Elba 2035: Our Call to Action for the Future of the Island
Elba 2035: Our Call to Action for the Future of the Island
A revolution which started from just one question: how would you imagine Isola d'Elba in 2035? A question which seems simple only at first. Indeed, it is not easy, especially in today's society, to think over such a long term. An effort which somehow also implicates rethinking ourselves, as well as our mentality, our lifestyle, our habits, our economy and development strategies for the island.
All under the guiding light of the same keyword: Sustainability. An innovative project which started last year within the ambit of the Sea Essence International Festival, the festival promoted by Acqua dell'Elba in support of safeguarding the sea and its beauty, and which this year expands, setting sail towards an ambitious target: drafting the first Sustainability Manifesto for Isola d'Elba, to contain high-level programmatic guidelines with the aim of turning sustainability into the starting point of every territorial development and marketing strategy on Elba.
Thus Acqua dell'Elba, promoting this project with the prestigious collaboration of EY, a global professional management consultancy network, chose to involve all of the most important players from the worlds of politics, culture, the environment, associations, education and technical experts, so that they may contribute by sharing their own vision for the sustainable future of Isola d'Elba. A participatory approach which has already involved 12 "Visionaries", among which the renowned names of Luca Mercalli, meteorologist and scientific populariser, Francesco Petracchini, researcher at CNR (Italy's National Research Centre) and scientific populariser, as well as Enrico Giovannini, economist, academic and former Minister for Socio-Economic Policies and president of ISTAT (Italy's National Statistics Centre).
Among the first participants of Elba2035, how could we omit those who truly represent the future of the island: the youth? This is the reason why the next Wednesday 12th of February, approximately 100 students from the third classes of the Foresi Institute in Portoferraio will be involved in two very stimulating initiatives:
The first is a video contest, a real competition giving students the opportunity to express their vision of the future through one of their favourite media, a short video clip. Ten of the best ideas may be selected as part of the work leading to the drafting of the Manifesto.
The second is a Hackathon, a marathon of ideas taking place on the 23rd of March, during the week of World Water Day. The proposals advanced by the students will then be shared and evaluated during the following steps of the ongoing work, and will be fundamental in the definition of the programmatic guidelines for sustainable development.
In the meantime, a first concrete step will be taken on the 20th of March, the date on which everyone involved in the workshops will come together for the first time.
The plan is then to officially present the first Sustainability Manifesto for Isola d'Elba on the 4th of July, during the 3rd edition of SEIF.