The future is built together and is rooted in the present.
With this in mind, Svi.Med- Euromediterranean Center for the Sustainable Development, a partner of the CARDIMED project, participated in the TEDxCatania +25 event on 17 May. This was the biggest TEDx event in Sicily this year, with the theme of ‘The roots of the future’.
With over five hundred participants, it was a day full of vision, stories and inspiration. The CARDIMED and URWAN – Urban Regenerative Water Avant-garde(N) projects played a leading role, sparking curiosity among passers-by and participants alike. The interconnection of the two projects, which benefit from each other, was emphasised throughout the day as they both align their activities to contribute to the same objective: the scientific validation of nature-based solutions (NbS) to enhance climate resilience in the Mediterranean region.
The event provided a valuable opportunity to present the NbS exhibition, inspired by the URWAN catalogue (https://urwan.interreg-euro-med.eu/what-we-achieve/), produced by Iridra. This exhibition generated significant interest among attendees, bringing the essence of the future to the heart of this extraordinary event. It was also an opportunity to share experiences from the field, including those from Ferla (SR), which is involved as both an associate partner and a demonstration site for the two projects. In that municipality, SVI.MED is implementing the project with the direct involvement of the local community while improving the experience of the green wall named “Wall2Water” (CARDIMED DEMO 4.2).
The concept of ‘roots’ emerged as a central theme throughout the TED Talks. A strong message that came through was that the future cannot be improvised. We need to slow down, take a moment to think, and reconnect with nature, with what binds us to the land, to people and to places. In short, we need to take root.
It is from these roots, natural, cultural and community, that projects such as URWAN and CARDIMED look to the next 25 years. In a Mediterranean region undergoing profound changes, it is essential to build bridges between the environment and society, the local and the global, and knowledge and action.
Projects such as URWAN and CARDIMED remind us daily that the roots of the future are nourished by shared ideas and concrete actions.
