From VeneziePost Monitor | Not an ecological fad, but the real sign of a new historical and economic phase: this is how sociologist Aldo Bonomi, founder and director of Aaster, sees the green economy. An expression of which he is keen to “break down and recompose the rhetoric,” to prove this claim.
Dr. Bonomi, the green economy now seems to have shaken off the label of mere “fashion,” and has fully entered the ranks of factors that make a country competitive: do you share this view?
“I find that the topic of the green economy prompts two major reflections. The first arises from the urban agglomeration that covers almost all of northern Italy: we are in a situation where the pinnacle of modernity in the country’s system is doing the rain dance because of fine particulate matter, and confronting a series of other problems given by pollution. It thus seems clear that the issue is not only ecological but also economic, because only by assuming a change in production and urban systems, logistics and transportation can the problem be addressed. The second arises from the evolution of the social and economic system. In the twentieth century we were accustomed to a vertical pattern of society produced by Fordism: the one that spawned Porto Marghera, to wit, with strongholds of big business and the working class. Then we moved to the horizontal society with the proliferation of small businesses, to the diffuse factory, in which one enters and exits by virtue of having or not having a VAT number. The green economy, on the other hand, refers to the ongoing shift to a circular society in which the pivotal concept is the sharing economy, collaboration to solve problems: whether recycling and reuse in the case of waste, or bike or car sharing in the case of transportation. Capitalism incorporates the concept of limits not to restrain itself, but to produce a model of development and compatible manufacturing in which the enterprise incorporates innovation to change what and how it produces. Talking about green economy, therefore, means going to the roots of our economic system and our territory.”
Why is it precisely in Italy that the green economy is experiencing such significant development?
“Italy, being traditionally a less Fordist country than others, has grasped this new dimension better. As much as the green economy has often been confused with environmental regulations ‘that Europe imposes on us,’ companies have understood that innovating in this sense is a matter not of laws but of competitiveness. Then there is the cultural factor to consider: if before there was class consciousness or business consciousness, now place consciousness is important. Which is not an ecological quirk, but the awareness that the more an area is protected in terms of the quality of the environment and life, the more attractive it is to customers and investors: so it is in the interest of companies to work in an ecologically competitive environment.”
What are the critical points that remain to be addressed for the full development of the green economy?
“As always in major cycles of change, we need to look at what are the poles of these processes. The first is network capitalism, that is, the service functions that innervate the territory, such as railways and highways; the second is the utilities and multi-utilities of energy, services and transportation. There will be no real and lasting change unless the big groups in these sectors bring it forward first. The third pole is that of the medium-sized enterprises, leaders of these changes: on their ability to also drive all the rest of our “diffuse enterprise” will depend a good part of the success of this evolution.”