Inspired  by  the  global  mobilization  of  the  Fridays  for  Future, the  objective of  the  initiative  is  to transform Saturdays  (during which most people do  their weekly  shopping) into days of commitment for responsible production and consumption. Consumers, businesses and civil society organizations will be engaged in initiatives that aim to change the production methods and the shopping habits in favour of sustainable development.

The  initiative  will  contribute  to  achieving the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and in particular to:

SDG 12, “Responsible  Consumption  and  Production”,  whose target  12.8 states: “By  2030,  ensure  that  people  everywhere  have  the  relevant information  and  awareness  for  sustainable  development  and  lifestyles  in harmony with nature”;

SDG 13, “Climate Action”,  whose  target  13.3  states  “Improve  education,awareness-raising  and  human  and  institutional  capacity  on  climate  change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning”;

SDG 4, “Quality Education”, whose target 4.7 states “By 2030, ensure that all learners  acquire  the  knowledge  and  skills  needed  to  promote  sustainable development,  including,  among  others,  through  education  for  sustainable development  and  sustainable  lifestyles,  human  rights,  gender  equality, promotion  of  a  culture  of  peace  and  non-violence,  global  citizenship  and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development”.

There are many ways to engage and contribute to the Saturdays for Future:

• participation in the online poll to suggest the responsible production and consumption priorities that require more effort by all;
• organization of events or specific initiatives, taking place as of a week of the day of mobilization, dedicated to the promotion of responsible production and consumption models;
• launch of an awareness-raising campaign on social media with the hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture and with the collaboration of media partners.

To organize the Saturdays for Future, ASviS launched the website www.saturdaysforfuture.it, that will monitor the events taking place all over Italy and will contain useful information and documents, including the link to the e-learning course on the 2030 Agenda (soon available in English) developed by ASviS, that, in the week of the mobilization, will be available for free. The results and the experiences of the Saturdays for Future campaign will contribute to the creation of a shared educational kit on the themes of responsible production and consumption.

The initiative is based on creativity: participants can take part according to their abilities and interests. Here are some examples of initiatives:

• are you a consumer? Learn about the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development through ASviS’ e-learning  course;  take  part  in  the  online  poll  to  indicate  the  priorities of  responsible production and consumption that you believe require greater focus and effort, shop in a more responsible manner; on social media, use the hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture;

• are  you  a  consumers’  organization,  a  trade  or  labour  union? Promote  the  2030  Agenda  for sustainable development among your members and raise awareness on the initiative; propose events on the themes of responsible production and consumption;

• are  you  a  goods  or  services producing  business,  a  large  scale  or  fair  trade  retailer? Make  a commitment for the cultural shift towards sustainable production and consumption methods; starting  from  September  28th 2019,  share  your  story  on  social media  using  the  hashtag #SaturdaysforFuture to promote your best practices;

• Are you a school or university teacher? Promote the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and share the message of the Saturdays for Future with your class: have your students follow ASviS’ e-learning course on the 2030 Agenda and share informative material on SDG 12;

• Are you a journalist? Give voice to the 2030 Agenda and spread information on the theme of responsible production and consumption.