Below is a short interview conducted by Euractiv with Sofia Erca, a physical education teacher from the Liceo Petrarca di Arezzo, on the importance of environmental sustainability as a European value.
E: Which kind of topics covered in the second module of EUPress Teacher Training do you think fit most your high school lessons?
Pollution and environmental issues are two of the European topics that mainly involve my subject (Physical Education).
Never as in the last period has the condition of the environment or rather, of the entire planet, represented one of the main concerns for the impact on the quality of life.
E: What do you think people should do to fight climate change?
The health of the environment and that of man depend a lot on the lifestyle that we choose. Starting to prepare for a more ecological awareness and at the same time a more dynamic awareness towards physical activity means moving more. Thus, using the car less, walking more frequently, cycling, taking public transport is a solution and an alternative with zero impact. The most suitable, oldest and most ecological physical activity remains walking as much as possible. possible, followed by going up and down the stairs. Avoiding the
use of escalators and lifts means saving high electricity costs and reducing the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for the operation of the systems.
Traveling by bicycle is another sustainable way of helping our health and the environment in which we live. The bike doesn’t pollute, it doesn’t make noise, it’s easy to park and it keeps us fit. The “green” aspect of the two wheels, the economic convenience, the advantage of improving physical resistance, lead the bicycle to represent that means that allows you to build a good physical base. Fighting against environmental pollution means moving more. Leaving your car more frequently leads to a reduction in fuel combustion and the emission of exhaust gases into the air.
E: Do you think your country is doing enough to protect the environment?
Italy is the European country still closely linked to the use of the car and oriented towards a sedentary lifestyle: for car addicts, the practice of physical activity is very limited. But if it is difficult to avoid a means of transport, the ecological choice can fall back on urban public transport or on smart transport consisting of modern current-powered personal vehicles such as the electric scooter, the monowheel, the hoverboard and the ecobike, new devices for electric micro mobility. In this way, health and the environment are protected at the same time.
It’s a matter of culture, but we can do more. The good practice of physical activity more frequently helps to treat and prevent many diseases with very high health costs. Moving therefore contributes to falling ill less and to reducing the costs for health management borne
by the National Health Service. Because feeling good also means avoiding producing those mountains of medical waste and drugs used every day to treat many physical conditions that can still be solved by doing more physical activity. There is still a way to ensure that physical activity saves the environment and is to practice it in the natural contexts of parks, gardens, beaches, mountain paths, along rivers, paying attention to the waste scattered here and there and collecting it. In conclusion, everyone can set an example by staying fit and dedicating themselves to the environment.
And if for many sedentary people moving is not yet a pleasure, but a duty, let’s make sure that it remains a duty for the environment and later it will also become a duty for
one’s health.
