A talk finally in presence and with the relevant parts which can be seen in the YouTube video “Environment, ecology and #everythingisconnected on the day of St. Francis 2021” to talk at 360° about assistance to change, was held at the Auditorium Marengo on the 4th of October 2021 on the feast day of St. Francis Patron of Italy. It was promoted by the Christian Workers Movement (MCL) and organized by the Union of Journalists and Communicators of Europe, with the purpose of participating and sharing the event on the social week that took place in Taranto.
The event was moderated by Efrem Bovo who allowed the exchange of ideas on the topics of the social week where everyone gave a contribution. Among the reflections that emerged, I wish to highlight the awareness that we are living a new beginning and, as such, new projects were proposed by Mayor Merletti, who wisely stated that: “at times when there are climate challenges, we should find the right way to protect ourselves and cope with emergencies. Avoiding such problems or solving them superficially, only leads to worsen the situation. Therefore, we must make a common front to the government asking for funds and a future concretization of the regulations, otherwise, we will never achieve anything. We inherited this powder keg in 2020 from the State Property Office, one of the largest in Italy, which made a work of qualification of the roofs of the 42 structures that make it up”.
In line with these goals, there was a discussion on the United Nations 2030 Agenda, in particular on social ethics, food waste and the importance of enhancing historical and cultural sites, such as the Cittadella of Alessandria, which are often “wasted”. Sciaudone affirmed: “Concerning the Cittadella, during my 30 years of work I have heard many projects, but the only one I found interesting is the one made by the Province on the energy of the territory, which starts from the arrangement of the ramparts bringing them back to how they were initially and therefore without vegetation, and then from this they foresaw a bicycle and pedestrian route with the recesses of the ramparts in a playground for children and benches to rest. I want to relaunch this project that has been abandoned”.
The valorization of the cultural, artistic, historical heritage and of the territory must be the basis of ambitious proposals that could concretely relaunch the urban planning and create better life perspectives. The fact of having a place like Marengo or the Cittadella, besides representing an enrichment from the historical point of view, might have a very strong human and social potential.
Furthermore, former mayor Piercarlo Fabbio stressed that: “we try to start from the overcoming of the digital divide and the need for a network. The network is a transfer of knowledge, the fastest possible and the quickest we know. This means that the information coming from the web is vital for our existence and to lead it with the typical rhythms of this society”. However, the net should not be understood as the only means of communication, but something that allows us to improve it. Therefore, the network cannot tell us everything: this is why it underlines the importance of family and elderly people, who are an incredible richness of knowledge, because some things that they tell us the network is unable to share. With regard to young people, even if it is not correct to categorize them in one big group, most of them do not conform to politics and society.
Finally, Marco Margrita, MCL President, highlighted the importance of involving young people who feel detached from this reality and the best way is to find new and right words to explain to them how everything is connected and therefore it is important to be together to understand things and to respond to the needs of our society, only in this way all the new possibilities will arise. Magrita concluded the talk by stating that: “the challenge of being a citizen, besides being an anthropological fact, is framed in the horizon of the political, it is in fact the call of the villanism of goodness that unfolds towards social friendship (quote Cardinal Bergoglio)”.
What was done in Marengo is an obvious experiment of social friendship where everyone was put on the same level in a narrative workshop, everyone made a contribution and no one was excluded. ” This is how grassroots movements are born, this is how we all realize that we are political animals and therefore naturally inclined to get together with others and figure things out,” Margrita concluded.
