[00:00:10] Dominique: ​Hello, welcome to another episode of Green Champions.

[00:00:13] Adam: Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people, making real environmental change in the work that they do. I'm here with Dominique, our sustainability expert.

[00:00:21] Dominique: And I'm so glad to be here alongside Adam, our social enterprise extraordinaire. We bring you guests who saw the potential for impact in their job or community and did something about it.

[00:00:30] Adam: Green Champions is a platform to share sustainability success stories, and plant new ideas.

[00:00:35] Dominique: This is our mini series in Val Bruna, Italy, highlighting an event called NanoValbruna.

[00:00:40] Adam: NanoValbruna is an international forum that brings scientists, entrepreneurs, professors, professionals, journalists, science communicators, and especially young people, to the heart of the Julian Alps, to talk about innovation, environment, and regeneration. Dominique had the chance to attend NanoValbruna and capture the stories of their accomplishments, and so as you're listening, I'm also here equally excited to hear this episode. 

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[00:01:04] Dominique: Today, I am joined by Duccio Travaglini. 

The Evolution of Environmental Communication

[00:01:07] Dominique: He is the e Co-founder of Greencome Media, and Duccio is really a champion of environmental communication. He spoke earlier at the event as a moderator and led a really wonderful discussion on how we think about environmentalism and how we talk about regeneration across a variety of topics, and we're gonna dive into how he's really championed this space for sustainability. So thanks for joining us.

[00:01:32] Duccio: Thank you so much, Dominique. It's a pleasure for me.

[00:01:34] Dominique: And you're the founder of Greencome, Tell us what that is.

[00:01:37] Duccio: Greencome is a new media that speaks about environmental and climate topics and climate problems and we tried to create media that is different from the other medias in our country. Because a problem that we saw is that sometimes people speaks about environment, on the climate crisis in a very bad way, in a aggressive way, and in a catastrophic way.

And we think that it is a problem because in this way we immobilize people, no? And we need a different communication that active people and try to mobilize people, our community and organization in general to fight climate change. So we are trying to use a different approach, a different communication approach that focus on positive news on solutions and on people and companies that are changing our world in a good way.

[00:02:40] Dominique: Can you share a bit about the panel you moderated and just the focus of conversation?

[00:02:45] Duccio: Yeah. 

Regeneration vs. Sustainability: Moving Beyond Impact Reduction

[00:02:46] Duccio: The topic was regeneration. Regeneration that is a difficult term and is a hard term because we can't understand very well what it mean because, it's not like sustainability because sometimes we think that is a common term, but it's not because sustainability is a situation in which we try to reduce our impact. 

And regeneration is a different term that do a next step, that is a next level because we also try to regenerate our economy, regenerate the communities because we put community in the center of our economy. And so, we make value in the community and in environment and in the future because the extractive economy, I think that is bad because think only on the present, but we should view our economy in the future. And so regenerative economy can do this. And so I think that is a next level for this reason.

[00:03:50] Dominique: And why do you care about this? Why sustainability, regeneration, Greencome? Why do you care? 

[00:03:56] Duccio: I think that we have a big responsibility, because what we do right now will have an impact in the future. And so we understand that we can change our world, we can change our economy, we can change the future. If we don't do anything, we have a big responsibility. 

So, for this reason, I think that we should mobilize for these causes to fight climate change to transition to a different economy system and because we can. And if we don't do anything, we are not neutral, we are bad. So I think that if you know this point, you should do something. And this is why we decided to founded Greencome because we want to create awareness in people to mobilize, to do something, to change a world that is not good.

[00:04:53] Dominique: So you shared that the way you focus on media and storytelling is focusing on things that are actionable, positive, and frankly progressive, as opposed to making you feel very frozen. I mean, we all know climate anxiety is a thing and you don't want people to feel frozen in place. You want 'em to know what to do with it. 

Storytelling Strategies: Combining Human Stories with Data

[00:05:12] Dominique: Can you share examples of how you really do that with media?

[00:05:14] Duccio: Yeah, sure. We usually try to find some stories of people that are changing the world that are producing benefits in our society. And I think that an important point is to find a story of a normal person. So not a politician or a rich man but a person, so a story that start from the bottom. So people think that it's possible. And this is an important, very important point because if you see a good story, you should think that you can reproduce the story and the benefits about this story. And so we try to find this kind of story, this kind of people, and then we tell this kind of story in a particular way. So, we usually a strong hook that anticipate the impact of this person, of this innovation, of this company.

And then we put in the middle of video of real, for example, some data about the problem. So in this way, we inform people about the problem, but people or our community, actually, are listening this story, because they want to know the solution, to know the story about this person. So in this way we can inform about the problem, but also, we can bring a key to resolve, to produce an impact, a real impact. And then in this way we don't froze people. But we help these people, our community to mobilize again against climate change.

[00:06:59] Dominique: What's that response been like when you are connecting a real life human story with data? Is there an interesting response from people when you're sharing on socials and stuff?

[00:07:10] Duccio: Yeah, it's not easy to communicate data, because often data is very cold and so we should find a key to transform a cold data in a cool data. 

[00:07:23] Dominique: So that was cold data into cool data?

[00:07:26] Duccio: Yeah.

[00:07:26] Dominique: I like that a lot. I like that a lot.

[00:07:29] Duccio: And we can, and we can with creativity. So the creativity is the key 

 because people want to relax on social media. And so it's not easy to inform people with data, but we can, I think in this way.

[00:07:45] Dominique: That's very interesting that the data comes first.

[00:07:48] Duccio: Yeah. 

[00:07:48] Dominique: Then you seek to find stories and real people to communicate this very important data point. What's a data point you're currently working on sharing about?

[00:07:57] Duccio: For example, we are producing a reel, a video reel, in which we speak about an innovation. So a technology that use an ancient technique to reduce air temperature. And this innovation is from an Indian company and, for example, in this case. We find a strong hook. Then we put in the middle data about the global warming in India. And then we speak about, again, this innovation. 

[00:08:31] Dominique: Okay. So you spoke on a panel couple days ago and can you share some of your perspective and you spoke at the end and kind of recapped for us. And shared some interesting thoughts. I'd love to hear them.

Yeah. I speak about our responsibility in this society and I tell a quote about Martin Luther King that speaks about our responsibility. I think that quote is something along the lines of, you're not responsible for the situation that you're in, but you're responsible for how you react to that situation and what you do with that."

[00:09:01] Duccio: Exactly. And right now we know that our economy and so our decision, our activities have a big impact. And so if we know this point and we know that there are some solutions to resolve these problems, and we don't know anything, we are responsible. So, I believe in this point, and so, usually tell this quote in my speech because, I think that it can help people to understand that we can do something and we have to do something.

[00:09:40] Dominique: And when thinking about the work that you've done with environmental communication so far, what has your success looked like? Can you give us a story of a certain time when you shared something that maybe blew up from like a viral standpoint or got the attention of someone that you wouldn't think would come across your media? What's been success like in the environmental communication space for you? 

Quality Over Quantity in Environmental Media

[00:10:03] Duccio: So I think that there are quality quantity data to understand if our video or our content in general had success because views is not the only output that we should considerate because, it's not a quality data, no, because you can have a lot of views.

But our community can, for example, say that it's not good. They're commenting in a bad way. And so, it's not a good point. But, for example, we usually see comments above our contents and it is a quality respond. Because, for example, we want to communicate positivism. And so if, for example, people say thank you because of a story for us is a a very important output. And so we usually measure this kind of output.

[00:11:04] Dominique: Yeah, I think that's awesome that you're seeking quality engagement versus quantity. I think that's really awesome. I think it speaks to understanding social media and that you can fly through a lot of videos and a lot of content and not really engage with it, but you're really seeking like true engagement. As the founder of this team, what is your background, education-wise? What did you study? 

[00:11:26] Duccio: Actually I am studying right now Environmental Economics and Politics and I met my co-founder in this university. And we are studying the environment and the climate change in economic way. So, why, for example, our economy impact to environment and in which way, in what way impact in our environment, in our planet, and in the future.

[00:11:52] Dominique: What was key in your journey in school and maybe on socials as a young person yourself? What was the moment of realizing you needed to create something that didn't exist?

[00:12:02] Duccio: Yeah, because we knew a lot of media, content creators, journalists, and we understood that everyone, or like everyone spoke about climate change in a very aggressive, bad way again. And so we understood that we could change this approach and use a different communication approach. Again, because we want to mobilize people and unfrozen people. And so, this is the moment that we understood that we wanted to found the Greencome. 

[00:12:36] Dominique: And, why was it so important for you to come to NanoValbruna this year?

[00:12:40] Duccio: Why? Because, I really think that the point of view of NanoValbruna is close our point of view because NanoValbruna is an example of activity, of event, festival that speaks about solution and want to mobilize people, activate people to do something. Because in these days we didn't speak only of problems but also of solutions. And so I think that people next this festival will have a key to do something and to change our world and to create a regenerative economy.

[00:13:22] Dominique: And for someone listening that didn't get to come to NanoValbruna and is just now thinking differently about media or how we use socials and talk about the urgency of the crisis, but allow it to still be positive and motivating. What is one thing you wish people understood about sustainability that they don't or they misunderstand?

The Journey Approach to Sustainability

[00:13:44] Duccio: Yeah. Sometimes people think that you are sustainable if you're perfect, but it's not true. Sustainability is imperfection. Okay? And so I want that people understand this point because if we say, "Okay, you are vegan, but you have a fast fashion t-shirt. You are not sustainable." It depends. I think that sustainability is a journey and so we should respect all journeys of all people. Because, if we say that your journey is not good, it's bad because you are, I don't know, use a pollution thing. So you can't continue this journey. It's very difficult to create a very big community that want to go in the same way.

[00:14:35] Dominique: And it is true with any sport or activity. You don't join or start to be perfect. Like that's scary in any space, but definitely in sustainability. And I've shared my point of view is very similar.

And I've shared it as like sustainability is a moving target. As soon as you get really good at something, the industry has changed or evolved, or we just learn new things. Like maybe my example I think back in many episodes ago was something around like reusables in cups, but like you know, at some point there was a better plastic. So that plastic cup was the sustainable thing to do and then at some point we created bioplastics. And like, it's just the idea that we need to be open to new information, which I think brings us back to why what you're doing is so important is you're giving us information to stay up to date on what really is going on today. And we're all on it together. It's just a matter of just staying up to date and being willing to learn as you're going. Is that true, you think?

[00:15:33] Duccio: Yeah.

[00:15:34] Dominique: Well, thank you so much for chatting with me and sharing your perspective and giving us so much to think about and learn. I think what you're doing with Greencome is amazing. How can listeners learn more about you and engage with your content?

[00:15:47] Duccio: Yeah, of course. We have a lot of channels. And so we speak only in Italian and I know that it's not so good, but media in Italy speak only in Italian. But if someone knows Italian, of course, can see our contents on Instagram, TikTok, and the LinkedIn. And our name is @greencome_ita. We have a newsletter that's called, Climax and a podcast that's called, Green Tonic We interview innovators in environmental sector.

So for example, people who some innovation, some technology to fight climate change, to reduce our emissions, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:16:32] Dominique: Thank you so much for joining me today. Chatting with me in English. You are doing such an amazing thing and your platform, and I hope listeners get to engage and broaden how many listeners you already have.

[00:16:43] Duccio: Thank you, too. 

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[00:16:47] Dominique: Adam, what'd you think of Duccio's take on communicating about the climate?

[00:16:52] Adam: I really love the quote that you, you highlighted of transforming that cold data into cool data to make things more engaging for audiences. And that was one of my takeaways from listening to him of just how important it is to really engage with your audience and take all this crazy stuff that's happening and present it in a way that isn't about an aggressive or catastrophic narrative, but framing things positively in terms of what we can do.

[00:17:16] Dominique: Yeah. And I encourage anybody listening to go check out the content that Greencome puts together to see their podcasts, their news articles, their social handles. If you're kind of curious to even just peek into the way that Italy is talking about climate and how Duccio's team is doing a really cool job at that because I think we're very mission aligned in the ways that we want to create space for positive conversations that are factual and up to date but are really focused around helping to mitigate some of the climate anxiety that is very, very prevalent.

[00:17:49] Adam: Yep. If you're in Italy or you speak Italian, or you just love the Italian accent, go check out the Green Tonic Podcast. The links will be in the show notes. 

As always, our guests have found a unique way to champion sustainability. We are here to put real names and stories behind the idea that no matter your background, career, or interests, you really can contribute in the fight against climate change.

[00:18:07] Dominique: You can find our episodes and reach us at thegreenchampions.com. If you wanna stay in the loop, give us a review and follow us in your favorite podcast platform. Our music is by Zane Dweik.

 Thanks for listening to Green Champions, we'll be digging into another sustainability success story in our next episode. 

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