Climate change doesn’t discriminate, and if humans don’t take action, it won’t slow down either. In the last few years, Italy has experienced just how damaging the effects of climate change can be, with flash floods decimating the Emilia-Romagna region and nation-wide forest fires wreaking havoc.
When I arrived at AEF, the message of their dedication to both fighting and spreading awareness around this growing issue was quickly hammered home to me. AEF seems to focus on a holisitic approach, encouraging everyone in the building to do the little things that can build habits with big impacts. Almost wherever you look around the academy, there’s signs reminding you to turn off lights, reduce water consumption or use the stairs instead of the lift.
There’s also reminders of the bigger issues though, with the mission statements of the academy printed on every level of the building, all headlined by their pledge to take wider action against climate change. One key strategy this seems to be aimed in, is their Carbon Literacy Course, educating all of those who come to AEF from all corners of the world.
I was lucky enough to take part in the most recent edition of this course, experiencing a string of sessions that aimed to educate through a variety of techniques.
First, the course highlighted preconceptions and positive/negative habits held around climate change across all students and nationalities present. The following session then focused on educating us on the scientific nuances of the issues, explaining what, why and how things could evolve for the worse or better. This painted a wider picture in which as a group we could better understand and collaborate on how we could take action, encourage others to and take our learning forward.
The response was fascinating, in particular seeing how mentalities surrounding climate change differed so drastically country to country to begin with, but came together in a unified attitude at the end. As the course concluded each participant had to then put into writing their plans for the future to combat the various issues at hand, a handy final reminder to all of what they’d learnt.
AEF have further aimed to leave a physical reminder of all those working or studying at the academy, through its initiative to plant a tree for every study abroad student it receives from one of its main partner institutions, Elon University (USA), and beyond.
This fits into one of AEF’s other wider mission statements, to give back to the community around them in Florence, but has a mutually beneficial impact for the students as well. Not only does it create much-needed new greenery in the city, it also leaves a physical link to each student that studies here, something that can be returned to as a reminder of their experience for years to come.
That is if climate change is brought under control in these coming years, but given AEF receives 400 study abroad students worldwide a year, if this initiative continues to work, it won’t be long before an AEF Forest may exist.
Both of these examples demonstrate an aim in AEF to fit into the city’s broader campaign: “Florence is alive. Treat it with care”, which seeks to make sure each visitor to this storied city leaves its environment healthy and clean.
Overall, the message of caring for the environment and taking action against climate change has been at the forefront of almost every day in my experience at AEF. Both explicitly across its bigger initiatives and implicitly through those little reminders, it’s given me some lessons that I’ll definitely take with me into the future.
