After a long and passionate preparation, “Iess – Ecological and social innovation at school – contributions from Piacenza schools to Agenda 2030” begins, an education and action project for the objectives of Agenda 2030, promoted by Legambiente Piacenza with the collaboration of APS energy experts. Supported by the Iren territorial committee and the Piacenza and Vigevano Foundation, with the participation of numerous schools, the Municipality of Piacenza through the Ceas Infoambiente, and in collaboration with third sector bodies such as Csv Emilia, Arci, Mondo Aperto, Fabbrica&Nuvole, cooperative social Des Tacum, the project is now aimed at managers and teachers of schools of all levels. The initiative aims to discover and collect, catalyze and enhance the positive experiences of ecological and social transition carried out by Piacenza schools. All the details were illustrated in a press conference called on the morning of Monday 17 June in the main hall of Palazzo Rota Pisaroni in Piacenza.
The objective of Iess is to spread good school practices throughout the area, so that we can all be an active part of the change together, starting right from the school. “We will do it – they explain Laura Chiappapresident of Legambiente Piacenza “E.Politi” club, e Rosita Folli, responsible for the project – bringing small but significant ecological and social innovations out of individual school classrooms, which deserve to be known and disseminated both within school complexes and between different institutes. From today we invite schools to propose themselves spontaneously, nominating their projects already completed or in progress that pursue one or more objectives of Agenda 2030. Among these, a group of experts from all over Italy will choose ten projects particularly interesting and replicable which will be documented, disseminated and shared between schools and in the area, with the protagonism of children, young people and teachers, who will be offered active workshops to increase and update their communication skills. Twinning between classes will facilitate the exchange of experiences which will take place in an original and fun way. Iess will be an opportunity to meet, get to know each other, exchange experiences to feel better, leaving room for experimentation, creativity, open to innovation that helps the community grow”. Chiappa underlined the importance of working online. “The network must work to highlight all the good practices of the schools – she said – it is essential to make school projects a fundamental element for the territory”. Folli brought some examples of projects carried out by schools: two third-year primary classes in Podenzano and San Polo, together with teachers and families, created “The art of recycling in the kitchen”, a handbook with tricks and recipes “for delicious dishes , zero waste, preserving precious resources for us and for the planet”. The “Garden in Conduct” project was born from the Des Tacum social cooperative.
“The Iren territorial committee of Piacenza – he observes Selina Xerra, director of Corporate social responsibility and territorial committees of the Iren group – immediately believed in the project and decided to support it for the attention it pays to issues of environmental and social sustainability, the involvement and collaboration between various local actors and, not lastly, the active participation of schools and young people. Many elements that make this project a virtuous example of valorization and diffusion of good practices of ecological and social transition, particularly consistent with the objectives and actions that the Iren Territorial Committee has been carrying out for 10 years now”. “The social and ecological innovation that the 2030 Agenda promotes concerns all of us as citizens – the words of Elena Uber, councilor of the Piacenza and Vigevano Foundation – and even more so the new generations. It is essential that a new development model spreads throughout schools and contributes to raising greater awareness among children and young people. As a Foundation, we are attentive to the invaluable role that school communities can have, both in the dissemination of good practices and as a tool for involving families on these issues”.
