Debate our Future: Waste treatment and recycling

11/06/2021

Never before has the transfer of knowledge, which involves boys and girls since adolescence, been the paradigm capable of representing in a simple way the path that a community must take to grow, innovate and enhance young minds. As part of the Third Mission activities, CNR shows how the transition to sustainability can effectively pass through the involvement of schools and young people in dialogue with entrepreneurial realities, cultural associations and research. An opportunity was provided by the pilot training course "Debate our Future: Waste treatment and recycling", created in collaboration with the "Ascanio Sobrero" Institute of Casale Monferrato (Alessandria).

The path, focused on the circular economy and the use of biodegradable materials for packaging, was developed thanks to the collaboration between teachers (of Arts and Sciences), the Associazione Cultura e Sviluppo Alessandria, Guala Pack - a key company in the sector of flexible packaging, and the CNR.

Debate is a teaching methodology used in many European countries, but which has its roots in Italian history and, in particular, in the medieval disputatio. It consists of a debate, carried out with pre-established times and rules, in which two teams face each other in discussing the pros and cons of a motion placed at the beginning of the course. Arguments must be based on clear and precise facts, from reliable sources, and are developed through teamwork.

The path "Debate our Future: Waste treatment and recycling” involved 89 students of the 3^rd and 4^th year in high school and ended with the final debate which took place on June 8, 2021, the day in which the CNR, through the researchers Armida Torreggiani and Alessandra Degli Esposti (by Isof), awarded the two winning teams of the contest.

The Debate took place as a part of the activities for schools of the European Raw Matters Ambassadors at Schools (RM @ Schools) project, funded by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT). The approach followed in this pilot experience, which proved to be very successful, will soon be used by Cnr in various projects developed with schools at national level in the activities promoted with 'The Language of Research' -LdR- as a network between the Cnr and Enea Institutes.

Per informazioni:
Armida Torreggiani
CNR - Istituto per la sintesi organica e la fotoreattività
Via Gobetti 101 - 40129 Bologna (Italia) - https://area-new.bo.cnr.it/
armida.torreggiani@isof.cnr.it
Website project Contact: alessandra.degliesposti@isof.cnr.it
Communication Contact: michela.tassistro@scitec.cnr.it

Vedi anche:

Immagini: