The first two "Life Phoenix for the School" webinars were organized on October 28 and 30. Over 160 people followed on the web these training sessions, characterized by a varied and interesting programme of speeches. Two further training meetings are planned, which will take place on Tuesday 3 and Thursday 5 November, from 11 to 12.30, again via the Zoom platform. The schools concerned can request the links to the events, as well as other information relating to the subsequent phases of the student programme, by writing an email to lifephoenix@alcuni.it

The LIFE PHOENIX FOR THE SCHOOL activity is part of action D 1.3 (Education) of the PHOENIX project, co-financed by the EU LIFE Programme and coordinated by the Veneto Region, and is part of the School-Region Protocol of Understanding, by developing in particular the 'Protection and environmental preservation' objective. The purpose of this part of the activity is to raise population awareness, through young people, about the responsible use and protection of water, as well as the pollution-related issues.

During the two completed seminars, the experts of the Life Phoenix Scientific Committee made a clear analysis of the situation in our region, with regard to PFAS pollution and the water purification methods under study.

The first webinar, Wednesday 28 October, was introduced by Paola Favaretto and Vanessa Groppi from the Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Dept. of the Veneto Region, in an effort to explain the concept of Governance for the management of environmental emergencies. The contribution of Gisella Pitter, Medical Hygienist at Azienda Zero, clarified how both the salubrity of the aqueduct water and the evolution towards the Water Safety Plans are currently guaranteed, and how the information system developed within the Life Phoenix project will be functional to this path. Marco Bonato, from the University of Padua, referred about “Environmental early warning and water purification systems”, while Massimo Mazzola, Geologist of ARPA Veneto, presented the report “Modern tools for environmental analysis. Numerical modeling applied to PFAS ". The mid-morning ended with the intervention of Sergio Manfio, Creative Director and Film Maker at Gruppo Alcuni, who explained how to participate in the next phase of the project. Students are invited to create a storyline for two short films aimed at their peers: one about the value of water, to be intended also in an artistic sense; the second aimed to provide information about the defense of our water heritage.

At the meeting held on Friday 30 October, after the introduction by Vanessa Groppi from Veneto Region, Roberto Lava, technical expert of ARPA Veneto, took the floor and explained what exactly we mean when it comes to emerging contaminants: why they are defined in that way and, above all, how to search them in the waters, illustrating the methods and laboratory tools. This was followed by the interesting contribution of Stefano Polesello, Senior Researcher at IRSA-CNR, who discussed about “How many PFAS do we eat and drink?”. Franco Corti and Francesco Pintus, researchers from the Interuniversity Research Center on Public Economy of the University of Padua, faced the water pollution issue by talking about “How valuable is the quality of water we drink?”. Sergio Manfio concluded by presenting to the students some examples of short videos realized in schools by Gruppo Alcuni.

At the end of the two webinars, the students asked many questions to the speakers, as proof of the interest aroused. There were also several emails from teachers and managers who complimented for the appeal and clarity of the concepts expressed, underlining how the speakers managed to keep the students attentive throughout the meeting - which is not easy!

The first two training meetings were attended by students, teachers and managers of the following institutes: ITTE "Galilei" of Arzignano, Art School "Rosselli" of Castelfranco, College "Astori" of Mogliano, IIS "Valle" of Padua, Rogationist School of Padua , ISISS “Dal Cero” of San Bonifacio, ITET “Aulo Ceccato” of Thiene, IIS “Boscardin” of Vicenza.

For upper secondary schools, an educational kit was created with information on the water cycle, the surveillance actions of water assets and the emerging contaminants, with reference to the PFAS case in Veneto, which can be downloaded in the "Schools" section of the Life Phoenix website.

Speakers presentations are available for consultation below.