The first SAVEMEDCOASTS-2 event held in presence at school was carried out on October 27, 2021, with the students of the I.C. F. Morosini, a first-degree secondary school in Venice. The event organized by the by the Environmental Unit of the Venice Municipality, partner of SAVEMEDCOASTS-2, had scientists of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) meeting the third classes (A, B, C, D sections) of the school, catching and holding the attention with questions and games for almost 3 hours.
The key concept of the intervention was the difference between rising sea level and high tide events: the first slow, continuous and inexorable, is "hidden" by high tide events that flood the city only for short periods (less frequently today after the MOSE started operating). These temporary floods are part of the daily life in Venice and do not allow perceptible the increase in sea level that is added to the tides.
Through a training course with seminars and serious games, the students could challenge their knowledge and awareness, and get to acknowledge the weight of playing an active and conscious role in dealing with this hazard.
Marco Anzidei, project coordinator and researcher at INGV and Volcanology, held a lecture in the form of an interview that immediately aroused the interest of the students. The students did not miss the chance to ask sometimes even complicated questions, which stood on an independent reflection on what was presented.
There followed two games in which students participated with great interest; they were conducted by INGV experts in science communication (Gemma Musacchio, Stefano Solarino, Elena Eva and Maddalena De Lucia).
With the quiz game "The sea rises: the climate ... is tense" students and students had to test their abilities and rework contents presented during the intervention of Anzidei.
The game "Your choices count!" challenge knowledge of climate change and the ability to assess the effects of our choices even in everyday life. Based on images that suggest specific actions, it encourages reflection on the impact that such actions can have on sea level rise.
At the end of the day was launched the competition "A meme for the sea" with which students challenge themselves to express in an attractive way the need to mitigate the phenomenon of the rising sea and its effects.
We are grateful to the Venice Municipality for organizing the event and the help at the Morosini school. We thank the I.C. Morosini for participating in the event and the students for being enthusiastic!
_________________
CREDITS for pictures: Marco Anzidei, Maddalena De Lucia, Claudia Ferrari and Gemma Musacchio
