Forum “Youth System and Sustainability of well-being: WWF Italy introduce itself” – Naples, Palazzo Pacanowsky, 05.10.2012
The Simone Cesaretti Foundation has organized this Forum as a first meeting between WWF Italy and university students and not, to start a long-term path that allows them to be engaged, empowered and informed about environmental issues and opportunities of individual, social and professional actions, existing to deal with it, through the knowledge of the largest international environmental Association, the WWF. At the end of the Forum, the Simone Cesaretti Foundation has delivered, for 2012, prize “Excellences of Sustainability” to the WWF Italy as an exemplary model of establishment engaged in the field of environmental sustainability.
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In the Forum are showed many new job opportunities in the environmental field shown : Youth System and Sustainability of well-being: WWF Italy introduce itself” organised at Palazzo Pacanowsky by WWF Italy, University of Naples “Parthenope ” and Simone Cesaretti Foundation .
Started from Naples the path to allow the environmental dimension to replace young people in the middle of the process of rebuilding and renewal of today’s society and construction of their future project, identifying new employment opportunities for Italian university students to create economists, naturalists, biologists, educators, farmers, tourist operators and all those environmental professions that are necessary for an increasingly sustainable society .
The Forum was a first meeting with the University students, but also open to high school students, to start a long-term path that allows them to be engaged, empowered and informed about environmental issues and opportunities of existing individual social and professional actions, to deal with it, through the knowledge of the WWF, the largest international environmental association.
Thanks to the extensive network of universities of Simone Cesaretti Foundation, this is the first in a series of meetings at other involved universities to talk to young people, in particular by transferring a methodological approach and a stimulus for new professional profiles consisting of the “green jobs”.
Many were the speakers, beginning with Claudio Quintano, Rector of University of Naples “Parthenope” who, greeting the students, recalled the commitment of the University to form young people on environmental issues, for themselves and for future generations.
Augusto Marinelli, former Rector of the University of Florence and Vice-President of the Simone Cesaretti Foundation, telling the historic process to the centrality of environmental sustainability, questioned about strategies needed to overcome the dilemma between Economics and Environment, underlining the important role of research, training and network of universities and research centres established by Simone Cesaretti Foundation
Severino Nappi, Councilor for Employment and Vocational Training of the Campania Region recalled how the Region starting from the young and from the recovery of the territory has invested to promote real employment and quality.
Gian Paolo Cesaretti, President of Simone Cesaretti Foundation said “Now more than ever the” youngsters ‘ system is at risk for two fundamental reasons: young people are no longer able to project themselves into the future and there are no conditions for their active participation in today’s society. This is due whether to the absence of “a society project” that prevents them from having a horizon or for the qualitative and quantitative inadequacy of “training models”, “employment models” and ” associative models”. Therefore the Simone Cesaretti Foundation , engaged since its inception in 2007, in the implementation of initiatives that focus on youth, with today’s initiative, has started up the project that want to push the society to engage, on the one hand, in the promotion of the culture of sustainability and well-being and, on the other hand, in the definition of new training models, new models of employment, new associative models. “
Alberto Manelli, General Director of the National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) said that despite the cuts on research, the agricultural enterprise has to produce and defend the territory and biodiversity, create quality and offer then great opportunities for young people. So It doesn’t have to deal only with traditional production. For the management of water resources, for example, skills to work in land reclamation authority as well as in the field of food safety, to improve the production quality making it more sustainable without decrease the amount, must be created. In Italy there are 13 million hectares of farmland and agriculture must be at the heart of the process for a greater sustainability. At the moment, in Italy, we fail to produce enough quality products for the market. “
Raniero Maggini WWF Italy Vice-President remind that with the citizens participation and the right technologies is possible to improve. It’s necessary to start from a more responsible individual behaviour and be projected in the building of a more sustainable world, as in Bagnoli, where the separate collection has reached 90% thanks to door to door sponsored by WWF in collaboration with the town.
Adriano Padia, WWF Italy General Director, has listed the WWF Italy data. According the results WWF has 450 thousand members and supporters, manages dozens of local and international projects, has many volunteers, a network of lawyer and staff, manages more than 30 thousand hectares of nature reserve in 100 oasis, several environmental education centers, has created a foundation and two companies that demonstrate how, already now, it is possible to work in the environmental sector.
Marco Costantini, Head Officer of WWF Sea Programme, ex brain drain as marine biology researcher, stressed how WWF works in an international network for the protection of the Mediterranean in Southern Europe and North Africa countries. Mediterranean is rich in biodiversity and requires for its protection of new professions, not only for biologists but also economists, multilingual translators, and diplomats.
Isabella Pratesi, Director of international conservation policies, told through beautiful pictures of nature that in the Congo basin thousand people have been already working for WWF in many projects to protect this rich territory that hosts in its forests, gorillas, bonobos, elephants and a huge biodiversity that coexists with the local population.
Antonio Canu, WWF Oasis President stressed how many skills are necessary in order to preserve the protected areas, as is the case in the 100 WWF Italian oasis. Through various companies and cooperatives, born on the territory thanks to the activities of WWF, about 400 people among educators, naturalists, scientists, farmers are working now in rural hospitality producing foods in protected areas, as in the case of products of “Land of the OASIS” .
Francesco Pesce, Manager of Val D’agri Project in the Region of Basilicata and Chiara Massacesi of WWF Research and Projects have shown the ended project “value of nature” which in Basilicata was able to combine tourism and valorization of the territory.
At the end of the Forum the Simone Cesaretti Foundation presented, for 2012, the prize “Excellence of Sustainability” to the WWF Italy as exemplary of establishment engaged in the field of environmental sustainability.