From Art to Nature: Picasso’s Name to Promote Sustainability and Fight Climate Change
Written by Ms Martina CHIARALUCE (Italy), edited by Ms Lisa ZAMMIT (Malta)
The 4th ASEF Young Leaders Summit (ASEFYLS4) focuses on ‘Sustainable Development in a post-COVID-19 World’ and incorporates 3 spheres for youth leadership: 1) self-leadership (you), 2) team leadership (we) and 3) societal leadership (all). To demonstrate the youth’s role in driving Sustainable Development, the programme encourages participants to collaborate & volunteer on meaningful community projects with an Asia-Europe twist. Based on the four ASEFYLS4 focus areas (SDG3, SDG4, SDG8 and SDG13), participants are allocated to specific working groups and work on “Leadership in Action” activities. In total, the ASEFYLS4 facilitates 15 community projects, each led by 1 ASEFYLS4 Navigator and supported by up to 10 participants from different Asian & European countries.
The project “Food Forests” showcases food forests across Asia and Europe through a social media campaign to educate and inspire an ASEM audience: about their process of establishment and maintenance, delivery of benefits to the individuals and communities involved, and the science behind their contribution to increasing the amount of carbon sequestration in the ground. Here one of the group members interviewed a Food Forest owner in Italy.
Adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change is an issue that involves not only the engagement of governments, institutions and big companies, but also the support of local communities and citizens — which together can help address one of the “biggest challenges of our times”. As participants of the 4th Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) Young Leaders Summit (ASEFYLS4), we aim to investigate new ways to promote sustainability and show how local action can be instrumental in environmental protection, particularly through the establishment of food forests. For this reason, we — several young people from Asia, Europe and Oceania — founded Food Forests Global, an initiative that aims to empower people to implement regenerative, biodiverse systems that can grow high-quality food and bring people together.
Food forests are modelled after the layers of a forest — trees, shrubs, herbs, roots, groundcover and climbers — all growing together. By using natural processes, they are resilient to environmental stressors, and can help to capture atmospheric carbon into the ground. We recently interviewed Francesca Riolo, one of the activists and founders of the Picasso Food Forest in Parma (Italy). She explained to us the benefits that the community around this inspiring project are receiving, and how a local initiative can become part of a wider web of international enthusiasm with a common denominator: improving food security in a sustainable way.
Good morning Francesca, and thank you for your time! First of all, where did the idea to name this forest “Picasso” come from? (It is indeed a beautiful name!)
At the very beginning, the Picasso Food Forest was just one of our “fruttorti”, a made-up word born from the combination of the Italian words “fruit” and “vegetable garden”. When the project’s popularity started growing, also internationally, we thought it needed a special name. We decided to give it the name of one of the streets on which it is located as indeed it sounded good and creative.
Parma is a fundamental city when it comes to food culture in Italy. Do you believe it to be particularly symbolic to establish a food forest in this city?
Yes, it is quite symbolic. It is also a bit provocative towards the dominant food culture, which is surely a symbol of the made-in-Italy everywhere in the world, but it is also based on industrial production and types of food not necessarily produced in accordance with sustainable standards, respect for the environment and ethical principles.
You promote several interesting activities and allow visits to the Picasso Food Forest. How is your project seen by visitors? Are they aware of what a food forest is?
Thousands of visitors have come to the Picasso Food Forest since its establishment. These visitors have very different social backgrounds and ages, they come from different countries, they have different motives for visiting. These range from university research, the will to take care of something that is considered a common good, to learning something new. For sure, enthusiasm, curiosity and amazement are not missing!
What are the main difficulties you face in carrying out this commendable project?
The main difficulty is probably the limited support we receive from institutions. We are not referring to financial support, but rather support for the promotion and dissemination of this way of managing urban green areas. The other difficulty is the increase in the frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change, particularly heat waves and droughts, which put a strain on both people and vegetation.
What would you define as the main benefits coming from this kind of food production?
The most important benefit of this method of production is the possibility of…producing a good and healthy food! But beyond the production of food, there is the creation of an oasis of biodiversity, a place to meet, to take care of, to show solidarity, inclusion, to research and to train, to ensure psychological wellbeing and all the benefits of urban forests’ ecosystems, which go beyond those of the mere production of food and that emerge particularly in the framework of the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity that we are sadly experiencing in this historical period.
Are you in contact or do you collaborate with other food forest owners in Italy or abroad?
There are many projects with which we exchange knowledge and aspirations at various levels. We would like to mention the great cooperation with the guys of “Z di Zappa” (Cuneo), “l’Orto di San Giuseppe” (Fidenza), “i Cosmonauti” (Piacenza), “ i Collettiva” (Varese) and many more. Furthermore, we are in contact with people involved in food forests in England, Germany and even Australia.
One final question. As participants of the 4th ASEF Young Leaders Summit, our aim is to inspire and educate an international public on the potential benefits of food forests as means to mitigate climate change and improve food security. Do you have any suggestions to share with us on how to inspire such an audience, making this topic a way to bring people and communities closer?
We would recommend you talk about it as much as possible, and make visible the projects that already exist through written material and multimedia, and physical visits. We would also recommend you to start new projects, involving the local community, establishing collaborations with universities to explore scientific aspects and involving students, as well as with other institutions, to make food forests a new and widespread way to manage green urban areas.
For more information on the ‘Picasso Food Forest’, you can access:
The project’s website: http://www.fruttortiparma.it/foodforest_en.html
The project’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Fruttorti-Parma-749498741769402/
Or directly contact them by email: info@fruttortiparma.it
You can also follow Food Forests Global’s social media platforms:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodforestsglobal/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodForestsGlobal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ForestsFood
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rmK46Y2aP-0taErY8VX_w
Ms Martina CHIARALUCE is a participant of the 4th ASEF Young Leaders Summit. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Oriental Language, Culture and Society , and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She then obtained a Degree in European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe in Natolin, with a specialization in EU Foreign Affairs. Martina did an internship in a Project Management agency in Belgium, and at the Council of Europe’s Office in Venice. She also worked as an Assistant to a UN Expert of the CEDAW Committee. Currently, she is working as a Trainee at the European Commission in Brussels.
Ms Lisa ZAMMIT is a participant of the 4th ASEF Young Leaders Summit. She undertook a Bachelor’s degree in English and German Studies and a Master’s degree in European Society, Politics and Culture, which included a project management internship with an NGO in South Africa. For over four years, Lisa has been working at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome, where her current role is to ensure that relevant stakeholders get the right information at the right time, in order to improve food security and nutrition situations. Lisa is an ASEFEdu alumnus.
NOTE:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely by the author(s) and do not represent that of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).
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