Yesterday, Thursday 7 November, at 8.30 p.m., a conference was held at the ‘Toniolo’ auditorium in Conegliano entitled: ‘Viticulture and sustainability: where are we? The event, promoted by the Office for Social Pastoral Care of the Diocese of Vittorio Veneto, represented the point of arrival and relaunch of the path started in 2019, which has been developed over two three-year periods and which has seen the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG and Prosecco DOC consortia as protagonists, together with representatives of various environmental movements and groups, including Fare Rete and Salute&Ambiente.
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this path, as underlined in the opening speech by Don Andrea Forest – the bishop’s delegate for Social Pastoral Care and coordinator of the Table – was that of a joint work between the different parties, inspired by Pope Francis‘ encyclical Laudato Si’, in an attempt to make the complexity of the ‘sustainability’ issue perceived through the tool of dialogue, from the perspective of a global interconnection between creation and human actions.
Don Forest’s speech then dwelt on the two letters that the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, Monsignor Corrado Pizziolo, addressed to the Diocesw in September 2021 and October 2023, highlighting each time the acquisitions and reflections matured within the Table. In particular, he recalled the title of the second letter – ‘Great Goals and Small Steps’ – which was the synthetic slogan of the planning process implemented. Msgr. Pizziolo himself, in the greeting he brought at the beginning of the evening, emphasised the need to continue the path of dialogue even when this is difficult, focusing on the positive elements that can encourage the journey.
INTERVENTION
Prof. Giovanni Cargnello, creator with Don Forest of the pathway of the diocesan Table, then spoke, recalling the basic paradigm that inspired the work of the two three-year periods, in the description and harmonious composition between the various factors that define sustainability.
Don Alessio Magoga, editor of the diocesan weekly L’Azione and moderator of the evening, then gave the floor to Dr. Mauro Pigozzo, journalist for Il Corriere del Veneto, who offered a global look at climate change and other current challenges that place the issue of environmental sustainability in a broader panorama and then to the possible consequences also in our Veneto region.
The discussion was then followed by Prof. Paolo Sambo, pro-rector of the University of Padua, and Dr. Cristina Micheloni, president of the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, who completed the vision offered by Pigozzo, bringing the topic back to the agricultural sphere. In the impassioned debate, the two speakers discussed, from two different and complementary points of view, first of all the concept of ‘sustainability’, which for Sambo must always hold together the three dimensions of attention to the environment, the economy and the social ethical aspect, while for Micheloni it must be a ‘complex, dynamic and broad’ concept. Subsequently, the two speakers highlighted the efforts that conventional cultivation, on the one hand, and organic cultivation, on the other, are trying to implement in order to make sustainability a reality in wine growing and to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.
In the last part of the evening, the floor was given to the two representatives of the Protection Consortia: Dr. Andrea Battistella, deputy director of the Prosecco DOC Consortium, and Dr. Diego Tomasi, director of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG Consortium. Their intent was to communicate, data in hand, the commitment of the two Consortia in implementing improvements and good practices regarding the lower environmental impact of viticulture, with an eye also on the dimension of social and economic sustainability.
Giancarlo Guidolin, President of the Prosecco DOC Consortium
‘We are delighted to have seen a large participation from the communities in the area at last night’s event. We consider the path taken by the Tavolo di Dialogo to be positive. In fact, the frank confrontation, without prevarication or prejudiced positions, made it possible to define an approach to sustainability made of ‘small steps for big goals’. This is why it is more appropriate than ever, if not indispensable, to follow up on these initiatives so that, by including all the stakeholders concerned, we can ensure sustainable development for our Denominations’.
Franco Adami, President of the Consortium of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG
‘Too often we witness an abuse of the term sustainability, used as a slogan and emptied of its real meaning. This conference was an opportunity for us, together with the Prosecco DOC Consortium, to take stock of the situation: of what has been achieved and what the next goals are. We wanted to emphasise how sustainability is a value that guides us and helps us to take a constant snapshot of the state of health of our territory, in order to then proceed with new actions and communicate to the community the constant commitment of all winegrowers aimed at building a healthy environment, in which both the environment of the denomination and the quality of life of citizens are protected. We want to continue to gather ideas and suggestions, to discuss what is needed to face the challenges that lie ahead together’.
CONCLUSIONS
At the end of the evening, the floor was given back to Father Andrea Forest, who summarised the requests that had emerged, expressing the hope that the discussion that had taken place over the six years of the diocesan table could now continue in other ways, both with the Consortia and with environmental groups, but also with the institutions (Mayors first and foremost) and with the trade associations. In particular, Fr Forest dwelt on the ‘4 Cs’ of sustainability: connect, know, concretise, contemplate.
