1. WaterLANDS: The European Green Deal in Venice

With the itinerant conversations of the cycle “Cohabiting Within Wetness,” the third chapter of the project “Venice as a model for the future?” developed by TBA21–Academy for its Ocean Space, we direct our eyes and walks toward the localized action of organisms and phenomena often disregarded, yet fundamental for the balance of this ecosystem.

The project “Venice as a model for the future?” was initiated in 2020 and is curated by Barbara Casavecchia and Pietro Consolandi. “Cohabiting Within Wetness” is part of the three-year research cycle The Current III—“Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan)," led by Barbara Casavecchia.

We open “Cohabiting Within Wetness,” the third cycle of the itinerant conversations project “Venice as a model for the future?” programmed by Ocean Space and TBA21–Academy, by listening to Margherita Scapin and Amina Chouairi (researchers for We are here Venice) in Torcello, to explore the importance of the lagoon’s wetlands.

In 2019, the European Commission unveiled an ambitious project aiming for continent-wide climate neutrality by 2050: the European Green Deal. In order to adapt to the total paradigm shift required by this goal, European populations should not only reform their productive sector, but also study, protect and enhance natural elements that can help to counterbalance climate change.

In the Venice lagoon, we find a perfect ecosystemic example of such elements in the wetlands and their barene (salt marshes). It is here that the international WaterLANDS project, among the first funded by the Green Deal, will restore a large portion of marshland. The project’s only Italian partner is the NGO We are here Venice (WahV). In collaboration with Ca' Foscari University, they will be in charge of the ecological part of the scientific research. WaterLANDS aims to regenerate the entire lagoon by optimizing the process of colonization by typical saltmarsh species, to maximize ecological performance especially in terms of carbon sequestration (CO2), water purification, and restoration of biodiversity.

PHOTO: We are here Venice

4PM Meeting at the vaporetto square in Torcello. Departure for “Cohabiting Within Wetness. Venice as a model for the future?”

Participation is free, please make a reservation at this link. Limited places available.

We remind you that transport via vaporetto is at the expense of participants.

Margherita Scapin is a researcher and activist. She graduated in Venice with a thesis on the role of saltmarshes in the fight against climate change. She was awarded with the Excellence Master Fellowship (2020/2022) of the Faculty of Science at the University of Geneva (CH), to achieve a master's degree in Environmental Sciences. In her academic and professional career, she cultivates her passion for initiatives that aim to face environmental challenges with creativity and innovation. For this reason, today Margherita works with We are here Venice, a non-profit and independent association dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of Venice as a living city, supported and enriched by its lagoon, whose health determines its survival.

Amina Chouairi is a landscape architect and PhD student at IUAV University of Venice. In 2020, Amina graduated with honours from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands with her thesis "The Operating Venetian Lagoon: The Agency of Barene", about the regeneration of the brackish saltmarshes landscape in the central lagoon, was awarded the Best Graduate 2020 prize by the Faculty of Architecture and was among the forty best academic projects of 2020 selected by Archiprix Netherlands. Her research interests revolve around landscape design and planning with wetness and the role of water communities’ practice of environmental and non-humans’ care.

“Cohabiting Within Wetness” is part of TBA21–Academy’s program, The Current III: The Mediterraneans: “Thus waves come in pairs” (After Etel Adnan), led by Barbara Casavecchia.

The Current III is a transdisciplinary program of perception, listening, thought and learning that supports projects, collective education, and voices on the shores of the Mediterranean through art, culture, science, and activism.