SThey are more worried than their parents and grandparents about climate change, about the depletion of natural resources, about the loss of biodiversity. According to the latest Istat data on citizens’ perception of environmental issues and eco-compatible behaviour, young people aged 14 to 24 are the generation most sensitive to the importance of environmental protection. But also the one most anxious about the future.
Therefore, it was precisely with them in mind that it was born the AriaMI project of the Umberto Veronesi ETS Foundationwhich transforms numerous secondary schools in Milan and the province into real “environmental laboratories”. To inform teenagers and above all give them practical tools to fight pollution, at home and outside.
Learning by playing: what AriaMI consists of
The routecreated with the contribution of the Community Foundation of Milan, it will involve just under 1500 teenagers aged 14 to 18 of high schools and professional institutes That during the school year will be involved in meetings in which to learn playing.
Because as he explains Chiara Segréscientific supervisor of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, «is the most effective way to capture their attention, today distracted by a thousand different stimuli.
Not by chance we collaborated with illustrators and screenwriters who helped us create tools with a language suitable for childrencapable of attracting them and leaving a beautiful memory of the experience. The best way for the useful information they learn to then become virtuous daily actions.
We wanted in every way to avoid terrorizing them and fomenting anxiety about climate change. The risk is thinking that these issues are so big and unaddressable that they remain paralyzed.
Our goal is to make them understand that everyone can do something, becoming an active and responsible citizen. To protect yourself: children and young people are actually more affected by the consequences of smogbecause they are biologically more sensitive as they are in the development phase and because they will have to live with it for a long time to come.”
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AriaMI, the aim of the project
Scrolling data relating to air pollution there is indeed something to worry about. According to theEuropean Environment Agency is the greatest environmental risk to health and in Italy alone it causes 60 thousand premature deaths per yearfavoring the appearance of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and tumors.
And the “pall” of smog especially envelops the Po Valley, including Milan, which due to the conformation of the territory and the density of population and industrial activities has for years been considered one of the most polluted areas in Europe.
Chimneys and smog. The “AriaMI” project aims to offer solutions so that young people do not feel literally “suffocated” by the dirty air (Photo: Getty Images).
With these premises it is not difficult to understand why, according to data from Openpolis Foundation, many Italian kids complain about living in dirty and polluted neighborhoods.
We are in fourth place in Europe for reports behind Malta, Greece and France, furthermore in our territory there are quite a few schools that are declared too close to sources of air pollution, especially in Liguria, Lazio, Puglia, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.
The AriaMI project therefore wants to offer solutions so that young people do not feel literally “suffocated” by the dirty air.
As the director of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation Monica Ramaioli explains: «They can instead take daily actions to protect themselves and the environment, developing a vision of prevention that recalls the concept of “one health”, in which we try to optimize in a sustainable way the health of people, animals and ecosystems”.
A video game to fight smog
«The kids will address these issues through video games Smogville and a card game. And they will be able to build a simple “particulate trap” to see it with their own eyes”, says Segré. «Some of them will also be trained to become “spokesmen” of what they have learned with their peers, spreading useful information even in more difficult contexts.
We have specifically wanted to involve peripheral schools and professional institutesto really get everywhere and especially in areas where there is greater educational poverty, because they are also the areas where health risks are highest».
A view of Milan. The “AriaMI” initiative involves students from professional institutes and from the suburbs, in areas where pollution is greatest (Photo: Getty Images).
New anti-pollution routines
The choices and daily gestures that help and that are told during the meetings AriaMI there are many, but simple: moving around by bike or public transport, staying as far away as possible from busy areas and spending your free time in the greenery, not smoking and recycling waste carefully are some of the most important recommendations.
As Segré explains «AriaMI is also an opportunity to let young people know information that many ignore: how many people know that the air in your home can be dirtier than the air outside, for example if you make extensive use of candles or incense?
The air that blows… in the house
Everything that burnsfrom stoves to fireplaces, from stoves to candles, releases toxic substances into the air and the same happens with household cleaning products. The antidote is to air the rooms often and well by opening the windows, perhaps at times when the streets are less busy, early in the morning or late in the evening.
Many believe that opening the windows is counterproductive because there is smog outside, but indoors the air is often even worse.” The AriaMI project is also aimed at teachers, school staff and parentsto whom information materials will be distributed to learn, for example, that printers and photocopiers release polluting particles into the air.
And therefore “it is better not to stay with your nose over them while they are in operation and it is good to change the air in the rooms after using them” adds Segré. «We also turn to teachers and parents because the goal is to involve everyone, as much as possible, to make the school, home and city environments healthier».
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