Spoleto, June 26, 2023 - Sustainability for the Foundation Festival dei Due Mondi means acting concretely to reduce environmental impact, operating ethically and transparently, and generating social value through a positive impact on the community. Adhering to the principles of the UN 2030 Agenda, the Foundation, where possible and meaningful, identifies methodologies and tools to verify environmental impact and evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken. ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) issues are also well present in the artistic programming of the 66th edition of the Festival, which aims to stimulate debate on human behavior in relation to the environment around us and living species. Examples of this are some of the titles on the program: reflection on the role of animals is the subject of a series of musical appointments, from the MusicAnimalia concert series at noon, and passes through theater with Una relazione per un'Accademia (Kafka's monkey) or the show Buena ventura. L'opera Pelléas et Mélisande is set in a forest of trees, and an extraordinary monologue about forests and the need to preserve them appears in Čechov's Zio Vanja . These are just some of the possible paths to the meeting with Stefano Mancuso, the scientist who has dedicated his life to demonstrating the intelligence of plants and to offering us the way to our future. Out of the synergy with Terraforma and Parasite 2.0 - a collective that creates sustainable human habitats in a marriage of architecture, design and art ¬- this year's Il Pianeta Redenta, a project to redevelop the spaces of the historic Villa Redenta that becomes a place for sustainable hospitality, reception and gathering during the Festival, was born. For the second weekend of the Festival, from June 30 to July 2, Villa Redenta hosts a camping area with yoga workshops, listening sessions and sound walks, concerts, DJ sets and evening cultural initiatives. The set-ups are made by salvaging waste wood from a Festival partner company. The project to Villa Redenta was created to offer visitors an opportunity to stay at the Festival the entirely sustainable way, to get in touch with nature and experience the programming in close connection with the extraordinary territory that hosts it.
Below is a list of the main actions taken and their impact.
Environment and governance
The Festival drastically reduced the use of plastic materials by installing micro-filtered public water dispensers, eliminating packaging and packaging, painting and plasticizing printed materials, and favoring the use of recycled and/or FSC (made from raw material from recycled) papers. Some of the street furniture in the city has also been made so from that it can be reused in subsequent seasons within a circular logic that minimizes production and disposal.
With the presence of 11 public water dispensers at various points around the city, the Foundation aims to completely eliminate the use of plastic bottles, surpassing the target of 63 percent of use already achieved in 2022 compared to 2019 with a total of 854 kilograms of total CO2 saved in two years. Marking the dispensers on maps of Festival venues also encourages their use by the public and visitors to the city.
The service vehicles at 66th Festival dei Due Mondi are Full Electric, the use of alternative mobility is also supported through incentives on the purchase of tickets for train users.
In implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Comune di Spoleto , the Foundation organized an interactive co-design workshop on sustainability issues, developing Goal No. 11 of Programmatic Agenda 2030 - "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable."
The Foundation also has entered into institutional agreements, partnerships and hosts conferences and events to raise awareness of sustainable development, such as the prestigious EMAS award, a voluntary environmental certification awarded to P.to., entities, private companies on a multi-year basis with reference to European standards. Spoleto is also one of Italy's EMAS-certified municipalities.
For the third consecutive year, ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione
and Environmental Research) will accompany Festival dei Due Mondi in the collaboration undertaken with a conference devoted to best practices and circularity.
Social responsibility
The collaboration with Rai Per la Sostenibilità ESG and Rai Umbria amplifies interventions in the social sphere. The flagship of Festival dei Due Mondi 's commitment is the initiative of the #SIneNOmine company that, under the leadership of its founder Giorgio Flamini, involves the inmates of the Maiano di Spoleto Prison in Spoleto in an extraordinary theatrical project as a tool for reflection, growth and inclusion. Culture breaks the bars returns again this year: the initiative this year features the cast of Mare Fuori. A panel dedicated to the theatrical activity carried out in the Houses of Reclusion in the presence of the penitentiary administration, Rai Fiction, in which the catalog of the exhibition Je est un autre will be presented, which displays within the mechanized path the images of the theatrical workshop carried out with the inmates.
Culture, education and prison realities are the focus of the conference organized from CESP - Network of Restricted Schools: a round table discussion on education pathways in prisons, from literacy to college, and a training and refresher seminar for practitioners.
Once again this year the inmates of the medium and high security of Casa di Reclusione di Maiano bring to life to an'opera original, inspired by William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (July 5-6, Maiano Prison in Spoleto). The project is curated from Giorgio Flamini, founder of the #SIneNOmine Company, which from ten years brings theater to prison as a tool for personal growth and inclusion.
Together to Caritas the Foundation promoted a solidarity project in support of the most disadvantaged families with a series of actions that led to to donate the proceeds of the Easter Concert and the donation of food to the local soup kitchen.
Educational
Of particular value and interest are the education and cooperation projects with educational institutions for the younger generation: Behind the scenes, Green Corner, The festival is us, educational experiences within the Festival structure.
The festival is us, in its 14th edition, is a project aimed to at all elementary school pupils in the area. The aim is to involve the very young and young to reflect on the inseparable link between the event and the city of Spoleto, its territory, its community.
In the last two editions, educational experiences have been linked to arts programming and Agenda 2030 through moments of creative exploration and awareness-raising about respecting the environment and combating climate change: the show The Legend of the Flying Dutchman saw young participants go on stage, become actors and plant a symbolic tree during a green parade.
The 2023 edition develops to from the themes of artistic programming (MusicAnimalia) with elaborations focusing on biodiversity and the preservation of the landscape and land.
The Green Corner is part of the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with Comune di Spoleto: a space totally managed by secondary school children to acquire skills in environmental and social issues, learning to understand and adopt virtuous behaviors from promote in their daily lives within their communities by becoming actors of change.