EXPO: Summer camp for students and teachers to increase awareness about sustainability

Training students to be future citizens, making them more aware of food issues and the role of development cooperation in food safety.

These are some of the objectives of the summer camp organized by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in collaboration with ENEA, the University of Bologna, Coop and the UN’s agencies of the Rome based UN’s food and agriculture hub, that took place in the Future Food District at the Milan EXPO, next to the ENEA Vertical Farm symbolizing sustainable agriculture with zero pesticides, locally grown produce and zero soil.

During the two-week camp, the students attended lessons regarding the major themes at EXPO 2015: food safety, fight against waste, sustainable agriculture, locally  grown produce for a short food supply chain, the relationship among food, water and energy, women’s empowerment, biodiversity, fair trade.

The ENEA researchers provided understanding of the scientific concepts related to sustainability (analysis of the life cycle and carbon footprint) and showed the outcomes of some cooperation activities conducted by the Agency.

Among them, the project “Educate for the future” that through twinnings with Italian schools has allowed to bring light to African rural schools with no access to energy; the projects “EMWATER” and “Sustain Water Med”, promoting local management of water resources and saving and reuse of water in Middle East and North Africa.

The youngest students were provided with the study sheets previously utilized for the Jordanian students within the project “Water Drop”, for the integrated management of water resources in the Mediterranean basin.

For more information please contact:

Roberto Farina, ENEA Bologna Research Center, roberto.farina@enea.it