The first face-to-face meeting of 'GreenSCENT - Smart Citizen Education for a Green Future', the project led by the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, which aims to raise awareness and change the behavior of citizens (particularly young people) in order to implement the European Commission policies as it regards the 'Green Deal', was held in Rome, from the 11 to the 13 October, measuring its effectiveness in terms of awareness, competence and implicit attitude, key factors for behavioral change for environmental protection and, consequently, for the survival of humankind.
The goals of GreenSCENT
Taking action on climate change and sustainable development: these are two of the key points at which Europe is aiming very much in order to achieve Climate Neutrality by 2050. GreenSCENT, led by UNINETTUNO and funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program of the European Commission, aims to establish, with a multidisciplinary co-design participatory approach involving experts, students, teachers and European citizens, the European GreenComp Competence Framework on the Green Deal, that will be adopted by schools and universities of all levels in the European Union; it aims, as well, to launch ECCEL, the “European License” for skills related to the ecological transition and sustainability.
The goal of GreenSCENT is to demonstrate how the involvement of European citizens, and especially young people, in experimental and participatory educational activities can generate increased awareness and positive attitudinal change leading to choices and behaviors that protect the environment, and consequently the entire humankind.
The project will last 36 months (1 January 2022 – 31 December 2024) and includes 15 organizations from various European countries: for Italy, beside the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, the company Engineering - Ingegneria Informatica Spa has joined it too; whereas, other partners come from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Spain; they include research organizations and agencies (such as the Barcelona Super Computing Center and the Finnish VTT), academic ones (such as the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and the University of Novi Sad), educational and business ones (including the European Certification and Qualification Agency).
The conference, the first in the face-to-face mode since the start of the project, hosted by the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO in Rome, was attended not only by representatives of the 14 partners, but also by Prof. Maria Amata Garito, Rector of UNINETTUNO, as well as some prestigious international guests, such as Prof. Riccardo Valentini, President of the Italian Society for Climate Science and member of IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a panel awarded together with Al Gore, the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, and an absolute excellence in the world of science, so much so that he was cited by Thompson Reuters in 2016 and 2017 among the most influential researchers in the world.
Valentini: "Change starts from citizens"
«This project is of great value because it speaks to citizens, who have begun to understand the importance of sustainability and climate change issues, and this makes them more informed and interested than in the past. This is something that our community of scientists can only be pleased about," are the words of Prof. Valentini himself on the sidelines of his speech at the Conference. "I have great confidence in the role of citizens," he adds, "because it is through them that society, production systems and economic models can be changed. This project therefore aims precisely at people to provide them, as much as possible, with tools and skills."
The goal of a more sustainable world starts especially with young people. "Many young people, through their civil protests, have shown a concrete concern for a future they see at risk," Valentini goes on. "They are probably more pragmatic than us, older people; they often are more aware of the questions of climate change. The problem, however, is that young people have not yet understood what their tools are to concretize this change. In this regard, we have to try to empower and make them play a more active role: only in this way can things change."
Garito: “An international project, our University is aiming very much at it”
Attending the meeting was also Prof. Maria Amata Garito, Rector of the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO who, alongside Alessandro Caforio, Project Director of the event, spoke about the importance of this project. «Our university is aiming very much at it. Inside there are distinguished names, both Italian and international, who make up the Scientific Committee of this project. At the same time, I have created a group of globally recognized experts working with international organizations on issues related to the ecological transition». A point, this latter one, of great concern for the Professor, who reaffirmed the importance of involving «in all countries, scientific personalities who can help bring something different to life with respect to what is the problem of this Century. Therefore, the goal is to create an International Scientific Committee that will make the results of this three-year project known to all of Europe. I would like - Prof. Garito concludes - that the results of this great work can have a significant impact, especially in raising awareness of the danger humankind is experiencing as regards environmental disasters, and in generating in European citizens and especially young people a behavioral change in support of environmental protection, ecological transition, and sustainability so as to ensure the survival of the humankind itself."
UNINETTUNO and the other partners involved
A total number of 15 partners are involved in the 'GreenSCENT' project. In addition to the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO there are: ECQA (Austria), DBT (Denmark), MAYK and VTT (Finland), Agorize (France), Climate Risk Analysis (Germany), Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece), Engineering - Ingegneria Informatica Spa (Italy), Royal School of Transilvania (Romania), Smart Gimnazija and University of Novi Sad - Faculty of Science (Serbia), 4Sfera Innova, Barcelona Super Computing and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain).
The project website is https://www.green-scent.eu/.
The project is co-funded by the European Union Research and Innovation Program Horizon 2020, contract number n° 101036480.