Welcoming address
Simona Bizzarri
Member of the Board of Directors of the Simone Cesaretti Foundation
Opening session
Moderator : Ilaria D’Amico
Presentation of the Simone Cesaretti Foundation
Augusto Marinelli
Rector, Università degli Studi di Firenze; Vice-President, Simone Cesaretti Foundation
Round table:
Massimo Clementi
Director and underwater photographer
Aldo Cosentino
Chief Executive Officer, Directorate for Nature Protection, Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea
Marco Pecoraro Scanio
Senator of the Italian Republic
Cino Ricci
Skipper of “Azzurra”
Prize-giving
Among the statutory objectives of the Simone Cesaretti Foundation is that of deepening knowledge of the issues concerning safeguarding the sea, with particular reference to Marine Protected Areas, and to use youth to advantage as the propelling force in sustainable development. Hence, for the first Forum on 2nd April 2008, the Foundation organized the ”Youth and the Sea” Competition. The Competition aimed to facilitate knowledge and raise the awareness of young people as regards the sea, understood as a system of environmental, economic, social and cultural resources which must be protected, used and enhanced in the framework of Sustainable Development. The main objective was to promote the sea as a resource, by stimulating the conception and creation of project ideas through communication modes which young people themselves consider effective as a means of reaching their peers and raising their awareness. Therefore, the Competition set out to reward the most outstanding projects with respect to creativity, innovativeness and originality in developing measures to promote and enhance the sea. On the occasion of the prize-giving for the winners of the “Youth and the Sea” Competition, a round table was held attended by scholars, journalists and experts, teachers, students and participants in the competition itself. Simultaneously with the Conference, an exhibition of the many works submitted was mounted by the Foundation to give visibility to the project ideas realized.