On the occasion of the World Water Day, March 22, VIU answered to the invitation by UNESCO to launch the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR) 2017 titled "Wastewater: The Untapped Resource".

A discussion with key stakeholders of the Water Management sector in the Veneto Region will follow with international students of VIU and Ca' Foscari International College.
The event is open and welcomes citizens and all those interested in knowing more about the many possibilities for (Re)Using Water, the technologies adopted in our city to guarantee Water Quality, and the way to transform Wastewater into a resource and not a war/health threat.


Venue
Venice International University
Isola di San Servolo
5 pm, room 9A.

Participants
Carlo Giupponi, VIU Dean, Moderator
Andrea Razzini, CEO, VERITAS
Stefano Della Sala, Director, Water Quality Lab, VERITAS
Guido Zilli, Quality and Sustainability Manager, Dani S.p.A.

The full WWDR 2017 is available in English and French.

Side publications are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, and German.

All material will be available for download free of charge at www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr after March 22, 2017.

On November 22, VIU participated in the National Conference on Environmental Education jointly promoted by the Italian Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea (IMELS) and the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR). The meeting, hosted at the MAXXi Museum in Rome, shows a new attention and awareness of the Italian Government to promote Environmental Education at all level, having them as part of the national education programme in schools.

The meeting was arranged as to have 12 thematic tables, each of which examined the main topics linked to Environmental Education, such as Biodiversity, Environment and Health, Climate Change, Circular Economy, Agenda 2030, Sustainable Mobility and others.

By the end of the day, each table has produced guidelines and proposals that have been submitted to the Ministries of Environment and Education and signed by them in the “Carta dell’Educazione Ambientale” that will be included in the 2014-2020 programmatic plan for Education. The Carta is available here. 

VIU took part in the thematic table on Climate Change, sharing its experience on training and education on Sustainable Development with experts from, among others, Legambiente, Lombardia Region, WWF, World Bank, ENEL, Italian Climate Network, Kyoto Club, Federlegno, Municipality of Assisi, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italian National Research Council, University La Sapienza Rome.

We hereby wish to thank the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea for this opportunity.

Special thanks to Roberta Ianna and Vittorio Cogliati Dezza for moderating.

VIU is partnering with Al Gore’s 24 Hours of Reality: The Road Forward, a global day of action and music to address Climate Change. 

You can follow it online at www.24hoursofreality.org or join us at VIU where we have arranged a Watch Party to share together this urging issue. The Watch Party is held on Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 12.30 to 2.00 pm at VIU Meeting Room.

This live-streamed multimedia show is promoted by The Climate Reality Project and will travel around the world for 24 hours of broadcast highlighting the top 24 carbon dioxide emitting countries, with the help of influential artists, scientists, thought leaders, and policy makers. In Europe (ECT) the show will start at midnight December 5 and conclude at midnight 24 hours later.

The aim of this sixth edition of the show is to keep the awareness about climate change high one year after the signature of the Paris Agreement, the first global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Numerous questions are still open about how each nation – and each of us individually – can create the continued change that is required. The point at hand is about the transition from debate and denial, to action and sustainable growth for all.

The Climate Reality Project is devoted to powering the social revolution for climate action. Founded by Nobel Laureate Al Gore, the millions strong organization stands up to climate denial and spreads the truth about the climate crisis to empower our leaders to take action.

www.24hoursofreality.org Link for live streaming

More info about the Paris agreement

24 Hours of Reality trailer available on YouTube

From October 31 to November 4 2016, a VIU delegation visited China to take part in the training activities of the Sino Italian Cooperation Program to be implemented in the country.

Two training courses were held in Beijing and Shanghai in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Bureaus, both focused on “Environmental Management in Cities” and involving more than 60 participants totally.

The VIU delegation was composed by representatives of University of Padua, Venice International University and CNR-IIA presenting the recent developments and ideas in the fields of energy efficiency, urban mobility and air quality control respectively.

Interesting discussions followed the presentations as a proof of the high level of knowledge of the participants involved and to the mutual benefit of both the Chinese and Italian sides. 

VIU also participated in the “Sino-Italian Forum on Green Industry Development”, held in Beijing and organized by IMELS and MIIT, in which more than 20 managers and experts from Italian and Chinese companies met to discuss about Energy Efficiency in the ceramic and glass sectors.