A humpback whale leaping out of the ocean, leaving the plastic behind, to soar towards the colors of the rainbow and flowers and finally breathe again. She is the protagonist of the splendid smog-eating mural inaugurated on Friday 3 May on the façade ofRita Atria Institute Of Cataniathe metaphor of a better future for our planet.
1, 2, 3…Breathe!
In addition to being wonderful creatures, capable of communicating thanks to real “songs”, the whales they contribute to the mitigation of climate change because they are, among living beings, those that store a greater quantity of carbon in their skeletons.
The work, painted by the street artist Emanuele Pokiis inspired by the drawing created with professor Claudia Fiorini from classes 2A and 3Bwinners of the special recognition in the latest edition of project “1, 2, 3…Breathe!”.
The initiative was born six years ago from an idea of Liquigas and has involved, so far, 300 thousand male and female students Of 4 thousand Italian middle schools. It fits into the teaching program with a approach multidisciplinarythanks to a series of contents developed by a team of experts and dedicated to in-depth analysis of the characteristics andimpact of different energy sources.
Air pollution at the center of the political debate
The Catania mural adds to those already created in Milan And Cremona; all three have the aim of launching, even outside the classrooms, an important message: by using energy responsibly, each of us can contribute to protecting the environment and improving air quality. A theme that is at the center of current affairs: on the occasion of G7 climate, energy and environmentthe ministers of the most industrialized countries have reiterated their commitment to limiting the emissions of polluting substances and the European parliamentarians did the same in April, adopting new measures against air pollution.
“We are pleased to be able to inaugurate this important project today for the community of Catania, aimed at improving air quality and raising young people’s awareness of the importance of environmental education,” he declared Andrea Guzzardi, councilor with responsibility for public education, school buildings, agriculture, sea and fishing of the municipality of Catania. “Thanks to the collaboration with Liquigas, we have created a mural on the facade of the school with the aim of creating a healthier urban environment and stimulating sustainable behavior to reduce air pollution”.
Liquigas’ sustainability objectives
Liquigas is an Italian company, part of the group SHV Energywhich has been distributing LPG and LNG to families, businesses and public administrations for almost forty years over 1,300 municipalities who do not have access to the methane network. These are accessible energy solutions capable of significantly reducing the impact on air quality compared to sources such as pellets and coal, helping to avoid the depopulation of some of the villages most beautiful in Italy and to bring the energy transition to the entire national territory. The company has set itself particularly ambitious objectives, monitored every year through sustainability reports: as a SHV Energy group, the commitment is to replace all fossil fuels with energies renewable.
“At Liquigas, for years, we have dedicated ourselves with commitment not only to making our activities more sustainable, but also to raising awareness about air pollution. It is for this reason that we have created the educational program ‘1, 2, 3… Breathe!’, which aims to train future generations through a clear and effective educational path, which illustrates the existence of sustainable energy sources and the need to adopt solutions capable of protecting the environment and the air we breathe,” he commented Patrizia Valli, responsible for safety, environment and sustainability at Liquigas.
The photocatalytic painting of the Boero Group
L’arta bit like music, is a language universal which can really make a strong contribution to the conveyance of important issues such as air quality. In this case, as explained by theengineer Nicola Maugeriis also a tool capable of actively contributing to the absorption of smog: the Catania mural, like the previous ones, was in fact created with a painting photocatalytic provided by the Boero Group, called Solarya 65capable of transforming up to 65 percent of the harmful gases present in the air into substances with reduced environmental impact.
The attention of young people to the protection of nature
“With this mural we wanted not only to contribute to further spreading greater awareness about the importance of defending the environment in which we live, but above all to support the will of the school and its neighborhood to send an important message, about concerns and hopes of the new generations. I thank the councilor, the principal Concetta Patrizia Tumminia and the classes who participated in this initiative”, he concluded Alessandro Falzettamarketing & customer excellence director of Liquigas.
Most young people are very sensitive to sustainability issues: we see it with the activists of the movement Fridays for future who regularly demonstrate in squares around the world, but we also see it in the students who choose to dedicate their studies to the protection of natural resources. The thank you plaque placed under the mural will remind passers-by to stop and breathe every now and then, taking time to admire the beauty of our planet.
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