Sustainability in the environment, rights and science: are the three pillars of Ustica Blue days. Sustainability from the center of the Mediterranean, the event that aims to transform Ustica from 23 to 25 July, seat of the first marine protected area in Italy, in the center of dialogue and discussion on the many variations of sustainability. Swimming, robotics, marine biology, sailing, architecture, science, environment are some of the many disciplines that all meet to transform Ustica into the center from which to spread a new message of ‘augmented’ sustainability, a sustainability declined not only in the traditional environmental sense, but as a broader concept of inclusiveness and enhancement of diversity.
“It has always been considered a naturalistic paradise for habitats and ecosystems that are particularly rich in species, we would like Ustica to start a new narrative of ‘well-being’ in which, after decades of being understood as the final result of an economy of growth, the environment in which we live is put at the center. Only through the well-being of the environment, both natural and social, can human well-being be achieved. A sustainable economy is not a dream but a system that works and is capable of reducing inequalities ”, explains Davide Bruno, Director of the Isola di Ustica Marine Protected Area.
The start of Ustica Blue days will be 30 Miglia per Ustica, the swimming crossing between Palermo and Ustica 15 expert swimmers will participate, each with a different request for sustainability and from all over Italy. A relay of 54 kilometers, almost 24 consecutive hours, which will start in the evening (around 21) on Friday 23 July from the Sailing Club of Sferracavallo in Palermo to end the next day at the small port of Ustica. A swimming marathon that also wants to raise awareness on the issue of disability and is part of the “Giro d’Italia a Nuoto”, an initiative promoted by one of the fifteen swimmers, Salvatore Cimmino, and sponsored by the Chamber of Deputies, the Italian Naval League and by the Coast Guard – which with its own boat will follow all the stages – to support an inclusive and barrier-free world.
The Italian scientific community has also taken up this ‘appeal’ for a new paradigm of Sustainability through the conference scheduled for the morning of Saturday 24 July, from 9:30 to 13:30. A meeting that brings together some of the most important Italian researchers to dialogue with them in a transversal way on the potential offered by new technologies, new forms of organization and urban fabric and possible forms of sustainable economy. Three sessions and a round table that will be introduced by the participation of Salvatore Militello, Mayor of Ustica, Manlio Messina, Regional Councilor for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment of the Sicilian Region, Toto Cordaro, Councilor for the Territory and Environment of the Sicilian Region, and Nello Musumeci, President of the Sicilian Region.
Among the many scientific and institutional guests there will also be: Marco Faimali, Director of the Institute for the study of anthropogenic impacts and sustainability in the marine environment of the CNR, Davide Bruno, Director of the Ustica Marine Protected Area, Paolo Dario, Vice Rector for Innovation of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and Scientific Director of Artes 4.0, Maurizio Carta, Urban planner, Architect and Professor of the University of Palermo, Ilaria Tani, lawyer of the Court of Milan and lecturer in International Law of the Sea, University of Milan-Bicocca, Carlo Zaghi, Director General – General Directorate for the Sea and Coasts, Ministry of Ecological Transition, Simona Bonafè, MEP Commission for the Environment, the Public Health and Food Safety, Pietro Angelini, CEO of the Tuscan Nautical and Ports Technology District, and Giovanni Massari, Sonsub Innovation Manager, Saipem.
The three thematic sessions will be moderated by journalists of national importance: Climate and environment for our sustainable future by Cristina Nadotti, from Repubblica, Technologies and human-centric vision in 5.0 on sustainability by Antonio Valentini, from the National Council Order of Journalists, Il mare as a new sustainable territory by Matteo Parlato, of RaiNews 24, while the final round table will be coordinated by Enrica Battifoglia, of Ansa. “In line with the UN’s global sustainable development goals, and towards a sustainable, human-centered and resilient European industry, do we have to go back to the villages, in rethinking humanity? And how to” allow “citizens to live in a small smart environment without services and technologies? Even small villages must be affected by a great transformation, smart and digital: aspects of great complexity in often marginal areas, in the center of the Mediterranean that requires great attention also from an environmental point of view and beyond ” says Paolo Dario, Vice Rector for Innovation for the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa.