchildren" — so that today's ancestors, with their wisdom and experience, could pass the baton to tomorrow's ancestors, namely the very young, in order to build a cleaner and more sustainable world. In the awareness that past and present must speak to each other if we want to create a more sustainable future for everyone.
The project draws inspiration from the eponymous work by philosopher Roman Krznaric, who argues that our culture lives in the short term, seeks immediate gratification and treats the future as a space without inhabitants. Tackling the climate crisis requires long-term thinking instead, and asking ourselves what our real impact on the Planet is. "We must become good ancestors," the author states, "because, until now, human actions have never been so potentially damaging to future generations." It is therefore necessary to act as quickly as possible, with initiatives that help shift perspective and change the most impactful everyday behaviours. The Pastificio Garofalo and LifeGate project is a prime example of this.
The initiative involved two classes from the Istituto scolastico paritario Santa Croce in Gragnano, totalling around forty students aged between 16 and 19 and about ten "seniors". The selection was made through a questionnaire written by LifeGate with targeted questions on sustainability, addressed to a group of over-60s willing to engage with the young participants.
The first two phases of the project took place at the school, with students and seniors sharing the same desks. During the first, preparatory phase, educators selected by LifeGate screened a video interview with Roman Krznaric to introduce key concepts for the discussion, such as the "marshmallow brain" — which seeks immediate gratification — and how it must be balanced by the "acorn brain", that mental faculty capable of greater awareness and foresight.
During the second, more experiential phase, participants worked together on visualisation exercises drawn from the book, such as the blindfold exercise: imagining the world you would want without knowing in which generation you will be born. The aim is to create common ground, stimulate empathy and prepare both groups for a dialogue capable of generating shared commitment to environmental challenges.
The third phase took place at the Pastificio Garofalo offices over two consecutive mornings. Guided by LifeGate's moderation, the youngest participants and seniors discussed several fundamental topics: waste, emissions, the circular economy and the relationship with the local territory. Participants were divided into four working tables and, through targeted questions, each group debated to identify sustainable solutions based on everyday choices. At the end, the groups shared their conclusions on how to become good ancestors.
At the end of the journey, the project's objectives were achieved: the young participants were encouraged to think long-term, about how to become good ancestors for those who will come after them, indirectly raising awareness among their families at home too; the seniors led by example, shared their own experiences, but also had the chance to reflect on what they had done and on what can still be improved. All participants, together, were projected towards the future and the generations yet to come. The intergenerational exchange enacted throughout the programme helped the young people focus on the bond with those who came before them, to ask themselves whether those people, in turn, had acted as good ancestors, and to reconstruct a picture of past actions in order to understand what was valuable, what has been lost over time and what can be reassessed to face the environmental and social challenges of our era.
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