Festivaletteratura has long been committed to raising public awareness regarding the understanding and protection of the environment.
2011 saw the launch of the Consapevolezza Verde (Green Awareness) project, a more structured inclusion of the themes and key figures surrounding the debate on environmental issues in each year’s programme. Since then, the events have inspired concrete actions to reduce the Festival's carbon footprint and the development
of an agenda that balances organisational needs and
environmental sustainability. In 2019, following an invitation from Mantua City Council, Festivaletteratura joined the Local Urban Group of the European project C-change, which aims to transfer best practice developed by the Manchester Arts Sustainability Team (MAST) to local groups in project partner cities. The aim is to rally the cultural sector around the issues related to the climate crisis, to achieve a steady reduction in the sector's carbon footprint and greater awareness of environmental issues among the general public.
Thanks to our involvement in the C-change project and the advice of the Environment Department of Mantua City Council, we were able to calculate our carbon footprint in 2020, using data from Festivaletteratura 2019 as a reference.
This new awareness of our event's impact has given us a boost in resuming all the good practice already in place since 2011 and in adding new and more challenging measures. If you would like to learn more about our environmental policy plan, please have a look at the policy document and learn about all the measures we are taking.
Consapevolezza verde
Over the years, dozens of talks, lectures, interviews and workshops have been held (Monique Barbut, Gianfranco Bologna, Salvatore Ceccarelli, Jonathan Safran Foer, Kate Raworth, Vandana Shiva, Pavan Sukhdev, Peter Wadhams are just some of the numerous scientists, politicians, activists, storytellers and science journalists at the Festival) hanno portato and they have brought the importance of the environment and its conservation to the attention of the public, contributing to the development of a collective ecological awareness. At the end of each edition, the debate continues to leave its mark thanks to the recordings kept in the Festivaletteratura Archives.
In terms of environmental sustainability, the above data of the infographic show that transport is the most significant aspect of the Festival, both from a strictly environmental point of view and in terms of its impact on the city, and on the city centre.
For these reasons, the main objective that the event set itself for the 2021 edition in terms of transport is to promote and perfect an organised system of bicycle and foot transport, supported and combined with public transport.
