From 8 April to 27 May 2025, Friuli Venezia Giulia will host a series of events, meetings and initiatives in the second edition of “La Memory del Legno”, a project to promote environmental protection and human rights. In the center the trees between past and present.
The memory of the wood imprinted in the trees
Curated by Damatrà Onlus and supported by the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Department of Culture. He sees the municipality of Spilimbergo and 8 other municipalities as leader.
These are: Udine, Aviano, Brugnera, Maniago, Mortegliano, Lignano Sabbiadoro, San Giovanni al Natisone, San Vito al Tagliamento.
“Scientific research and the art of narration can increase the awareness of the community on the importance of the protection of our ecosystems, starting with the trees.” Mara Fabro, president of Damatrà said. Onlus.
Partner The Gariwo Foundation – The Forest of the Righteous and IIS The Tagliamento, Regeneration Hub Friuli APS, Wild Routes Association of Social Promotion, Ithaca Cooperative Social Cooperative with the libraries of the Municipalities.
The project aims to sensitize the community on the importance of the protection of ecosystems. Through the symbolic power of the trees and the figure of the “righteous” of our time.
A unique opportunity to reflect on our role in the present and in the future, highlighting how science and narration can stimulate civic and environmental awareness.
“The memory of wood is a compendium of high and deep values. It expresses the connection between environmental intelligence and the contents of ethics and moral philosophy that must reach citizens of our time.” Enrico Sarcinelli, mayor of the municipality of Spilimbergo said.
The trees between ethics and the environment
Inauguration Tuesday 8 April
The journey of the review will see great scientific popularizers protagonists, it is divided into a series of meetings aimed at schools, but also to the adult audience. The focus is in particular on the themes of the ecological transition and social justice.
The opening will be entrusted to Chiara Valentina Segré, scientific supervisor of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation but also organic organic by the story of nature to children and teenagers. He will speak at 8.30 to Mortegliano, in the Villa dei Conti di Varmo and at 11.30 in Maniago, in the Civic Library, on the theme “The superpowers of the vegetable kingdom”. Theme that inspired the essay written with four hands with Barbara Mazzolai of the Italian Institute of Technology, published by Editoriale Scienza. It will be an opportunity to spread, tailored to young readers, the new discoveries related to the “Planted Robots” and “Growing Robots”. That is, robots inspired by plants, to tell the incredible capacity of plants.
Trees dedicated to illustrious characters for the “Forest of the Righteous”
Central pivot of the second edition of “La Memoria del Legno” will be the path dedicated to the Forest of the Righteous in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
An opportunity for civic and environmental education that enhances the connections between nature and culture, between environmental sustainability and social impact. Here each tree is dedicated to the living memory of men and women capable of choices of justice and peace.
The map of the widespread forest of the righteous of Friuli Venezia Giulia can be used online.
The review will be embellished with live multimedia events, which will be held at the foot of the “trees of memory”. The plants will be named after city citizens and citizens of the world.
Symbol of memory and hope, they will be planted in various parks and gardens of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Among these exemplary characters such as the Iranian dissident toomaj Salehi, the mother of Peppino Impastato or Felicia Bartolotta Impastato, Lea Garofalo, the cyclist Gino Bartali, the doctor and founder of Emergency Gino Strada, Don Lorenzo Milani, the tennis player and activist Anti Apartheid Arthur Ashe, the martyr student of Nazism Sophie Scholl, the lawyer and activist and activist Indiana Flavia Agnes.
A podcast will also be launched that will collect the stories of these characters and make them accessible to an even wider audience. The public will listen to their stories thanks to the use of smartphones and audio headphones, and these same stories will be listened to by everyone through a podcast dedicated to the project.
The podcast is created by the young artists of the Creative Invasions Association. It will be available on the website of the project https://lamemoriadellegno.damatra.com starting from June 2025.
Not just commemoration
“The memory of the wood” is therefore not just an act dedicated to memory. It is an invitation to reflect on our role in the construction of a more sustainable and fair world, starting from the choices we make every day.
“I want to highlight the evocative and symbolic power of the trees. They represent life, growth and deep bond between man and nature. Dedicating trees to exemplary figures, chosen for their commitment and their courage in promoting values of justice and individual responsibility, becomes a powerful act of memory and inspiration.” The vice -president and councilor for culture of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Mario Ovel, underlined.
Gino Strada and Gino Bartali, men united by the fil rouge of the name and ethics
Gino Strada with his wife Teresa Sarti and a group of colleagues founded Emergency in 1994. An international humanitarian association for the rehabilitation of the victims of war and anti -human mines. From its foundation at the end of 2021, it provided free assistance to over 10 million patients in 16 countries worldwide.
In Maniago, Thursday 8 May 2025 at 10 am, a Bagolaro tree will be named in his memory in the civic library.
Not everyone knows that the cyclist Gino Bartali collaborated with the clandestine company “Delasem”. This provided hospitality and assistance to the persecuted politicians and those who escaped the Nazi -fascist raids in Tuscany. He therefore contributed to saving about 800 Jews. He did it by making numerous trips by transporting hidden documents and photos in the cycling frame tubes. A secret printing house was falsifying the necessary documents to escape refugees. For this reason, in 2013 the organization Yad Vashem assigned him the title of “Giusto among the nations”.
For Bartali, on the other hand, a horse chestnut will be planted and dedicated to Mortegliano, Wednesday 30 April, at 10 in Largo Foro Boario.
Don Lorenzo Milani
In San Vito al Tagliamento, Wednesday 16 April, at 10 in the “Amalteo-Tommaseo” secondary school park, a Blokgo Biloba will be named after Don Lorenzo Milani, the priest, and educator known for the teaching activity addressed in particular to the children of the disadvantaged social groups.
Women who opposed organized crime: Felicia Impastato and Lea Garofalo
Felicia Impastato is known for being the mother of Peppino Impastato and for her constant commitment in order to incriminate the managers of the death of her son, a journalist killed by the mafia in Sicily. There was another woman who opposed the organized crime, this time of the ndranghetist, is the young Lea Garofalo, barbarously killed.
The tree for Felicia Impastato will be planted in Lignano Sabbiadoro on Tuesday 15 April, at 10 am in the Ippolito Nievo primary school park.
A beech will instead be dedicated to Lea Garofalo in Aviano on Tuesday 29 April, at 10 in the Larissa park in Piazzale Trento.
Spilimbergo, a tree for the dissident Salehi and scientific appointments
On 11 April in Spilimbergo, at the “Il Tagliamento” higher education institute, a “Firmian Platanifolia Aogiri” will be named after the Indian rapper Toomaj Salehi. Recently released, Taomaj Salehi is a supporter of the anti -government protests that broke out after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, the 22 -year -old who had lost his life after being placed in custody because he did not correctly bring the veil. In his songs, the rapper asks for freedom for unjustly imprisoned prisoners and the end of repression.
The tree germinated by the seeds of plants survived to the atomic
On 17 May at 10 at the “Il Tagliamento” higher education institute there will be a special event entitled “Waiting for open gardens”. He will feature the students of the 3ag class of the Agricultural Technical Institute, who will experience the role of “scientific popularizer” with a specific focus on the world of trees and the botanical garden of the institute. An opportunity to visit the Armono della Pace, where another adefair is planted, germinated by some seeds produced by plants that survived the atomic bombing of Japan.
The other trees: Flavia Agnes, Arthur Ashe, Sophie Scholl
In Brugnera, on Monday 28 April, at 10.30 in the park of Villa Varda, a Californian cedar will be dedicated to Flavia Agnes, an Indian lawyer and activist expert in marriage law and violence against women.
In San Giovanni al Natisone, Tuesday 6 May, at 10 in the Playground in Viale delle Scuola, a Punus Cerasifera will be named after the tennis player Arthur Ashe, the first color of color admitted in a sport of Bianchi. The tennis champion who fought against apartheid and has sensitized the world on HIV.
Finally in Udine, Tuesday 27 May, at 10 in the Garden of the First Grade Secondary School, a Bagolaro will be for Sophie Scholl, the young German activist linked to the resistance to Christian inspirational Nazism. Belonging to the white rose, he chose the non -violent rebellion at the Hitler regime and was for this tortured and then guilled at only 22 years of age, in 1943.
More events
Another illustrious scientific popularizer present is Giorgio Vacchiano, appointed by the magazine Nature among the 11 best emerging scientists who leaving the mark in science.
Professor of the University of Milan, he is an expert in forestry systems, ecology and self -growing
On May 18 in Spilimbergo, he will tell the citizens “the invisible threads” that bind us to the forest. The initiative will take place at 11, in the building above the council chamber, as part of the open gardens initiative.
“The trees” said Vacchiano, “They are an example of harmony and efficiency: they communicate together through the roots, the volatile substances emitted by the leaves, the perfumes and the colors of the flowers”.
This project shows that respect for memory and nature can walk together towards a more green and better future for everyone.