Events - Italy
RIVERS IN SPRING, WORLD WATER DAY 2014 IN MANTOVA, ITALY
Event Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Mantova Lakes
GLOBE ITALY
LABTER CREA
ISIS MALIGNANI IN CERVIGNANO DEL FRIULI (UDINE)
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with the Patronages of
ITALIAN MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND THE PROTECTION OF TERRITORY AND SEA
and
EXPO 2015
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present
RIVERS IN SPRING, WORLD WATER DAY 2014
MANTOVA, ITALY
March 21, 2014
written by Lorella Rigonat and Sandro Sutti, GLOBE ITALY Country Coordinators
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March 21, 2014, more than 3000 children, students, teachers and citizens took part in the great event - Rivers in Spring - in Mantova, Northern Italy, to celebrate the World Water Day 2014 for the 14th time: people gathered on Mantova Lakes (Mincio River), to carry on scientific, naturalistic and artistic activities, or make foot, boat excursions, all action in the environment to sensitize people to take action to defend it.
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The relation water-energy (the internationally theme proposed by UN WATER), the aware consumption of the natural resources and the access to water resources as a natural human right wer some topics of the event.
In 56 workstations 62 activities were carried out by children of Elementary Schools, students from Junior and Senior High Schools, members of the various bodies of the regional system coordinated by Regione Lombardia and Mantova Province, volunteers of various groups of Civil Protection, Regional Environmental Protection Agency's technical operators, volunteers of the Mincio Park and the Parco Oglio Sud , experts of technical Reclamation, volunteers of ethnographic museums, the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI), the Mantova Diving Club, the Italian Federation of Sport Fishing, etc. .
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Visitors could watch two simulations of intervention of the Regional System and the Civil Protection against environmental risks: the first one showed how to neutralize the leakage of water from the soil near the bank of a river in flood; the second one showed the phases of pollution and clean-up of the waters of the lake. The commander of the Italian National Civil Protection, Franco Gabrielli, took part in it, invited by the organizers. Two examples of relation water-energy in the environment.
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Seven Interactive Models (exhibits) of Integrated Urban Water Cycle were presented and illustrated by schools that had implemented them for the competition organized by TEA Acque in collaboration with Labter-Crea. The best model was rewarded with a sum of 500 Euro by TEA Acque, the public-private company which manages and distributes drinking water in Mantova Province. The models induce children, students and adults to understand the complexity of an integrated urban water cycle, which can operate only if there is energy available. Another example of the relation water-energy.
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Children of Elementary School in Piubega, dressed up as millers, showing and describing the small model of mill made in collaboration with their grandparents, similar to those that long ago were operating on the channels of their territory. Mills were a perfect example of the use of renewable energy in the context of a proper water-energy relationship.
A model of water mill, built by Revere community, was shown and described by operators of Po Museum in Revere.
Finally, a large mill wheel (2.5 meters in diameter and 4.0 meters wide), located on the lake shore, rotated through the energy of the water pumped from a submersible pump in order to create the atmosphere of the time that was . The big wheel, made by the community of Ceresara, a village 50 kilometers from Mantua, was transported with a truck equipped with a crane to Mantova by the father of a child who attends the Elementary School in Piubega: a great action of involvement of parents and community, due to the teachers of the Elementary School. Water energy and people energy in action!
Students of the Junior High School in Piubega, which have monitored the waters of two rivers of their area, testing the macroinvertebrates, made a dramatization about the condition of the waters. They wanted to draw the attention of citizens on frequent episodes of pollution of the waters of their territory, thus supporting the movement of citizens who strive to induce deciders to take action to stop water pollution.
In an area rich in water such as that of Mantova, the Reclamation Consortium play a vital role in the management of water flows in the small canals for the purpose of drainage and irrigation. To explain its role, the operating procedures and objectives, the Consortium of Reclamation Territori del Mincio resorted to a form of unusual communication: the Puppet Theatre of Maurizio Corniani, an authentic glory of Mantova province. For the first time in Mantova puppets, instead of the austere experts of the Consortium, explained to children and adults what the institution does: a great success for an old form of children entertainment used as a new form of communication!
Other forms of theatrical communication on environmental issues were carried out by Junior High School in Viadana and Senior High School Strozzi in San Benedetto Po; games for kids oriented to ecological background were proposed by the Institute of Human Sciences and Economic Social I. D'Este in Mantova.
Tasting drinking water was offered by Istituto Alberghiero in Poggio Rusco to induce children, students and citizens to reflect about the quality of tap water and the problems generated by the transport of bottled mineral water, which sometimes has to travel thousands of miles before being consumed, with large energy dissipation and CO2 emissions.
Scientific labs on physical properties of water were managed by Elementary School in Goito, Junior High School in Viadana and operators of MASTeR, the lab of science education in Mantova.
Several ecological activities were proposed by Mincio and Oglio Sud Parks.
A good number of Senior High Schools made monitoring activities concerning chemical and microbiological testing of water lakes.
In this context special importance was given to the monitoring activities of surface water, according to GLOBE project methodologies. In fact, GLOBE ITALY schools (ISIS Malignani from Cervignano del Friuli (Udine), ITIS Feltrinelli from Milano and IS Fermi and IS Strozzi from Mantova) implemented a RING TEST, namely the comparative contextual analysis of the same samples of lake water. The results obtained by the four schools are being compared and communicated to the media.
ISIS Malignani from Cervignano del Friuli also presented its activities concerning the GLOBE 2014 EUROPEAN AEROSOL CAMPAIGN and AGRIKNOWS, an inter regional project Italy-Slovenia, assessing the risk of groundwater pollution testing hexavalent chromium.
Also ARPA, the Regional Environmental Protection Agency, was part of the event, showing equipments and discussing methods and results of environmental investigations.
All participants in the event, if they want, can be painted on their skin by students of ITAS Mantegna with images related to water.
Music and songs of soloists and choirs inspired by the theme of the event will be offered by children and students.
Live links from the field will be carried out by Radiobase and Radiocircuito 29.
A 1.5-hour talk show on the event and its issues, particularly on the water-energy relationship, and on the water quality of the Mantova rivers will be broadcast Thursday, March 20 starting at 9.00 pm. Cesare Martignoni, the scientific coordinator of Labter-Crea, and Marco Faggioli, a scientific advisor to Labter-Crea will take part in it.
The event has obtained the patronage of the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea and of EXPO 2015 and a grant from the Community Foundation Valance non-profit organization.
Other images in the following table
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Detailed information (in Italian) about the event can be downloaded from our website:
Other images in the following table
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The visit of Franco Gabrielli, the commander of the Italian Civil Protection
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Image Galleries about all the 14th editions of Rivers in Spring at the following address:
2014 Rivers in Spring Mantova Labter-Crea web site PhotoGallery
2014 Rivers in Spring Mantova Globe Italia web site PhotoGallery
More >>
type: globe-events
Events origin: Italy