29.06-01.07.2023 - "The water resource: from the Dolomites to the Sea"

From Thursday, June 29 to Saturday, July 1, 2023, the conference/workshop "The Water Resource: from the Dolomites to the Sea - Strategies for adaptation" was held at Rifugio Pietro Galassi - City of Mestre at Forcella Piccola dell'Antelao, Calalzo di Cadore (BL). All citizens were invited to follow the live streaming of the proceedings: www.rifugiogalassi.it/eventoacqua 
 

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE INITIATIVE on the Youtube channel of Europe Direct of the Municipality of Venice

WATCH THE RECORDING OF THE VARIOUS CONFERENCE SESSIONS on the Youtube channel of Europe Direct of the Municipality of Venice

 

The initiative aimed to bring attention to the topic of water and the importance of this finite resource by offering a joint conference with protagonists of national caliber. The three-day event thus aimed to discuss the water resource with contributions aimed at highlighting its characteristics and vulnerabilities along its entire course: from springs to mouths. The Veneto region is still rich in this primary resource, although it is seeing a drastic decrease in its reserves represented by glaciers: being aware of this and taking action is a duty to all humanity.
Launched in 2022, the initiative is the result of a collaboration between the City of Venice, CAI Club Alpinismo Italiano, Ufficio Regionale UNESCO per la scienza e la cultura in Europa, CNR Consiglio Nazionale di RicercaFondazione Dolomiti UNESCO and Europe Direct Venezia Veneto del Comune di Venezia, joined by the Consorzio di Bonifica Acque Risorgive, the Consorzio dei Comuni del Bacino Imbrifero Montano del Fiume Piave per la Provincia di Venezia and the Teatro La Fenice. 
 
The Pietro Galassi Refuge - City of Mestre is also part of the project "Mountain refuges sentinels of climate and the environment," which is the result of the framework agreement signed between the National Research Council (CNR) and the Italian Alpine Club CAI with the aim of improving knowledge of high-altitude environments and ecosystems, as well as understanding current climate phenomena.
"The City of Venice is very connected to water, and for this reason we could not but support again this initiative that was so successful last year," stressed Councillor for the Environment, Massimiliano De Martin. "The best environmental policy is the one that is made when scientific data provided by researchers and experts is taken into consideration, creating a strong synergy. The three-day program is very rich, and science, researchers and art will be given the floor first and foremost. Events like these are necessary to raise awareness of a complex issue that affects us all, politics first and foremost."
 
The press conference on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, was hosted by Teatro La Fenice, a new partner in the initiative, which will bring musicians and choristers to the 2,018-meter altitude of the Galassi refuge for an unprecedented performance at high altitude. "Among the various pieces that will be offered, there will also be Verdi's 'Va pensiero,'" announced Teatro La Fenice Superintendent Fortunato Ortombina, "A work that arouses from the theme of water, and which we will invite everyone in attendance to sing together. Music is written not only to be heard, but also to be shared and sung together. In this way we want to celebrate music and its connection to nature, especially water and our mountains."
Also present at the press conference were the president of the Mestre CAI, Alessandro Bonaldo, and the president of the Veneto CAI, Renato Frigo, who explained, "Only 1 percent of the water on the planet is drinkable, and of that 68 percent is provided by glaciers. Of the 36 refuges in the Veneto, 17 have severe water problems. It is important that we also talk about this sensitive issue to citizens, so that a water culture is developed that allows mountain realities to save, recover and respect this precious resource. The message must get through that it is not always possible to take a shower in a refuge, as this can often mean not having the opportunity to wash dishes. Thank you to the City of Venice for making this connection. Venice and the Dolomites have always been united, and this is one more opportunity to show that."
 
PROGRAM: 
=> Thursday, June 29: 
15.00 Greetings from the authorities

Luigi Brugnaro - Mayor of the City of Venice
Renato Frigo - President of CAI Veneto
Silvio Zanatta - President of the Refuge Commission Cai Mestre
video Ana Luiza Thompson-Flores - Director UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe -
Antonio Parenti - Head of Representation in Italy of the European Commission - remote connection
Mario Sprovieri - Director CNR-ISMAR
Alessandro Bonaldo - President of the CAI Section of Mestre
  • 15.40 The importance of coordination at different levels in environmental policies (Massimiliano De Martin - Assessore all'Urbanistica, Edilizia Privata e Ambiente del Comune di Venezia)
    15.50 Open-air concert by the masters of the Teatro la Fenice in Venice (Fortunato Ortombina - Superintendent Teatro La Fenice, The Music of / from water)
    16.50 Venice, a sentinel sensitive to climate change: from data to communication (Alvise Papa - Resp. Serv. Center for Tide Forecasting and Reporting, City of Venice)
  • 17.05 Why UNESCO and its UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe? (Wally Merotto - UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe)
    17.15 The United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: partnerships and cooperation for water (Francesco Vettore - UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe)
    17.30 Climate change at the scale of the Mediterranean basin and northern Italy: the Copernicus Climate Service project (Chunxue Yang - CNR-ISMAR researcher)
    17.45 The role of the Europe Direct network in communicating the European Green Deal (Francesca Vianello - Europe Direct)
    18.00 Question Time and Coffee Break
    18.30 Paleoclimatology, what lessons from the past: the rocks of the Dolomites tell (
    Piero Gianolla, Professor of Geology at the University of Ferrara and member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation)
    18.45 Fifty years of changes for the Antelao glaciers (Giuseppe Perini - Italian Glaciological Scientific Committee of the Italian Alpine Club)
    19.15 Question Time
 
=> Friday, June 30: 
8.30am Excursion to the Lower Antelao Glacier
- Comments and observations by glaciologist Giuseppe Perini and geologist Piero Gianolla.
15.00 A decade for the sea: the activities of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (Esteban Gottfried Burguett - UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe)
15.15 The management of the minor hydrographic network between needs and opportunities (Matteo Busolin - Head of the Municipal Services Office - Acque Risorgive Drainage Consortium - Management Area)
15.30 The ascent of the saline wedge. What dangers for the ecosystem? (Angela Pomaro - CNR Researcher - ISMAR)
15.45 Research and enhancement of groundwater resources in Alpine territories: state-of-the-art geophysical methods (Roberto Francese - Professor of Earth Physics and Applied Geophysics, University of Parma (C.A.I.)
16.00 The Venice Municipality's Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan: what adaptation actions for water resource management? (Cristiana Scarpa - Claudia Ferrari - Air and Climate Service of the Municipality of Venice)
16.25 Question Time and Coffee Break
16.45 A diffuse environmental redevelopment project - the experience of the Consorzio di Bonifica Acque Risorgive
(Piero Zanette - Head of Planning Office Consorzio di Bonifica Acque Risorgive)
17.00 Regulation interventions water plan - update water plan (Marco Bordin - Director Urban Planning Office of the City of Venice)
17.15 The BIM consortiums, what they are and how they contribute to the socio-economic development and environmental protection of the Piave Mountain Catchment Area, from the Dolomites to the Sea (Marco Abordi - BIM Consortium)
17.30 The MAB Unesco Biosphere Reserve of the Julian Alps. Challenges and territorial alliances in water valorisation actions (Dr. Antonio Andrich - Julian Alps UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Dir. Julian Prealps Natural Park Authority)
17.45 Water in the Julian Alps UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve: monitoring and management of an essential element in the balances between Man and Environment (Ing. Federica Lippi - Reg. Aut. Friuli V. G. Dir. Centrale Difesa dell'Ambiente, Energia e Sviluppo Sostenibile)
18.00 Question Time and Conclusions
 
=> Saturday, July 1: 
8:30 a.m. Hike to Forcella Piccola -
Comments and observations by geologist Piero Gianolla.
10.15 Personal luggage delivery to the cable car.
10.45 Refuge attendance in the context of climate change. Experiences at the Galassi Refuge
(Francesco Abbruscato - Vice Pres. Operating Structure Refuges of CAI; Silvio Zanatta - Manager of the Galassi Refuges City of Mestre)
11.15 Conclusion of the seminar and greetings
Water is a precious, irreplaceable but not infinite resource. It is fundamental to life on our Planet: indispensable for all living things (animals, humans and plants) and necessary to keep our bodies healthy. Unfortunately, its availability is not infinite, it is a limited resource, and this causes a number of critical issues on a local and global scale. For this reason, among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in 2015 by the 150 international leaders who met at the United Nations to contribute to global development, promote human well-being and protect the environment is "Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all." The issues of access, reduced quantities available are compounded by the fact that water contamination is increasing as a direct result of industrial water waste and inadequate waste elimination. What's more, climate change is increasingly causing extreme weather phenomena, such as droughts and floods. Veneto is an area still rich in this primary resource even though it is seeing its reserves represented by glaciers drastically diminishing; being aware of this and preserving it is a duty to all humanity. It is necessary, however, even where there are no problems of access or availability, to ensure due respect: the decrease in the size of a glacier, the drying up of a resurgence, the lowering of an aquifer, the pollution of a rural well and of the sea are now unbearable events for an environment, already stressed by countless daily attacks.
The right path to pursue seems to be the one mapped out in the European context where we set out to ensure: the protection and improvement of the status of aquatic ecosystems, as well as the terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands that depend on them; sustainable water use based on the long-term protection of available water resources; enhanced protection of the aquatic environment enabling its improvement, including through the adoption of specific measures for the gradual reduction of discharges, emissions and losses of priority substances, and the cessation or phasing out of discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances; the halting and gradual reduction of groundwater pollution; and an active contribution to the mitigation of the effects of floods and droughts. With reference to the effects that climate change is having on water resources we recall that with the Glasgow Pact, signed at COP26 in Scotland, the global community once again highlighted the seriousness of the climate problem we are facing, establishing a milestone toward the process of adaptation and reduction of climate-changing emissions. The agreement also emphasizes the importance of acting both globally and locally on climate adaptation, paying particular attention to the protection and redevelopment of ecosystems and the involvement of local communities, even going beyond the administrative boundaries characterizing local governments. These are all aspects that the Municipality of Venice feels the urgency of and that with the Climate Plan have been declined for the specificities of our territory. We strongly count on the collaboration between the different subjects, public and private in different capacities involved, which imposes the challenge for the protection of the water and climate resource for Venice and its territory "from the source to the mouth," in an inseparable unicum, as well as on the active contribution that the entire local community will be able to give so that the sustainable management of the water resource and climate adaptation will find humus starting from individual behaviors in every household, business and public space.
 
Some photos from the last year's event: 

For further information: 

Comune di Venezia
EUROPE DIRECT VENEZIA VENETO
Ca' Farsetti, San Marco 4136 - 30124 Venezia
tool-free number 800 496200
fax 041 2748182
www.comune.venezia.it/europedirect
infoeuropa@comune.venezia.it

CELLPHONE 340 1214300

 

Ultimo aggiornamento: 10/06/2024 ore 11:54