The Ecomondo Good Communication Forum
Ecomondo is back, from 7 to 10 November: the Good Communication Forum will be held on the closing day of the Rimini tradeshow.
Ecomondo, Europe’s key event for the ecological transition and the new circular economy and regeneration models, will hold the Good Communication Forum on Friday 10 November. Organised by Ecomondo & FERPI, in partnership with ASSOAMBIENTE, the forum will examine the question of the 18th goal of the 2030 Agenda and the role of responsible communication in taking on the challenges of sustainable development. The discussion will be divided into two panels, to look at the issue from different perspectives. The first panel will be moderated by Amapola partner Sergio Vazzoler, coordinator of the FERPI Responsible Communication Commission (18th Goal 2030 Agenda).
RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION
The starting point is to make the concept of responsible communication the centre of public debate on the epochal challenges posed by the ecological transition, by relaunching the call for an 18th goal to be included in the 2030 Agenda. This has taken the form of the document entitled “Open call to the PR profession to add a new goal to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations”, drawn up by Global Alliance, the federation of the world’s main PR associations and institutions, including FERPI, which represents more than 320,000 professionals and academics.
Why is this becoming such an urgent issue for everyone in the environmental sector and also at a wider level? The reason lies in the deeply rooted yet distorted mechanism that systematically pits different opinions against each other as if they could never be combined in some way, so losing sight of “how” to reach shared sustainable development goals. And this is precisely where the ecological transition becomes complicated and, often, grinds to a halt. So responsible communication is key to overcome the stalemate.
RESOLVING THE NODES OF THE TRANSITION
Because it is evident that rethinking our production system (as well as our consumer and mobility patterns) in order to reach the targets set by the global and community institutions means dealing with their social and economic consequences. As a result, the growing verbal hostilities (not only verbal: look at the latest protests by the Ultima Generazione group) and a “media game” that often fuels polarisation, risk causing a dangerous slowdown in a journey whose intensity and quality should actually be accelerating. Communication, in the original sense of making information common knowledge, can and must play a vital role to prevent a collision between worlds that are moving ever closer to conflict.
How can all this be translated into action? The 2023 forum intends to compare experiences in responsible communication in order to try and rewrite the ecological transition in more inclusive, dialogue-based terms and tackle two major themes that are now more urgent than ever. On one side communication with respect to truth and deception, on the other the relationship between values, beliefs and behaviour.
