By the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS)
The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS) invites everyone to take part in the Saturdays For Future, a national day of mobilization on the themes of responsible production and consumption. The initiative, first launched on 5 June by Enrico Giovannini (ASviS) and Leonardo Becchetti (NeXt), aims to mobilize consumers, businesses and civil society organizations to change production methods and purchasing habits in favour of sustainable development.
Inspired by the global mobilization of Fridays for Future, the initiative takes place on Saturdays, which is the day during which most people do their weekly shopping, with the objective to engage the largest possible audience with awareness raising events throughout the country and on social and traditional media.
The first step of this process, on 28 September 2019, the day after the global week of action for climate and the United Nations General Assembly, will mark the beginning of a shared path towards a greater awareness of sustainable production and consumption.
Consumers, businesses and civil society organizations will be engaged in initiatives that aim to change the production methods and the shopping habits in favour of sustainable development. The initiative will contribute to achieving the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and in particular:
- SDG 12, “Responsible Consumption and Production”, whose target 12.8 states: “By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature”
- SDG 13, “Climate Action”, whose target 13.3 states “Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning”
- SDG 4, “Quality Education”, whose target 4.7 states “By 2030, ensure that all students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development”.
The tools of the mobilization
There are many ways to engage and contribute to Saturdays for Future:
- participation in the online poll to suggest the responsible production and consumption priorities that require more effort by all;
- sharing good practices of responsible production and consumption (as of 28 September);
- organization of events or specific initiatives, taking place as of 20 September, dedicated to the promotion of responsible production and consumption models;
- launch of an awareness-raising campaign on social media with the hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture and with the collaboration of media partners.
To organize the Saturdays for Future, ASviS launched the website www.saturdaysforfuture.it, that will monitor the events taking place all over Italy and will contain useful information and documents, including the link to the e-learning course on the 2030 Agenda (soon available in English) developed by ASviS, that, in the week from September 20th to 28th, will be available for free. The results and the experiences of the Saturdays for Future campaign will contribute to the creation of a shared educational kit on the themes of responsible production and consumption.
How to take part in Saturdays For Future
The initiative is based on creativity: participants can take part according to their abilities and interests. Here are some examples of initiatives:
- Are you a consumer? Learn about the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development through ASviS’ e-learning course, take part in the online poll to indicate the priorities of responsible production and consumption that you believe require greater focus and effort, and, starting on Saturday, 28 September, shop in a more responsible manner; on social media, use the hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture.
- Are you a consumers’ organization, a trade or labour union? Promote the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development among your members and raise awareness on the initiative or propose events on the themes of responsible production and consumption.
- Are you a goods or services producing business, a large scale or fair-trade retailer? Make a commitment for the cultural shift towards sustainable production and consumption methods; starting from 28 September, share your story on social media using the hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture to promote your best practices.
- Are you a school or university teacher? Promote the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and share the message of the Saturdays for Future with your class: have your students follow ASviS’ e-learning course on the 2030 Agenda and share informative material on SDG 12.
- Are you a journalist? Give voice to the 2030 Agenda and spread information on the theme of responsible production and consumption.