David C. McKnight and Dr. Ilona Klein, French and Italian

A significant portion of my senior year at Brigham Young University was dedicated to the completion of my Senior Honors Thesis entitled: “An Analysis of the Contemporary Italian Environmental Movement: Challenges and Possible Solutions.” The information most pertinent to my argument had to come from current sources, as environmental issues are changing constantly. Consequently, I decided to pursue an ORCA scholarship, as I could only gain this information by traveling to Italy to interview Italy’s top political and environmental experts, and to gain access to specialized archives holding ecological materials.

It was difficult to gain interviews a continent away as e-mails and telephone calls made communication difficult. The vast majority of my interviews was obtained as I networked among environmental and political experts upon my arrival to Italy. My trip took place between semesters from the 27th of December to the 9th of January, 1997. Before my trip, I had set up interviews with four experts, and upon my arrival to Italy, I was able to secure seven more.

I wish to point out the indispensability of these interviews to the completion of my thesis whose first three chapters consisted primarily of information gained from tools and resources found exclusively within this country. These first three chapters provided a theoretical approach to Italy’s environmental problems whereas chapters 4-7 provided much more practical solutions to these same problems. In essence, the initial chapters described the history of Italy’s environmental problems and identified some of the principle factors that, in the past, have stalled Italians in their pursuit of environmental redress. In the thesis’ latter chapters, conversely, the interviewees provided innovative assessments of the Italian environmental movement and outlined practical solutions to the ever-increasing environmental crisis.

For example, Franco Tassi, the Director of the National Park of Abruzzo, provided insights as to how Italy’s vast network of National Parks might prove to be a key player in the pursuit of environmental redress. Tassi maintained that as each National Park expands in it respective region, parks may eventually exercise a considerable influence on the surrounding regions. These areas would be influenced by the same rules and regulations that prevail within the boundaries of the Parks.

Cesare Lasen, the Director of the National Park of the Dolomites, discussed the important role of educating the younger generation if environmental change is to transpire. He noted that in certain regions, the low percentages of college graduates is directly related to the incidence of environmental abuse. Lasen, a former professor at the University of Venice, identified weaknesses in the educational system and prescribed a course of action that would bring about more substantial change. Not surprisingly, Lasen fingered the Italian government for its lax enforcement of environmental laws. Evidently, the laws that have been deemed sufficient for the needs of the Italian environment have become corrupt, as government officials fail to enforce them and pursue instead their own personal agendas. Cesare Lasen’s plan calls for the abolishment of all extant environmental laws and the creation of new ones that can be enforced without the hinderance of bureaucratic red tape.

The interview that I was most fortunate to obtain was that with Michele Boato, the Regional Counselor to the Greens of Veneto. Boato oversees all the political maneuvering of the Italian Greens for all of Northeastern Italy. He outlined what the Greens’ political battles attempt to accomplish, and explained how the efforts of the Greens in that region represent a paradigm for the Green movement in all of Italy.

Thanks to the ORCA fellowship, not only did I gain interviews with the foremost experts in the environmental field but, as my trip progressed, I was able to accumulate a vast array of literature that proved critical to the completion of my thesis. For example, after having interviewed the Press Director for the Ministry of the Environment, Saturno Illomei, I was given a copy of the annual report “State of the Environment in Italy” (Lo Stato dell’Ambiente in Italia) just printed but not yet distributed in bookstores. This bit of serendipity afforded me the most current statistics for a highly time-sensitive topic.

The deluge of information that I gathered during my 14-day trip to Italy helped me, above all, to formulate personal conclusions as to how Italians can rehabilitate their natural heritage. Initially, Italians (like people around the world) need to understand that individual actions must be changed before global change can be realized. My research demonstrated that Italy’s environment suffers far more from the decisions that individual Italian citizens make on a daily basis than from the actions of factories or corporations. It is precisely for that reason that educational institutions must be utilized to raise levels of awareness and effect a generational change. Government officials will always be able to neglect environmental laws and, consequently, individuals will always be the last line of defense against environmental destruction. Individuals must be made aware of the value of the environment and be allowed to make the appropriate adjustments in their own lives. Finally, Italy’s chain of National Parks must play a key role in exerting a positive influence on all of Italy. Currently there are plans to create six new satellite parks that encircle the National Park of Abruzzo in Central Italy. As each park expands in its sphere of influence, together they will soon form a band of protected area across Central Italy. Once this protective web of National Parks is created, National Parks will be in a more suitable position to educate and guide the lives of inhabitants in both Northern and Southern Italy.