Umbria and the Mosaic of Sustainability. The Case Study of the ZEN Project (Zero Impact Cultural Heritage Event Network)
A 8-minute read
Is it still possible to speak of sustainability? According to the experts, the term appears by now to have lost its revolutionary power to change the lifestyles of the world’s population, turning into a mere marketing tool. To understand how we got to this point, it is useful to take a step back. The term was born with the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (Wced – http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm) and the Brundtland Report (http://www.clubofrome.org/) in 1987, in which sustainable development is defined as «development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs». It means spurring economic growth that improves the quality of life while respecting the ecosystem. Over time, scientists, NGOs and policy makers have given sharper outlines to the concept of sustainability, highlighting both the elements of respect for human beings (social sustainability) and those of environmental protection (environmental sustainability). Around this definition a vast debate has developed and persists. When the term first appeared, many claimed that the word would probably not survive, being considered unclear or unsatisfactory. History has not borne out that prediction. «Not only has the word survived – recalls Michael Renner, senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute – it has in fact grown beyond measure in the last twenty years. A quick Google search is enough to see how the term comes up millions of times, depending on how it is searched».
According to the Worldwatch Institute researcher, however, the growth of the term sustainability has had unexpected effects, turning it into a highly effective marketing weapon: «In recent years people working in marketing have realized that it is not actually possible to sell a product unless it is somehow associated with a green concept». Today many advertising images evoke the concepts of environmental protection and the safeguarding of environmental resources. In such cases we speak of green washing, a term coined in the early 1990s by Greenpeace to describe «cynical, superficial, public relations marketing», and it designates an undue appropriation of environmentalist virtues by a company, a business, a government, to give itself a green image, with the ultimate aim of selling more.
Faced with this association of the concept of “sustainability” with the most disparate subjects, products and initiatives, the risk is that of watering down the revolutionary potential of the term and, as a result, of blocking or slowing down the measures needed to improve the living conditions of future generations. We must therefore ask whether it is still possible to speak of sustainability and, from the standpoint of local development, how the community of Umbria can take a concrete part in the global debate and carry out concrete measures aimed at implementing sustainability and sustainable actions in a holistic way.
From the standpoint of regional values and strategies, the principle of Sustainable Development is a founding principle (see Regional Law no. 21 of 16 April 2005, New Statute of the Umbria Region, Article 11) and a general criterion of the Umbria Region’s policies, in whose name processes and pathways are to be fostered that address the whole set of priorities of strategic value for the environment and for economic and socio-cultural aspects, with an integrated approach to the planning and management of territorial resources. In Umbria the themes of sustainability belong to all the regional programming instruments, thus constituting elements that cut across the planning of regional activities. Since it is not possible here to give an account of all the policies and measures carried out by the Umbria Region in the field of sustainable development, we take a pragmatic approach and focus on a defined economic area, that of major-event tourism, and in particular on the case study of the ZEN project (Zero Impact Cultural Heritage Event Network), led by Sviluppumbria.
The Case Study of the ZEN Project (Zero Impact Cultural Heritage Event Network)
Conferences, major events, conventions, concerts. Thousands of people in the audience, hundreds of stands to set up and dismantle, tons of paper for catalogues, accreditations and press kits, quintals of food to feed the visitors, hectolitres of drinks and thousands of small water bottles to quench their thirst. And then astronomical electricity bills, air conditioners to heat and cool the premises. Those attending a public event often underestimate the impact it produces on the environment. The ones who cannot afford that mistake are event organizers. Above all, but not only, if they promote themes tied to the reduction of environmental impacts and to ecological sustainability. The battle to minimize emissions, waste, and the squandering of food, water, paper and other natural resources is as necessary as it is complicated. Above all, it cannot be fought only at the local level: it requires the sharing of solutions and experiences internationally. But is it really possible (and economically viable) to build a low-impact event? What critical issues and best practices can Umbria share?
Precisely to answer this question and to provide a set of guidelines for event organizers all over the world, twelve European organizations (from Italy to Latvia, from Romania to Spain, from the Netherlands to Slovenia), representing local authorities, academic institutions and public agencies, came together to implement the ZEN project (Zero Impact Cultural Heritage Event Network). Among them, as the project’s main inspirer, the Umbria Region, and Sviluppumbria, which acted as the project’s lead partner.
Events and festivals have, over the centuries, played a key role in the construction of our identity, both as individuals and as communities. As awareness of sustainability and environmental issues grows, there is a parallel rise in the level of interest in Green and Sustainable events and festivals. The London 2012 Olympics, for example, had the lowest level of environmental impact ever recorded in the organization of events of that scale. This trend has lately been becoming more and more evident in smaller-scale events as well. A recent survey conducted among participants in events organized across Europe found some interesting data for the public institutions and private bodies that organize events (for the full research see also http://zen-project.eu/new/):
– 50% would be willing to pay a higher ticket price if this could help reduce the event’s impact on the environment;
– 71% could reach the event venue by public transport if that option were included in the ticket price;
In the same way, events and festivals can change people’s behaviour and sensibility for the better. To give one example, 43% of event participants interviewed across Europe say they changed their attitude following initiatives and proposals tried out at those same events. Event organizers recognize the importance of these tendencies. In Italy, for example, event organizers play the eco-sustainability card to attract more visitors (Umbria Jazz and Eurochocolate, for instance).
The ZEN project, with research work accompanied by a widespread dissemination and sharing of the results with both institutions and the European public, has brought to light the environmental impact of large public events, generated a mutual exchange of good-practice experiences in the management of the events hosted by the cities and territories involved, and identified innovative, up-to-date solutions at the continental level.
One of the results of the various research activities carried out by each partner of the ZEN project was a concise report on the evolution, from 1960 to today, of sustainability policies and good practices in the organization of events held in urban centres. The report was published by the University of East London to create a common European knowledge base on this subject. Through the project, possible virtuous ways of organizing events were identified and communicated, aimed at reducing their negative impact on the environment and at enhancing their positive economic and social impacts on the host community.
The publication of a handbook was intended to offer practical, immediately applicable recommendations to local administrators, so that they can adopt them in the future planning of events, especially those hosted in historic centres. As for the city of Perugia, a project partner, in addition to the European-level documents (a Community position on impact reduction and a survey of good practices), an Implementation plan was produced, a policy guidance document on the sustainability of events large and small, along with a handbook for organizers and participants.
Info box
ZEN, a network for zero-impact events on cultural heritage, is a European project (INTERREG IVC) aimed at developing a shared methodology to reduce the impact of events and festivals on historic centres and cultural heritage through the exchange of significant experiences and lessons learned by the participating partners.
Partners
Sviluppumbria, Italy – Municipality of Perugia, Italy – Municipality of Drama, Greece – Vilnius City Municipal Administration, Lithuania – Sigulda District Council, Latvia – University of East London, Great Britain – Gotse Delchev Business Incubator, Bulgaria – Murska Sobota Development Centre, Slovenia – North-East Regional Development Agency, Romania, – Regional Department for Culture and Tourism, Autonomous Local Government of Extremadura, Spain – Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands – Powys County Council, Great Britain.
Website
To download the handbook
Gigi Bettin, born in 1975. A law graduate, he works at Sviluppumbria in the area of tourism and integrated promotion. Co-author, with Msgr. Paolo Giulietti, of the guide La Via di Francesco, published by San Paolo. He has contributed to several publications on the Valnerina area and Umbria, and since 2009 he has been lending his support to the promotion and protection of the Via di Francesco. (g.bettin@sviluppumbria.it)