Music for environmental safeguard

The Sentieri Sonori project: to the sustainable (re)discovery of the Euganean Hills

Combining knowledge against the climate crisis

During the last twenty years or perhaps even more, science has collected huge amounts of data proving that we are facing an unprecedented climate crisis caused, in large part, by human action. Despite this, individuals, institutions, and governments keep acting on the principle of “business as usual”, confirming that the urgency is not perceived as much as it should be.

It is clear that science is not enough. Science needs art: be it painting, dance, cinema or music, /it can move us. Art and science together can increase awareness and allow us to understand the value of our surroundings. According to Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing,this caring feeling derives from a sense of shared awareness, which generates the urge and desire to preserve the value of our environment. The more this desire is shared, the more we can cooperate to make it come true.

Starting over from the local with the cultural association Play and their project Sentieri Sonori

Very often we think that to solve climate change the only solution is technology and thus we support large-scale, high-impact interventions. Although it is important to design large-scale interventions, our responsibility and scope for action are often relegated to a smaller dimension. But it is precisely in this dimension that realities such as cultural associations operate.

A bright example is the association Play, whose mission is to raise their community’s cultural awareness through music, using this art form to expresssocial inclusion and environmental protection.

Cultural association Play was founded in 2015 by Andrea Vedovato and Yuri Argentino in Padua. Both young professional musicians, Andrea and Yuri decided to start the association to develop their creativity and carry out their values.

During an interview, Andrea Vedovato talked about how all of Play’s values aligned in the creation of the emblematic project Sentieri Sonori, a music festival set in the evocative scenery of the Euganean Hills. The events combine hiking trails and concerts. Starting at the bottom of the hills, the guides lead small groups of participants, including the artists, uphill towards the top. The guides illustrate the features of the area so that the participants can rediscover it and look at it with different eyes or perhaps… listen to it with different ears.

Music and hiking: an adaptable format

The challenge this kind of event has to face is adapting the format to the location where it is set, taking into account the available space and accessibility: their main purpose is to requalify the naturalistic value of the area.

In fact, the format used by Sentieri Sonori is similar to the No Borders festival in Friuli Venezia Giulia, or the I Suoni delle Dolomiti festival in Trentino. But the Euganean Hills offer much smaller spaces, and this is why there are few spots available. This measure is very important because too many participants would inevitably damage the area. There would be more emissions, garbage disposal would be more difficult, and noise and light pollution would disrupt the local fauna more significantly. Furthermore, the hiking paths would end up being much more dangerous.

Consequently, the dimension created with Sentieri Sonori is purposely smaller because it is adapted to the area. There is an average of 300 people per event. This number can guarantee the safeguard of the area and encouragesthe creation of friendly bonds between participants, in full Play spirit .

During our interview, Andrea stressed the significanceof this point: “This allows everyone to get to know each other because faces become familiar”. Andrea continues: “A more intimate space is created, a space that is almost familiar”.

To include the younger generations, Play organizes Sentieri Sonori Junior as well. Set in Montegrotto, in the Padua province, children can participate in music laboratories and other activities, where they learn how to play instruments or to observe leaves and animals that live in the subsoil. The last edition has also seen the inclusion of people with disabilities, which was very successful: between 30 and 40 of them participated.

Awareness is the first step towards change

The festival hosted its sixth edition in 2022. Every year Sentieri Sonori shows it can evolve, taking up the challenges of the territory and compensating its own limits. Last year, the events were distributed in eight different towns of the province, bringing a breath of fresh air.

Projects like Sentieri Sonori reinforce the idea that music, and art in general, can and must be a vehicle to carry important messages like sustainability, environmental protection, and social inclusion.

Music engages with our emotions, it makes us evolve and can help us find the tools to fight the challenges of today. Music becomes a shortcut towards an effective environmental education. It is easier to care for what we consider important if we understand its value.