In the area of “Environment” – and what a pity it is that this “area” is still individualized, instead of being a transversal concern, included in everyone's daily attitudes – it is customary to emphasize projects for the conservation of soil, water, and ecosystems, of a certain iconic or threatened species.
Wanting to innovate, I allow myself, in the same context, to highlight the project that embraces these lines.
A newspaper, a communication project? Yes. On top of that, a generalist, non-specialized newspaper? No doubt.
Returning again to the "capsule" of the environmentalist world, there is a full conviction that the ideas of sustainability, environmental preservation, mitigation of climate change, among many other "green" concepts, are the secret to a more balanced, healthy future, happy and lasting for Us as a species.
The scientific and technical evidence is all too evident and irrefutable. Furthermore, we do not have a Planet B to turn to, in case the suicidal Plan A, of exploitation of resources to the point of exhaustion, which is still ongoing, fails…
However, the concept that a correct idea will “sell” by itself cannot be further from the truth. This information, enclosed in the closed circuit of scientists and specialists, is useless. Therefore, it is essential to develop a fundamental aspect to any area of life in society: communication.
Education involves communication, just as the transmission of knowledge is a process of communication, as is the interaction between people.
The Environment is no exception. Some people will say that the Environment has its own channels and spaces for discussion. Glad it is! But this is the way that allows society in general, which does not have access to the often undecipherable (even for technicians...) technical vocabulary, to internalize, as it needs to internalize, the reasons that dictate the need to change life models and exploring the environmental values that support us?
It is therefore increasingly essential that the discussion of environmental issues enter the sphere of the "normal", the "current", in an integrated and articulated manner with the other issues, without taboos, without fundamentalism, with total openness, as only with Based on a broad, informed and uncomplicated dialogue, we will be able to find answers that are equal to the tremendous challenges that are already posed today.
Understanding how thinning a forest area in the mountains can cause flooding in the city's downtown, we will also understand, in a close way, the implications of deforestation and erosion in risk management for people and goods.
By explaining the relationship between promoting agriculture close to cities and reducing the cost of horticultural products, we explain the importance of integrating rural ecosystems in planning the expansion of urban centers.
By identifying the relationship between the construction of a new road and the disappearance of a certain species, or the destruction of farms in a floodplain, we obtain a practical picture of the problems arising from the fragmentation of habitats and the disuse of soils with high productive capacity.
The examples are practically inexhaustible, in direct proportion to the countless occurrences that fill our daily lives.
Therefore, we welcome this project that is born, with the confidence that the team that embodies it will be, as it has already proved to be, up to the task that falls to it.
Informing is also taking care of the Environment.
Text from: Gonçalo Gomes
Note: The author writes according to the old Spelling Agreement
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