2nd Italian awareness-raising programme
On August 7th, the 2nd Italian awareness raising programme was conducted, within the framework of Festambiente 2016 in Grosseto. The event had two main objectives; On one hand, to hopefully offer new insights on the organic farming (OF) discussion in Italy, and that’s why the main Italian beekeepers’ organization, one representative of the banking world and one ESCo / energy efficiency expert have been invited to speak. On the other hand, having the President of the House of Parliament’s Agriculture Committee accepted to join, to allow a dialogue on the role of the
institutions to promote OF and overcome existing obstacles. 
After the introduction of the Organiko project and the priority topics it addresses, Paola Bidin, under the motto Bee-active argued about the urgency to act. Bees, as fundamental biological indicators, have been suffering under the climate change threats and OF could be a solution to save bees. Beppe Croce recalled the various projects and campaigns by Legambiente, Italy’s largest environmental NGO, to spread OF and expressed the wish that – while taking tougher stands with the EU to promote OF at the Union level – the Italian Parliament and Government do more to convert large Italian agricultural areas to OF. Luca Sani reported on the agenda of the Agriculture Committee, stressing the cross-cutting support OF enjoys, by now, beyond ideological differences and defined it as “an Italian success story”. He answered the various questions addressed to him explaining the OF issues open between Italy and the European Commission, including the delay faced with the announced new EU OF Regulation and the need for stricter controls on OF imports from Third Countries, where too many frauds have been taking place.
In his presentation Mauro Conti concentrated on the financial opportunities available to support and promote OF, which, he stressed, has been, as it is exponentially growing, one of the new sectors attracting major attention by the banking world. Annalisa Corrado touched upon the specific role ESCos have to play with regard to facilitating energy efficiency within organic farming companies and she told about existing practises which she defined as “win, win, win”. The following discussion concentrated on clarification questions and the sharing of experiences from various participants on specific OF dimensions. Valentina Mazzarelli’s closing remarks summarized the main points made by speakers and participants, pointing at Festambiente’s 28-year long involvement in favour of OF.
