Eco Research took part also this year in the science dissemination festival ‘Le Mille e una Scienza (The Thousand and One Science), organised in Bolzano by TesLab (youth culture centre of the Association Arciragazzi Bolzano Bozen APS) and the science popularisation association Accatagliato, with the contribution of the Office for Youth Policies of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in collaboration with the Office for Scientific Research of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The festival, held from 7 to 17 November 2024 and aimed especially at children and young people, offered a journey into science and research with various initiatives and appointments held by researchers, lecturers and science popularizers.
Eco Research participated in this edition of the festival together with the main South Tyrolean research institutes (Eurac Research, Unibz, Noi Techpark Alto Adige, Natural Science Museum, Fraunhofer Italia, Laimburg Research Centre, Planetario Alto Adige), specifically proposing a free-access workshop at Mareccio Castle (Bolzano) on Saturday 16 November, entitled ‘The world of plastic, a world of plastic’. The Eco Research stand was organised in several stations: the first one, where the researchers explained what plastic is, how certain plastic products have become indispensable, how many different types exist, and what is meant by bioplastic, recyclable plastic and compostable plastic. But also presented were the issues related to the end-of-life of plastics, in particular single-use plastics, the importance of proper disposal, what happens when plastic is released into the environment, and what small precautions we can all take in our daily lives to reduce the environmental impact of plastics. At two other stations, adults and children were able to test themselves by indicating, from 46 different types of plastic waste, which of them should be disposed of in the blue bin (the one for plastic packaging in the province of Bolzano), and which should be placed in the residual waste bin.
Participants were given the information brochure ‘The World of Plastic, a World of Plastic’ (only available in Italian at the moment), created for this event, together with the Plastic Register, which is a tool for families to record daily the plastic waste they produce, decide how to dispose of it properly and think about which plastic waste can be reduced week by week.
A video on the topic of plastics was also shown during the activities, during which reference was also made to the Project EFRE1018-PlasticFree, a project co-financed by the ERDF Programme 2021/2027, in which Eco Research participates as Lead partner together with Eurac Research, eco centre Spa, ARA Pusteria Spa, Atzwanger Spa, Obrist Srl and the Biological Laboratory of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. An explanatory poster of this project was also exposed.
It was possible to clarify various doubts, give practical hints and stimulate interesting reflections on the topic. The participating children were asked to write down on a dedicated board their ideas and suggestions for a better future, which we have collected here:
