Earth Emergency - DACD
Public lecture cycle dedicated to the environmental crisis organised by the Department of Environment Constructions and Design since 2021.
The effects of the environmental crisis, which are increasingly serious and accelerating, constitute a real challenge for all our knowledge, which is called upon not only to radically reform itself internally, but also to enter into dialogue with each other and with the public world.
In accordance with its multidisciplinary vocation, SUPSI's Department of Environment, Constructions and Design responds to this need by hosting at the Mendrisio Campus an annual cycle of public lectures dedicated to the most advanced research in the humanities, science and technology engaged in tackling the impact of climate change and its possible solutions. A cycle with a popular vocation, designed not only for students or academics, but for all citizens.
Today more than ever we need a new ability to inhabit the Earth, to build houses and cities, to think about the relationship between homo faber and nature.
Teamwork
Every year, the graphic design of the Emergenza Terra lecture series is entrusted to students of the Visual Communication degree course at SUPSI (Department of Environment, Construction and Design), as part of the "Brand Basic" module in the first year. This is one of the first design jobs they are working on in small groups. For the 2023 edition, the graphic design project of students Micol Ferrini and Federica Giordano was considered the most relevant and with the most effective aesthetic and graphic impact.
In accordance with its multidisciplinary vocation, SUPSI's Department of Environment, Constructions and Design responds to this need by hosting at the Mendrisio Campus an annual cycle of public lectures dedicated to the most advanced research in the humanities, science and technology engaged in tackling the impact of climate change and its possible solutions. A cycle with a popular vocation, designed not only for students or academics, but for all citizens.
Today more than ever we need a new ability to inhabit the Earth, to build houses and cities, to think about the relationship between homo faber and nature.
Teamwork
Every year, the graphic design of the Emergenza Terra lecture series is entrusted to students of the Visual Communication degree course at SUPSI (Department of Environment, Construction and Design), as part of the "Brand Basic" module in the first year. This is one of the first design jobs they are working on in small groups. For the 2023 edition, the graphic design project of students Micol Ferrini and Federica Giordano was considered the most relevant and with the most effective aesthetic and graphic impact.
Edition 2023
The third cycle of Earth Emergency entitled “The elements in the age of climate change” devotes four public lectures to the theme of water, air, earth and fire (understood as energy). A fifth conference is devoted to the different ways of telling the climate story.By listening to the speakers – some of the foremost experts on the subject – and engaging in dialogue with them, it will be possible to understand from various perspectives the metamorphoses altering the global and local environment and the challenges that lie ahead.
Climate change is altering the behaviour of natural elements, generating effects that are causing concern in science and politics. In July 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke of a “state of global boiling”. The consequences of atmospheric warming simultaneously take different and even opposing forms: water and electricity shortages, floods, heat waves, fires and desertification. Extreme natural phenomena have become increasingly frequent even at our latitudes. Just think of the subject of water: while total rainfall decreases, precipitation becomes more intense and concentrated in short periods, with an exceptional increase in cloudbursts, hailstorms and floods.
Programme edition 2023
Wednesday, 27.09.2023: Water
- 6:30 p.m.
Screening of short films by Francesco Cara (professor of ecodesign, IED-Istituto europeo di design, Milan) and musical accompaniment by Zeno Gabaglio (cellist), in collaboration with Climate Space - 7:15 p.m.
Antonello Pasini (climate physicist, CNR-Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche): Siccità e alluvioni. Gli effetti del cambiamento climatico sul ciclo dell’acqua (Droughts and Floods. The effects of climate change on the water cycle)
Wednesday 18.10.2023: Air
- 6:30 p.m.
Amalia Ercoli Finzi (aerospace engineer):Terra in crisi: è ora di emigrare? (Earth in crisis: time to emigrate?)
Thursday 26.10.2023: How to tell the climate?
- 5:30 p.m.
Excerpts from the play C’ero clima io by Ferruccio Cainero (author) with Franco di Leo and Federico Caprara (actors) - 6:00 p.m.
Round table with Telmo Pievani (philosopher of science, University of Padua), Lisa Lurati (artist) and Cristian Scapozza (head of the SUPSI Centre for Climate Change and Territorial Competence), moderated by Clara Caverzasio (science popularizer), in collaboration with the cultural association Trame
Wednesday 22.11.2023: Earth
- 6.30 p.m.
Emanuele Coccia (philosopher): Non chiamatela Gaia. Per un teatro planetario (Don’t call her Gaia. For a planetary theatre)
Friday 15.12.2023: Fire
- 6:30 p.m.
Julia Steinberger (professor of economic ecology, University of Lausanne): The role of energy for living well within planetary limits
The lectures are held in the Sala polivalente (ground floor) of the SUPSI Campus in Mendrisio (via Flora Ruchat-Roncati 15). Refreshments will follow.
Free admission; registration required for organisational reasons.
The Earth Emergency cycle is supported by Pro Elvetia, Swiss Foundation for culture and Quickly.