Bridges, Concepts, and Warnings: three experiences of Change

Image

Lucia is a teacher at a secondary school in Florence. Sara and Lapo are two of her students. All three took part in “Ecoality,” a DEAR project that explores climate justice and gender equality through the lens of eco-feminism.  The three protagonists of this story participated in trainings and workshops. And something changed.

Lucia describes how the teachers’ training changed her perception of her role as an educator and a citizen. After the Ecoality work in the classroom and with the local community, she now sees herself as a bridge: “a kind of ferry for colleagues and students. […] A citizen, who (as a teacher), […] engages with different contexts, […] across generations.” But beyond bridging different ages and environments, Lucia now also feels like a connector between people and ideas.  

For Sara, change began with a new word: eco-feminism. “I had never heard it before,” she confesses. She witnessed first-hand how a project like “Ecoality” - and its focus on eco-feminism - can inspire people to get involved in social and climate issues. “It can become a way to involve and bring in people who might never have imagined approaching this world,” she concludes.  

Fellow student Lapo offers a different perspective, talking about “amplification” of existing perspectives: “Over the years, I’ve already built some knowledge around gender-based violence and climate change, and this experience added something more, expanding that awareness.” 

Lapo views our world as “deeply shaped by patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism” and driven by patterns of war, nationalism and other oppressive ideologies. “If we don’t begin to move away from even the smallest of these patterns, we won’t have a future,” he warns. 

While Lucia discovered a new role, Sara learned a new concept, and Lapo deepened a long-standing awareness, all three found in Ecoality a shared space for reflection and action. Beside being a DEAR-funded project, Ecoality is a real-life experience that enables people of different ages and backgrounds to participate in meaningful change and build a fairer future.