“The urgent challenge of protecting our common home includes the concern to unite the entire human family in the search for sustainable and integral development since we know that things can change,” wrote Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato Sì. And the UPS, a pontifical university, could not remain deaf to the Pope’s words; for this reason, it has decided to take concrete actions.
The university, in fact, already part of the Network of Sustainable Universities, is launching a project aimed at reducing the environmental impact, together with a company specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The Rector Magnificus, Fr Andrea Bozzolo, summarized the project as an initiative to: “take a further step forward in our commitment to the environment, which constitutes one of the key points on which our future depends on, and the new social and cultural beginning that we are talking about is achieved. This step forward requires operational choices and a formative vision. On the operational level, the university campus will activate a challenging energy efficiency plan, while on the educational, cultural and the spiritual levels, we want to increase the sensitivity of the entire academic community to the issue of integral ecology. I am convinced that we can bet on the young people of our University and their environmental sensitivity to move forward in this regard.”
The presentation of the campus energy efficiency project takes place this afternoon (17:45 - UTC + 1) in the Paul VI Hall. Speakers include Fr Bozzolo; Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam, professor of the Faculty of Philosophy of the UPS and Coordinator of the Ecology and Creation sector at the Dicastery for the Integral Promotion of Human Development of the Holy See; and Dr. Federica Gasbarro, a young climate activist, author of several books on environmental issues and winner of the “United Nations Green Ticket”. Both were in Glasgow for COP26.
The more operational aspects shall be presented by the Economer of the University, Fr Renzo Barduca, accompanied by the architect Enrico Zoccatelli, President of the "Global Power Service", the company in charge of carrying out the energy efficiency project.
As part of the promotion of an ecological culture at the UPS, from 15 to 23 November the university hosts the photographic exhibition "Emotions to generate change", that was already exhibited in St. Peter's Square, during the COP26 in Glasgow, to promote the theme of the care of creation. Curated by Lia Beltrami, director and writer, and by photographer Asaf Ud Daula, the exhibition consists of 40 photographs in total, of which 26 will be exhibited, mounted on special wooden panels, whose material has been obtained from trees felled by the storm in Vaia, which hit the mountain area of the Dolomites and the Venetian Pre-Alps in 2018.
Furthermore, with a view to reducing the use of plastic, a water & hot drink dispenser which uses paper cups and wooden stirrers was also installed. The supplier group is listed by Forbes among “the 100 Italian top firms in the field of sustainability”.
