VENICE BETWEEN COMMERCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Students in mixed international groups interviewed at least three people: Venetians, shopkeepers, tourists.

QUESTIONS TO A VENETIAN

Where do you live?

What did you buy?

Who did you buy it for?

Why did you buy this particular item?

How much do you spend on this type of items on average?

What kind of packaging is provided?

What material are the items you bought made of?

Where are they manufactured?

In general, when you buy something do you ask yourself if it is a sustainable item?

What kind of stores do you usually buy in?

What do you think about tourists in Venice?

In your opinion, can individual people improve the overall environmental situation in Venice?

In what ways?

What are the main problems regarding sustainability in Venice?

QUESTIONS TO A SHOPKEEPER

How long have you been working in this store? What kind of items do you sell?

What kind of people are your customers?

Why do they buy these items?

How much do they spend on average on souvenirs?

What kind of packaging is provided?

What material are the items purchased made of?

Where are they produced?

Do you ask yourself if the items you sell are sustainable?

What about your customers?

Do you enjoy being in contact with tourists?

What do you think about tourists in Venice?

If you could, what would you change about your job?

In case of high or low tide, do you have problems with your work?

In your opinion, can individual people help improve the overall environmental situation in Venice?

In what ways?

What are the main problems concerning sustainability in Venice?

QUESTIONS TO A TOURIST

Where are you from?

Is this your first time in Venice?

How long are you staying in Venice?

What did you buy?

Who are you going to give the souvenir to?

Why did you buy this particular item?

How much do you spend on average on souvenirs?

What kind of packaging is provided?

What material are the items you bought made of?

Where are they produced?

When you buy something, do you ask yourself if it is a sustainable item?

What do you think about tourists in Venice?

In your opinion, can individual people help improve the overall environmental situation in Venice?

In what ways?

What are the main problems regarding sustainability in Venice?

Do you think you will come back to Venice in the future?

All the answers given were very interesting. The sample analysed is not absolutely representative because it was chosen on a random basis and the number is extremely small, but there were some answers that made us understand many things about Venice.

Let us summarise the most significant data that emerged from our interviews

Venetians are quite wary, many said they were in a hurry and did not agree to stop with us, but those who answered our questions were very kind.

They are happy that there are a lot of tourists in Venice, Venice by its nature historically has always been a city with an international vocation, open to foreigners, but on some days it is difficult to live with the mass of people arriving, there are more and more frequent episodes of general rudeness, for example tourists walking around in swimming costumes or deciding to swim in the canals and dive from the bridges. In these cases it is very difficult to talk about sustainability.

Each individual could individually contribute to improving the general situation in Venice by avoiding littering and respecting the city.

The problems are many prices, the city emptying out and becoming a Disneyland for tourists.

We should incentivise Venetians to stay in the city with more services, especially for young families, more work, and control housing prices. It is a very difficult goal to achieve, but of course everyone hopes that the united effort of all will help save and pass on this unique jewel in the world to new generations.

The tourists we managed to interview are mostly foreigners, coming from Greece, France and Germany, staying in Venice for a few days. The average age is around 50. 

We noticed that they are not interested in buying the small tourist souvenirs made in China but are looking for special objects such as leather masks or art prints.

They are very sustainability conscious, tend to reject plastic and are in their own small way trying to leave a light footprint on the city.

They consider the city's main problems to be the high prices and the difficulty of finding affordable restaurants despite the large number on offer.

We interviewed mostly shopkeepers who work in shops dedicated to tourists, such as a chocolate shop and souvenir shops.

Most of the customers are foreign tourists, but there are also many Italians from other regions. They buy souvenirs like Murano glass objects, or masks or magnets. They generally spend a few euros, looking for an object that fits the stereotype of Venice to give to family members, but then they are willing to buy more expensive items for a special gift or for themselves.

The objects on sale in the shop are of two types: objects made in China and similar countries that cost very little, and objects of higher quality and value produced exclusively in the area. They use paper or biodegradable bags, even though the cost is higher than plastic bags. The number of customers who have their own bag and do not need the one provided by the shopkeeper is growing.

In general, shopkeepers try to buy sustainable items, unfortunately quality is not cheap, they have a very high price, as does sustainability, so they also have to look after their own interests because in Venice the expenses (rent and various taxes) are extremely high.

It's always a pleasure to be in contact with tourists, there are some who are curious about Venice and stop to chat, 'for us it's a bit like travelling even standing still because you get to know the customs of all the countries'. But some of these about 20 per cent are really annoying because they have no respect for the work of others or for the city.

If they could, they would enlarge the shop to increase the share of quality items.

In many cases they had high tide problems in the past, now with the mose they have been greatly reduced and so all the inconvenience of once having to leave home and arrive in Venice at night to lift goods is gone.

Lastly, they remind us that we can all do something to help not only Venice but our planet, we must realise that there are no excuses, we must operate immediately in the best possible way because it is already too late.

The main problem in Venice is mobility because we can no longer move as we used to, you see that the canals are clogged with boats because all the tourists need a means of transport. We should start walking again as we used to but everyone is in too much of a hurry and has no patience.

Venice is a city with a slow mobility vocation, we need to accept its times in order to get to know it better and appreciate its true identity, which is not just the facade that appears on postcards