In Palermo, with the patronage of the Municipality and Earth Day Italia (the national surveillance and coordination body for the various events in the country), the first edition of Earth Day Palermo was born in 2013 when, especially in Southern Italy, few were talking about the Environment and certain topics were totally outside the public debate in Sicily and beyond. With a format that alternates moments of in-depth analysis and discussion with moments of play and workshops, (Documentary – film section, Green Conversations, Food, Wellbeing and sport, Music and entertainment) Earth Day is a festival which, thanks to its format, gathers a transversal target from children, to schools, students, families, associations and activists, curious people, in short, a festival for everyone, citizens interested in environmental issues. Festival which has grown from year to year in terms of participation, topics addressed, international guests, public visibility, to the point of becoming a long-awaited fixed event for the city of Palermo. Many collaborations have been added to list of partners over the years, to name just a few: Regional Department of Health, Regional Department of Environment and Territory, Ars, University of Palermo, Gesap, Amap, Rap, Banca Etica, Coop, Comieco, Greenpeace, National Geographic, Legambiente, among others.

The past edition (April 2023), carried out with the support of the fellowship programme of Fondazione Studio Rizoma, represented an important turning point, marked by the ambition to transform Earth day Palermo into a reference festival on climate and environment, not only for Sicily, but for all the Mediterranean countries which together with us are suffering the devastating impacts of climate change. There is no better place than Palermo and Sicily, to face all the complexities of the contemporary Mediterranean, due to its location in the center of the basin, Sicily is the guardian of ancient cultures that have crossed the region over the centuries and today a landing place for those who flee by conflicts and poverty, often aggravated by climate change. Sicily today is a hinge between an increasingly distant global north and south, which finds a concrete expression of this division in the Mediterranean. The choice of Palermo and Sicily leads us to reflect that there cannot be environmental justice without passing through social justice, and that the Mediterranean can be a space of union and not just of division.

Press Clipping

Photos: EARTH DAY MED 2024

Panel: Natural Capital, Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity; Energy transition in the Mediterranean region, opportunities and challenges; We are all interconnected

REDISTRIBUTE EXTINCTION: Jonas Staal x Earth Day Med in Palermo