Rome, Luiss hosts the 15th edition of the 'Non Sprecare' award

The closing ceremony of the 'Non Sprecare' Prize was held at the Luiss Campus in Viale Romania. This year's edition of the prize, the brainchild of Antonio Galdo - director of www.nonsprecare.it - promoted by the Luiss Guido Carli University, is dedicated to Cities, at the heart of goal number 11 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Fifty-six per cent of the world's population (4.4 billion people) live in cities and by 2050 this percentage will rise to 70 per cent. At the same time, looking at Italian cities through the eyes of sustainability, we find that in 2023, 18 out of 98 cities surveyed exceeded the daily PM10 limits.

"Luiss is delighted to host once again this year the Non Sprecare Prize, now in its 15th edition, dedicated to the sustainability of cities," said Emiliana De Blasio, the Rector's advisor for Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability, continuing: "The initiative is consistent with our commitment to being an educational community where inclusion and respect for the environment are translated into concrete projects and actions. The theme of cities recalls the role we can play in the territories where we are; just to cite a few examples, the building where the event took place has obtained Leed Platinum certification, the electricity we consume on our campuses comes 100% from renewable sources, we have a low-impact shuttle service that connects our campuses and decongests city traffic, water dispensers that limit the use of plastic, a shared garden for the production of zero-kilometre food involving people with different forms of fragility. But for us the greatest value of initiatives like this one is the involvement of different components of civil society and, in particular, of many high school students who we hope will become the future ambassadors of a fair, inclusive and sustainable model of society".

"Sustainable development will necessarily have to pass through cities and change their face. Not only for pollution, which has reached very worrying levels, for the climate crisis, for the efficiency of services, but also for an aspect that cannot be ignored: the reduction of inequalities,' comments Antonio Galdo. 'Even cities that function well, with a good public transport network, with a high percentage of differentiated waste collection, with lots of green spaces, can be unsustainable if they do not guarantee, for example, the right to housing and do not tend to bring the areas in the centre closer to the areas on the outskirts. Unfortunately, the opposite is also happening in Italy, and we have cities that are increasingly unjust, and increasingly less sustainable'.

The six award categories, through the judgement of the readers of the 'Do Not Waste' website and the Jury were: Character, Schools and Universities, Companies, Associations, Institutions, Young People and Startups.
For the Character category, the Prize was awarded to Edoardo Giordan, born in 1993, the protagonist of an extraordinary story. Born in a hamlet of Fiumicino, Torrimpietra, shortly after turning 20, the boy, who loves sport, feels his right foot and leg often fall asleep. Then they turn marble white, with twinges, cramps and tingling. The diagnosis is Burger's disease, a rare illness for which a lot of physical activity is recommended. Actually, Edward has another rare disease, PAES (popliteal artery entrapment syndrome) for which movement is very harmful. So much so that the young man is forced, in a classic case of malpractice, to undergo amputation of his leg up to above the knee. From that moment, a long dark period begins in Edoardo's life, who is also struck by depression, but despite this he has become a sporting champion, winning several medals, especially in individual and team sabre. In 2018, he won the Paralympic Fencing World Cup in Pisa and joined the Police. At the Paris 2024 Games, he won the bronze medal in sabre.
The School and University category prize was awarded to the Comprehensive Institute 2 and 4 in Vicenza, which created the Nature Classrooms. Green spaces, WWF style, to promote environmental education and sustainability. All the institute's pupils also have lunch boxes to take home leftover food from the canteen and not waste it.
The Associations Award went to the Testaccio Social Porter Association. In one of Rome's most popular districts, where the shops still display their characteristic historical signs and the average age of the residents has risen considerably in recent years, Marina, Mauro, Goffredo and the other volunteers of the Portierato sociale di Testaccio solve small and big daily problems and take care of the most fragile, the elderly.
The Companies Award went to Itlas, a model enterprise in the circular economy. Flooring, woodwork, but also armchairs and furniture: all produced, with an elegant and unique design, from the recycling of wood waste, thus also reducing the waste disposal chain.
And again. For the Institutions category, the jury selected the municipality of Treviso, designated the Green Capital of Europe for 2025, the first Italian city to cross this coveted finish line. The experience of the town in the Veneto region is very important to understand the mechanisms that enable extraordinary results to be achieved, in the interest of citizens. With two data that must be mentioned immediately: Treviso is at the same time the Italian city with the highest percentage of separate waste collection and the lowest waste tax.

Finally, BluEat won the prize in the Youth and StartUp category. The project was realised by five women, who call themselves the Mariscadoras, protagonists of a recovery and reuse process that turns a danger of the seas, the blue crab, into a job and business opportunity.