Dominique: ​Hello, welcome to another episode of Green Champions.

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.

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.

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

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

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 [00:01:00] here equally excited to hear this episode. 

Dominique: Hello. Welcome to another episode of Green Champions.

Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people, sharing sustainability success stories. From entrepreneurs to artists, scientists to activists, this podcast is a platform for green champions to share their stories and plant some new ideas. 

I'm Dominique. I'm the co-host of Green Champions. This is a mini-series in Valbruna, Italy, highlighting an event called NanoValbruna. 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.  

Today I'm joined by Sarah Molinari for the ReGeneretion Hub Friuli team, which puts on NanoValbruna. She serves as the coordinator of external relations. And we're gonna dive today into the topic that the event is focused on this year, and how she supports the team in terms of bringing in the right people to make it happen. Thanks for joining us today, Sara. 

Sara Molinari: Thank you. Hi everyone.

Dominique: I'm so glad you're here.

Sara Molinari: Thank you. 

Dominique: And I'm glad that we could talk about this. So how would you explain NanoValbruna?

Sara Molinari: Well, NanoValbruna is a gathering of young people in a very remote village of northern Italy. And, yeah, I think it's a combination of nature, science, sustainability. And the main thing is just a huge group of young people living together for a week, talking about sustainability and trying to make the world be [00:02:00] better.

Dominique: And what is your personal, Do you have personal connection to Valbruna and what is that?

Sara Molinari: Well, I'm from Udine, which is a city nearby here. And I actually never been in Valbruna when I was a kid, but I always loved mountains. So when I enter in this world of NanoValbruna, I just loved it. And, since the past five years, I lived in the Netherlands. When this week arrives, I am just so glad because I'm surrounded by my mountains again.

Sara's Background in International Law and Human Rights

Dominique: I know you've been studying for a while in the Netherlands. Can you just share with us some of your background? What do you study and what are you passionate about?

Sara Molinari: Of course. I studied mainly international law and I have a specialization in international human rights law and global criminal law. So my specialization are a bit far away from what we do in NanoValbruna, but I think this is also the cool thing of NanoValbruna, because even if you're not specialized in sustainability or scientific things, you can still have a lot of connection here and you can actually get attached to this topics and get [00:03:00] connection with your backgrounds. 

The Intersection of Human Rights and Sustainability

Sara Molinari: Because now, yeah, human rights and sustainability, they kind of relate to each other.

Dominique: Why did sustainability have a place of importance for you?

Sara Molinari: Well, because one of the main thing why I decided to study human rights is to make the world better. And you cannot do this only through laws and punishing people for crimes. But now you also need a better place where to live or make our planet survive. So this is the link, definitely.

Dominique: That's awesome. 

Joining ReGeneration Hub Friuli

Dominique: And then how did you find the ReGeneration Hub Friuli team?

Sara Molinari: So actually the ReGeneration Hub Friuli team was born after the forum. So the first two edition of the forum were just organized by a very few people. And I arrived here in 2021 as a volunteer. And after that edition, which was the second one, the people in charge decided to create an association. And they asked me if I wanted to join and I said yes. And we created the ReGeneration Hub [00:04:00] Friuli Association.

Dominique: Okay, so how old is NanoValbruna? How old is the forum?

Sara Molinari: The forum is now in its fifth edition.

Dominique: Okay.

Sara Molinari: And the association is just two years old.

Dominique: Can you share how it's evolved over time? 

Sara Molinari: The first year it was actually COVID time and I wasn't like, I wasn't part of the organization. They did it online and it was just three days. This year, we have a full week of events here in person and yeah, we have so many people now in the team. We are 10 of the association, plus we have like 40 volunteers. So it grew up and evolved a lot. And also it started as a forum on like nanoscience. And then little by little we moved to the sustainability part because we thought it was very important.

Dominique: Yeah. That's awesome. And, um, Can you paint for somebody who has not been here, I have the wonderful privilege of being able to be here and see it all, but can you talk through like what does it look like and feel like to be at NanoValbruna?

Sara Molinari: Well, if you want to imagine it, it is just a valley surrounded by amazing mountains. And there is this huge hotel [00:05:00] where all our events take place. 

Dominique: Pretty accurate. 

Sara Molinari: Yeah. But more in depth is just a very small village, as I said at the beginning, of the mountains that usually don't have a lot of people living here. And so for this week, the village is full with young people that just go around and there are this amazing guests that speak with them. And we also like to involve the people that lives here. So for example, we do local experience, so we do trackings around and these are done by local that lives here. And our slogan is, " Think global, act local." So we want to think global because we want to have a say in sustainability and change in the world, but we want to do it locally. So starting from this small village, from our region.

Dominique: I'm glad you mentioned the slogan of "Think global, act local," because I think that, also aside from how the programming looks for, you know, an event taking place in the middle of a beautiful valley of [00:06:00] mountains, you also demonstrate that slogan in the way that you've connected and the way that you still operate.

I mean, my exposure to NanoValbruna has been that like you simultaneously are going off to speak at the United Nations and bring in speakers from all over the world and build this global network. But the work that you do and the impact you create always comes back to doing it at this event, at this particular hotel in this town between the mountains. So, yeah. That's awesome. And I, I know that a part of your role is external relations. So tell us what does that mean in the team? What are you in charge of?

Sara Molinari: Well, I'm mainly in charge of relations with guests. Not alone, of course, it's a lot of work, but, yeah, basically we keep in touch with past guests and when we start building the new year edition, we think which topic we want to bring, what type of guests we want to bring, and then I keep all the contact with the [00:07:00] guests for that is the main part during the year. Then when it comes closer to the event, it's also very logistic stuff like organizing pickups and travels and trips and yeah, it's mainly that. And then this year I was also part of the panel team, which also involved like guests.

Dominique: Okay, perfect. And I do wanna get into the guests and who you brought and speaking about how you pick them and how you structure if someone's listening and wants to start a program of the sort, you know, talking through like how you really bring people together and how you choose them. But let's pause and think about what your focus is for this year.

NanoValbruna's Focus on Regeneration

Dominique: So tell us what the focal point is of this year and why it's important?

Sara Molinari: Yeah. So this year, we decided to focus on award and not a topic because in past years we focus on topics. For example, last year it was food, but this year we want it to be more open, not focused just on one topic. So we chose the word, after many discussions within the team, we chose the word [00:08:00] regeneration and we decided to base everything on that. So from the laboratories for kids to the panels that we do in the evening. Everything is about regeneration and we want to talk about regeneration in economics and the social and the scientific point of view.

And so we started from regeneration and then we said, well, it would be cool to like have general panel on what is regeneration as mainly like a new word to use instead of sustainability because sustainability is a bit old now, let's say. And then we said, well, we can focus on some specific topics. So we are gonna have two main panels, one on urban regeneration and one on fashion. So how regeneration connects to these two topics.

Dominique: That's awesome. And I know that yesterday we had a few panels on the topic. And we'll help some of those guests join the podcast too and share more [00:09:00] deeply into their take on regeneration and what they spoke about. 

But one thing that stood out to me that I really liked was the idea that maybe sustainability is looking at how we affect community and culture and those wonderful things. And then how we think about business would be putting like the consumer at the center of the conversation and regeneration is this idea that we think about putting the consumer and the community in the center. And then we're not just thinking about neutral impacts and just negating the bad that's happening, but thinking about how we can fold in positive stuff to rebuild.

Sara Molinari: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That was, yeah, that was also our point. We wanted to show our audience that we are in a new phase, let's say. That now it's the time to do something, but we have to do it in a new way, like regenerating the stuff that we already have.

Dominique: That's very interesting and you've brought really interesting people to talk about it. 

The Speakers and Perspectives at NanoValbruna

Dominique: Can you share some of the people that you've brought this year and the perspectives they bring?

Sara Molinari: Yeah, so we brought some old guests. So for [00:10:00] example, we have Annamaria Tartaglia, an Italian lady, which has work in luxury fashion for so many years. And she already been here with us in the past years. And so, for example, with her, we decided to focus on the topic of regeneration and fashion together with her, because we try to create a sort of pattern in the panels. So to have maybe a person who has a startup, so is working on this type of regeneration and then some more theoretical speakers. And so for example, with her, there will be Cristina Di Carlo who has a startup regarding fashion. So that is really interesting.

And then to this year we also try to connect again with Will Media, which is an Italian platform on Instagram that shares news, in general, but exactly on Instagram. So it's made for young people and their idea is not to just bring out the flash news, but maybe to wait a few days to have a proper [00:11:00] analysis of the news and then bring it to the people.

And so that was really interesting for us. And last year we had already one speaker, and so from them and this year, we got to have two of them. So that is also really, really cool.

Dominique: it also feels like your strength of your network really shows in this side of NanoValbruna with the amazing topics that are on the program. I don't know if we've mentioned this clearly or not on this podcast, but NanoValbruna is a week long event, so it's hard enough to plan a conference that has content for a couple days. You do it for whole week. So how do you parse out the different presentations and how do you leverage your network to bring in such amazing people?

Sara Molinari: Well, for the first question, of course, as I said before, I was part of the panel team. So in the association we are 10 and everyone is responsible for different stuff. For the panels we were like four people, but then I was working mainly on two of them, and other people were working on others.

And in [00:12:00] that way we can build all the different, what we call soul of this forum. And then for the speakers, we definitely start from our past networks of last years. So we know that our guests also, the international ones mainly have so many connections. So once we have the idea, we pitch the idea to them, and then they're like, oh yeah, I know this person who could be interested. What do you think about? Can I contact with her? And so then we start like that literally. 

And then we start contacting people and who's free, says, oh yeah, I'm free. I like the idea. And just comes and we build up. So it really takes months because it's not easy to get everyone. And then maybe you get the speaker that you want, but then he says, well, sorry, I can't come.

So it's really intense to build it up. But the network that we created during this four year is essential because otherwise we couldn't.

Dominique: Is there a most interesting guest that you've brought? Not to pick a favorite, [00:13:00] maybe a favorite conversation that was sparked from guests.

Sara Molinari: Well, this year I already had very interesting conversation and this is not a guest that I brought, but there was a lady who worked for 35 years in Unicef, so it's really close to my background and, uh, she gave me so many tips and how to find now internship, for example, how to pitch myself in interviews and stuff.

And that is super interesting. And like I thought, wow, if I wasn't here in this team, I would've never met this person. So we actually, and this is interesting 'cause we actually just had a meeting with our volunteers because we are not alone. We have 40 volunteers that help us, and we told them like, guys, don't be shy. Go talk with our guests, because they can really help you. And even if you're not a scientific person, and you know, if they don't match too much with that person, still talk to them because they [00:14:00] could have connection that can help you. And this part of the networking for young people is one of the most important thing that we value in our work.

Dominique: And that speaks to, I think, something we haven't even talked about. But, you know, from being here is like NanoValburna's value is in the programming, but it's also in the time we just have like the week long time that like even I've gotten to have to hang out with you guys and chat outside of the sessions. But you mean you bring all these guests and we all stay at the hotel and there's just natural time together that you don't naturally just get in a short hour long networking session as like maybe is more traditionally thought of. So can you share like what that's like for young people that come and join the NanoValbruna team or the guests that join for the contest?

Sara Molinari: I think as I said, that's really amazing because what we also value is that our networking is super informal and we created a specific [00:15:00] part of the forum for that. So after our panels that are in the evening, we have a very Italian aperitivo where young people can just literally have a glass of wine with our guests and just talk about what they want.

And really, from this connection, there are people that got jobs, that got investors. So it's really a huge opportunity that we give and also give to ourself that we work here.

Dominique: Taking a step back to kind of your care about sustainability and the broad view of NanoValbruna trying to advance sustainability and entrepreneurship in this space, what is something that you wish people understood about sustainability that 

they don't? 

Sara Molinari: That's a hard one. I think maybe that it's not necessary to do big gesture, but just starting from small things, we can start a change, you know? And that is not [00:16:00] an impossible thing, but all of us should start somewhere. And sometimes still people think, well, but I'm not the one going around with the jet every day. But of course there are those people. But also in our daily life, we can do something to be better.

Dominique: I like that. I think that's very attainable and like approachable advice.

Sara Molinari: Yes.

Dominique: When people want to support you and the work with NanoValbruna or you personally, um, what are some good links or social channels they 

Sara Molinari: should 

know 

about?

Well, we have all our channels on Instagram and on LinkedIn where we share everything we do basically. On Instagram, actually there are two accounts. One just for the team of the association and one for NanoValbruna. And then, in those profile, you can also find ourselves like the part of the team so you can contact also us privately.

Dominique: Amazing. And one last question for you is, what can people learn from what you've accomplished with [00:17:00] NanoValbruna? From all that you've learned the last couple years, what's the most important takeaway you think somebody else could learn in trying to create access to young people, to a broad network, to sustainability or even just creating something out of nothing?

Sara Molinari: Well, that we are the future on which they should bet on because we are the one who has to try to make this place better. And though we need the help. And so just that we want to make this difference, but it's hard for us that we are young to make it alone. So we just need someone to support us. And yeah. Also, sometimes we also say it in the team that we don't realize how big impact this event has. And only when we hear our guests saying, oh, but this is amazing. You're doing a great job, then we stop and say like, oh, but then, yeah, we are really doing a big thing, so we just want [00:18:00] some push. Yeah. And support.

Dominique: Yeah, I can affirm that. I mean, I'm dedicating a whole podcast season to talking about NanoValbruna. I just think what you're doing is so unique and you execute it so well. And I'm just glad that we get to unpack that a little bit and hear the story of the people behind it.

Sara Molinari: Yes. That was really nice. Thank you.

Dominique: Thank you thank you for chatting with me. As always, our guests have found a unique way to champion sustainability. We're 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.

You can find our episodes and reach us at thegreenchampions.com. If you wanna stay in the loop, give us a review, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Our music is by Zayn Dweik. Thanks for listening to Green Champions. We'll dig into another sustainability success story like Sara's in our next episodes. 

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Dominique: All right, Adam, what'd you think of Sarah?

Adam: Oh, that was really fun listening to her talk. I love the quote, " Think Global, Act Local." I think that really reflects what's going on at the NanoValbruna Conference. But I also really like the emphasis on bringing in young people. Sarah works with so many diverse people, bringing them to this event, but that idea that, "Hey, you can actually bring in young minds and connect them and start inspiring them."

Dominique: Yeah, I definitely think that sometimes that like global reach, from my point of view doesn't always include young people. You know, usually you get the global reach in your career or in your impact as you get older. So it is really cool to see them put the emphasis on young people and give 'em the [00:19:00] opportunities that we often see with like further success in your life.

Adam: Yeah, well, and even being able to start with small actions and weave that in. I think Sarah does such a great job of bringing those people to the event and making sure that everything runs smoothly, so that those connections can be made and that can lead to change.

Dominique: And it's so cool. I encourage people to go on their website to go on some of like their LinkedIn tags, but the conversations that happen, I think continuously coming out of the event because there's so many people who've gotten to experience it that I think is part of the impact too that we're talking about it and sharing it even if you haven't been there.

I mean, we're doing that right now.

Adam: She shared this beautiful location, what it looks like, and I'm even more jealous than I was after the first episode. So hopefully I'll be able to attend in the future.

Dominique: Thanks Adam for letting me go do this. 

Adam: Thanks for listening. I'm glad that you shared that with all of us. 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.

Dominique: You can find our episodes and reach us [00:20:00] at thegreenchampions.com. If you want to stay in the loop, give us a review and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Our music is by Zane Dweik. Thanks for listening to Green Champions. We'll dig on another sustainability success story in our next episode. 

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