Interview with TITTI POSTIGLIONE
(Coordinator of the Office for the Universal Civil Service of the Department for youth policies and the universal civil service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers)
After years always spent on the "front line" of the national emergency, a less pressing adventure has begun for some time now, at least from the point of view of life times.
What is the most exciting memory of the experience in Civil Protection?
Memories are many and every memory is an emotion. All different: dramatic, moving, very tender, intense, in any case never banal. Two out of all the unforgettable ones of a personal nature: the first, on the day I was hired as a fixed-term contractor at the Department, on July 1st 20 years ago, under the guidance of the "Professor". Franco Barberi, the world famous volcanologist whose studies, publications and books I knew, was designing a new Department also populated by young geologists, engineers, architects so that they could bring competence and enthusiasm to a civil protection system which increasingly had need to relate and confront the world of the scientific community. And the second, in that distant 2008, when Guido Bertolaso appointed me Head of the Italy Situation Room, a unique and extraordinary place that brings together all the national operational structures to monitor 24 hours a day what is relevant happening in our country, thanks to a very dense network of relationships and a consolidated system of procedures. And then two of his emotions "in the field", indelible traces that have forever changed the geography of my heart: the 27 white coffins of the little victims of the San Giuliano di Puglia earthquake in 2002 and the 4 children miraculously rescued from the rubble of the Rigopiano hotel overwhelmed by an avalanche in 2017.
Among the multiple objectives, the Civil Service projects are aimed at promoting solidarity and cooperation. How do young people "respond" to these addresses that may not seem "cool"?
First of all, many are responding: while we are speaking, there are 50.000 young people engaged in almost 6.000 civil service projects involving all areas of our peninsula and 68 countries on five continents. And what unites those who work in the assistance sector with those who deal with cultural heritage or the environment, those who follow cooperation activities abroad with those who participate in civil protection or education initiatives is the passion and commitment to other, for the territories, for the communities, for the common good. Young people, often much better than us adults, grasp the true and authentic meaning of solidarity which is "taking care" of what is other than oneself and taking responsibility for it, spontaneously and responsibly.
The Civil Service promises to work with young people to build a different future, also for the preservation and protection of our cultural, environmental and civil protection heritage. Can the over ten-year experience spent in the Civil Protection serve to channel energies and attention towards even little-known problems where the country is more fragile?
One of the most interesting and exciting activities that I am personally following is a pilot intervention program for civil service in civil protection. The two Departments of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, together with Regions, Autonomous Provinces, ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities) and civil service bodies, are building a special project that will involve young people in risk communication and information activities on Civil Protection Plans. Unfortunately, our country, so vulnerable and exposed to so many different risks, still pays ten-year delays on issues of risk awareness and culture. Even the most efficient emergency response machine can do little if the territories do not deal with prevention on a daily basis and if citizens do not feel like protagonists in this field, starting from the knowledge of what can be done immediately and on their own to reduce risks to which one's home is exposed, up to the right behaviors to adopt in the event of a disaster. Civil protection is still too little perceived as a right-duty even of the individual citizen. Similarly, there are still many institutions that do not have these issues among their priorities, which are strategic not only for our future but also for our present.
Technical-scientific knowledge, a lot of "effort" but above all personal sensitivity. Which side of your character is most involved in the work you do every day?
All these things combined. Competence, which perhaps has been built up over years of study and experience, alone is not enough if we don't roll up our sleeves every day in the belief that there is still so much to do and learn. Without passion you don't go anywhere, but just as much commitment is needed, which is precisely daily effort, work, teamwork. Without ever forgetting that a professional is first and foremost a person. I almost smile when you ask me: how do you put feelings aside in an emergency to stay clear-headed and think only of the goal to be achieved? My answer is always the same: feelings are not put aside, because they are the ultimate goal of your choices, they are what must inspire your actions, they are the flame that feeds your will and your tenacity, and which to never let you give up, even when maybe your head and rationality would tell you it's time to give up. It is the heart that guides the head and, in a strange and magical game of balance, the head then manages to govern the heart. Being in tune and in empathy with what you are doing, with the people you work with, with the recipients of your action, I believe is the "mission" of every state official, whatever the sector in which he works.
In your experience in the Civil Protection you have met particular people and places which, due to their fragility, need understanding and protection. Can the Civil Service intervene to bring the action of the State under a different perspective?
Yes, without a doubt. Civil service is defense of the homeland and is a "kind" way, because it is voluntary and because it is provided by young hearts, to "stand beside" the most suffering communities. It is no coincidence that it is now customary that, once the first emergency phase is over, the territories hit by disasters ask for civil service projects that guarantee a "permanence" of the State in the affected areas, which accompanies the population's effort aimed at rebirth and reconstruction, not only of homes and businesses, but above all of the souls and aspirations of those who in many cases have lost everything.
Do you think that the younger generations have a greater or lesser sensitivity than in the past on the issues of prevention, emergency and voluntary work linked to natural disasters?
A comparison with the past is difficult for a whole series of reasons. Surely today's young people have many more opportunities when they want to get information and to know without the need for intermediaries, indispensable instead for our generation. On the emergency I don't think there are many differences. Italians have always been sensitive to disasters, once they have happened, and always will be. And in those moments they manage to bring out the best in themselves. Unfortunately, there is still much, too much to do on prevention. Until having a civil protection plan in his pocket isn't as important as having an airbag in his newly bought car, we won't go very far. On volunteering the discourse is different: less generalist than in the past but also more demanding and aware.
With the establishment of the Universal Civil Service, the focus of the interventions is broader. The experience of young people in new places and sometimes very different from their past is always positive. What is the “daring” project that you find it really exciting to carry out?
Make the 50.000 young people who are carrying out civil service feel like they are part of a single team that is defending their country. Not a set of single subjects engaged in wonderful projects that are born and die in a year and in a specific territory, but pieces of a larger mosaic where each one is important, indeed essential, but acquires meaning only in the vision of the common design. It is a daring project that if pursued with patience can be within our reach. From the coordination of the Civil Protection Operations Room to the coordination of a system made up of the State, Regions, Autonomous Provinces, Organizations and young people.
What are the qualities that a person who experiences a 24-hour emergency must necessarily possess? And what, on the other hand, are needed for an "orchestra conductor" of such varied instruments?
In the end, they are not so different systems. In both cases there are many musicians on stage and despite the extraordinary nature of the soloists, the difference is made by the conductor. Of course, in civil protection the time factor is everything, therefore among the most important qualities there is certainly the ability to decide quickly, aware that you cannot make the best choice ever but you have to identify what seems, with a good probability , the most correct in that context and in the given time. For the civil service, as for many other strategic parts of our country system, the ability to plan matters more than that of acting promptly. And in this case the difference is the medium-long term vision.
Some time ago the Civil Service was a ploy to avoid compulsory military service. Now, however, participation in the project is exclusively voluntary. What attracts young people to "dedicate" their time so intensely?
In many the desire to do something for others, in many the desire to invest in a personal path of training and growth, in still others the need of the moment to find a way to free oneself from one's family and conquer a little autonomy. But the most extraordinary thing is that whatever the motivation that pushes the boy to choose the civil service what he then takes home is a personal and professional experience that changes his life. With the awareness of having partially changed the lives of others.
In a recent interview you said that, finally, a first form of recognition and enhancement of the skills acquired by young people with the Civil Service has been introduced. By implementing Legislative Decree no. 40/2017, now participants in the Civil Service receive a certificate representing the skills acquired and the general and specific training received. Is training a good appeal for the Civil Service?
An excellent appeal. There are rare examples of tools such as the civil service that make such long and intense periods of training available to young people, training which, moreover, does not end in the hours dedicated to it but which instead permeates the entire period of service, in a path of " non-formal learning” one of a kind.
In your opinion, is it possible to bring the planning of the Civil Service into the world of scientific research, in a less "operational" and more "study" vision?
Yes. There are innumerable ways to serve your country and defend your homeland. One of these is to contribute to the growth of culture and knowledge. And scientific research is its fundamental training ground. With a single shrewdness on the part of the bodies and institutions that conceive and implement the projects. Civil service volunteers must be guaranteed an opportunity that has few equals: receiving and giving must find their perfect balance and for every boy who wants to dedicate time, intelligence, competence and passion there must be an adult, with the same passion, which accompanies and guides him, convinced that time is well spent.