Carandini will be present at II Slowlight Thinking Meeting

Less than 100 years ago, everyone could look up and see a spectacular starry night sky. Nowadays, millions of children across the globe will never experience the Milky Way where they live.

Data on light pollution and its consequences for biodiversity, our health and the health of the planet and animals are worrying.

Some of the latest recent studies show:

• More than 80% of the world lives under light polluted skies, a figure that rises to over 99% for European and US populations, according to the BBC
• Light pollution is growing at twice the rate of global population increase
• Night sky got brighter by 10% per year, according to a study by the journal Science
• The planet’s biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate: approximately 40% of the world’s insect species are at risk, according to a study published in
• Science Direct
• Lighting pollution is not only affecting animals, it has adversely bad consequences for our health

Although light pollution is caused by several factors, lighting is one of the most important. Every day, new light points are installed around the world, altering the natural light of our planet. “The sun is basically like a clock,” tells BBC Future Brett Seymoure, a behavioural ecologist at Washington University in St Louis. By creating artificial light, we alter the rhythm of day and night, affecting the natural cycles of plants and animals, their orientation, feeding…

RESPONSIBLE USE OF LIGHT

Aware of the importance and responsibility we have with this problem, Xavier Travería, Carandini’s technical and R&D director, will participate next Friday 24th March in the II Slowlight thinking meeting, organised by the Slowlight foundation. The event will take place in Galdakao, in Basque Country, and will be a space for dialogue, thought and urban lighting networking on the present and future of urban lighting, which aims to underpin the ideas and fundamental principles of a new lighting culture and a responsible use of lighting.

ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

The recyclability of the materials used, as well as energy efficiency, are other actors to be considered.  The link between energy and sustainability is more important than ever due to the climate and energy crisis we are experiencing worldwide.

This and other topics will be discussed by Xavier Travería together with Pilar Vázquez, CEO of ECOLUM (Foundation for the management of lighting waste), in the round table on recyclability and circular economy scheduled as part of the II Slowlight Thinking Meeting.

Slowlight has been working for three years to promote a responsible use of light, through the creation of a new lighting culture and a change of focus towards global sustainability that allows the recovery of the night in cities, while respecting the environment.