Regional Network

Italy

EARTHDAY.ORG: Italy

HISTORY

EARTHDAY.ORG operates in Italy as Earth Day Italia with the main objective of promoting the culture of sustainability and sustainable development through the awareness and involvement of citizens, in particular younger generations.

For this reason, we developed a platform that offers environmental information for 365 days a year and organizes events, cultural initiatives and communication campaigns to support the transition to a sustainable lifestyle.

The Earth Day focus on sustainable development, including environmental, economic and social aspects, meets the concept of “Integral Ecology” that inspires the Laudato Sì Enciclycal: Pope Francis joined the Earth Day Celebrations in Rome opening the “Villaggio per la Terra”.

Villaggio per la Terra

Villaggio per la Terra is the event created by Earth Day Italy to celebrate Earth Day: exactly like a village, which represents the best expression of the symbiotic relationship between the humankind and nature, so the Village for the Earth offers a model sustainable lifestyle.

Over 600 events organized by 300 organizations with the common goal of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with a media outreach of 190 million contacts and over 200.000 visitors.

VILLAGGIO PER LA TERRA Villa Borghese Roma 25 aprile 2018 © Andrea Veroni

CLIMATE LITERACY

Millennials make up around 30% of the world’s population and are arguably the most concerned generation when it comes to environmental sustainability and social issues: climate literacy and sustainable education programs are a fundamental challenge for Earth Day.

Young students, teachers, the Italian Ministry for Education and the Italian Ministry for the Environment are the key players of the Sustainable Education Festival, a core activity since the first Earth Day.

VILLAGGIO PER LA TERRA Earth Day Italia Villa Borghese Roma 23 aprile 2018 © Lorenzo Gobbi/Smile Vision Srls

The 50th anniversary will be a pillar for the  Global Compact on Education, organized by the Holy See.

Born out of a desire to promote the universal message of Laudato si’ in the context of the historic “Climate Agreement” signed in Paris, this event celebrates every year the United Nations’ World Earth Day.

In the beautiful and symbolic setting of the Villa Borghese in Rome, hundreds of civil society organizations supply the wide audience with a free and participatory experience of the extraordinary natural, human, and cultural heritage that is now seriously jeopardized by an exasperated market-oriented approach.

Young people are called upon to meet the challenge of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030 and thus become the real protagonists of an increasingly urgent ecological conversion.

VILLAGGIO PER LA TERRA Earth Day Italia Villa Borghese Roma 24 aprile 2018 © Lorenzo Gobbi/Smile Vision Srls

Student Engagement

MobilizeU is Earth Day’s higher education outreach program that is designed to engage university students and administrators to take action on Earth Day 2020 and beyond. This will be accomplished by recruiting student ambassadors to organize student climate activism, and by forming partnerships with administrators to bolster their participation on Earth Day. 

Organizing an Earth Day event is just one way to drive change. MobilizeU connects teachers and students with the tools they need to host teach-ins, organize cleanups, start sustainability clubs and promote plant-based initiatives on their campuses and in their communities.

Register your university as a Green Campus or become a MobilizeU Ambassador today.

COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS

Earth Day Italia implements global campaign and creates local programs, such as:

Io ci tengo (I care): supported and shared by hundreds of testimonials from the music industry, sport and entertainment, the campaign “Io CI Tengo” – I Care, promotes the adoption of sustainable behaviour in in everyone’s daily life.

#4Women4Earth: campaign aimed at creating awareness about gender equality.

Chiudiamo la forbice (Reduce the gap): Campaign aimed at creating and disseminating a culture of solidarity to close the economic, climatic and educational gap between the different parts of the world.

Communicating the Agenda 2030

YOU CAN BE A PART OF EARTH DAY 2020

In conjunction with youth climate groups, EDN is organizing mobilizations around the world on Wednesday, April 22, with sister marches in hundreds of cities. Clergy across the globe, inspired by the youth climate movement, are engaging in worship services that bring creation care themes and the moral imperative to act on climate change to the forefront.

EDN is also creating millions of avenues for civic engagement in the Middle East and North Africa countries and working with decision-makers, including policy makers, local, regional and national governments and corporate sector leaders, to reach a diverse network of citizens around the world.

Around the world, in classrooms, faith communities, and community-based organizations, both virtual and physical, teach-ins will be hosted to empower people as they learn about environmental and climate issues, and more importantly about the actions they can take to help.
EDN is developing downloadable, customizable resources to be used by teachers and students from Middle East and North Africa. Also, EDN will include Vote Earth initiative that aims to mobilize thousands of people in the region to demonstrate their concern for our planet by rejecting inaction and demanding change at the polls.

Earth Day Network is working to grow the environmental movement among the next generation of leaders – college students.
MobilizeU is bringing the environmental education efforts to university and college campuses around the world.

Citizen Science enlists members of the public to help conduct scientific research to meet real-world goals. Earth Day Network (EDN), The U.S. Department of State, and The Wilson Center are launching Earth Challenge as the world’s biggest ever coordinated citizen science campaign.

EC2020 will collaborate with existing citizen science projects as well as build capacity for new ones as part of a larger effort to grow citizen science worldwide. EC2020 will become a nexus for collecting billions of data observations in areas including air quality, water quality, biodiversity, and human health to strengthen the links between science, the environment, and public citizens.

The Great Global Cleanup is campaign in the Middle East and North Africa region to remove thousands of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.

Since 1970, the endeavor for moral, religious, and justice issues has become inextricably linked to the protection of our environment. EDN has engaged faith partners world-wide through a variety of campaigns.

From organizing an interfaith dialogue on climate change between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy, working with India’s Sikh community to reduce plastic consumption and waste in their temples, to our work with the Vatican, Earth Day Network is committed to further engaging communities of faith for Earth Day 2020.

Artists for the Earth is a collaborative campaign for artists that are using the power of their art to heighten awareness, increase relevance in everyday lives, mobilize action and illuminate the pathway to change for our planet and hope for the future.

EARTHDAY.ORG Contact

Massimiliano Giuseppe Falcone
[email protected]