The Christmas season has arrived at the end of this 2023, recorded as the hottest year in history since the industrial revolution (+ 1.46 °C compared to the average temperature for the period 1850-1900, Copernicus Climate Change). We have lived this unbalanced 2023 of wars and ecological collapses by publishing 52 environmental articles on the greenmarked.it blog, managing three environmental projects (“Fumetti e Podcast ambientali: L’Avisio nel Tempo,” “Pillole d’Acqua Piana,” “Hydro Comics & Podcast – Piana Rotaliana) and a digital detox project (“Detox challenge – Val di Fiemme”), planting 82 new fruit trees in Bolivia and telling the stories of the eight communities of Ecological Tree Guardians. The year 2023 was an industrious year that strengthened us and added momentum to our socio-environmental activities.

Let’s start with the blog and some numerical results. Achieving an average of 60 views per day, meaning more than 1,800 per month and more than 21,000 views in a year, our blog has increased traffic by about 17 percent compared to the average of 2022. This excellent performance is the result of a strengthened workflow that has enabled our talented bloggers to organize their environmental narratives with greater order and serenity throughout the 52 weeks of the year.

In addition to the method, numerous digital improvements to our site have enabled us to attract new readers: the “related articles” section under each article, the new frontpage, the new “authors” pages. Many others have been discussed and tested, and as early as early 2024 they will be enabled.

Thanks to the “Pillole D’Acqua Piana” project, supported by the Fondazione Caritro, we put more weight on water related environmental issues. With 20 blog articles published during the summer and fall months, we reported in detail on water shortage cases in Trentino, exceptional hailstorm events in Triveneto, floods and hydrogeological landslides in Northern Italy, and sound water risk prevention systems practiced in the Alps. This project has allowed us to bear the higher maintenance costs of our blog and pay our bloggers more fairly.

And lastly, our top three articles published in 2023 are:

1) “The Environmental Policies of the World Economic Forum: Conspiracy or Salvation?” (@RiccardoCodevilla)

2) “The Bark Beetle: A Threat for Trentino’s Forests” (@BarbaraCentis)

3) “Catalyzing Environmental Changes: The Potential of Literature” (@PaulaRuizDelCoro).

Fig. 2: The Bolivian Agrecol Trees community of Saltivañez adopting 20 new tree seedlings in April 2023.

With the 82 new saplings planted in March-April 2023 in the Cochabamba metropolitan area (Bolivia), we are up to 240 total trees planted since January 2020. Not only do we know in which of Cochabamba’s eight communities each plant was distributed but also the name of the person who donated it and who adopted it. They are our Guardians of Ecological Trees and are the vital social foundation and driving force behind this environmental project.

In addition to offering agronomic consulting for pruning older fruit trees and replacing saplings dried up by the severe period of water shortage that has affected the region, we organized a group video call among Guardians of Ecological Trees in mid-December. The aim was not only to get to know each other but also to share critical issues and strengths and give new impulse to the project.

To maintain our commitment to plant more ecological trees in Bolivia, we will donate a tree to each member and continue to sell them at city fairs, as we did in early December at the Ciucioi Fair in Lavis. If you would also like to become a Guardian of Ecological Trees, buy a fruit sapling from our online shop or become an ECONTROVERTIA APS 2024 member!

In addition to on-time and consulting initiatives, such as geocaching races, old-fashioned traditional games and dating app seminars, which we have held throughout the year and always welcome, the real Detox project carried out this year was the Detox Challenge in Val di Fiemme (Trento, Italy). A two-week digital detox challenge for about 100 kids, followed by a discussion workshop and an art workshop. The products were showcased to the local community in an art exhibition along with very valid data and results drawn from questionnaires on digital lifestyles in today’s teenagers.

Thanks to obtaining a work space in Palazzo Benvenuti in the city center of Trento and advice from Impact Hub Trentino, we look forward to boosting the entire Social Media Detox project throughout 2024!

A first taste of the new Detox? Go to https://socialmediadetox.it and find out about the Winter Detox program coming up on January 27-28 in Val di Cembra!

Our biggest incomes come from public funds or contests that we win, but ordinary organization activities and maintenance depend on a good amount of volunteering and membership card incomes. If you really like what we are doing, join our journey and get your 2024 membership card for only 30 Euro.