Very current, forerunner in Italy of the theme on which the fate of the planet depends today, namely the care of the environment, the law of 11 June 1922, n. 778, better known as the Croce Law, Thursday 27 October at the Sala Zuccari of the Senate (starting at 9.30) will be the focus of a conference promoted by the Benedetto Croce Library Foundation, which will see the participation of scholars and representatives of the institutions, including Salvatore Settis, Academician of the Lincei, Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Claudio Descalzi, CEO Eni Spa The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella and the President of the Senate, La Russa, will be present at the study day. “The law wanted by Croce marked a real watershed in the environmental legislation of our country – says Piero Craveri, president of the Benedetto Croce Library Foundation – introducing a specific protection regime for ‘natural beauties’ and for’ properties of particular interest historical ‘”. Therefore, Craveri continues, “after a century, we wanted to retrace the genesis of that standard and reflect on its legacy, but also on the complex problems that today’s needs – the energy emergency and the ecological transition, above all – pose to the protection of the landscape. And it is important and significant for us that this day of celebration is welcomed in an institutional and prestigious seat like that of the Senate “. (continued) Genesis and approval of law 778/1922 The law represented the culmination of an important mobilization process in defense of the animated landscape in Italy by intellectuals, jurists and scholars of other disciplines, newspapers and public opinion, sinking its roots, as well as in the legislation of the pre-unification states, in a cultural context that – at the beginning of the twentieth century – saw the diffusion of numerous movements for the conservation of the landscape throughout Europe.Minister of Public Education during the fifth Giolitti government (1920-1921), Croce presented the bill in the Senate on 25 September 1920. Following the fall of the government, which took place the following year, after the necessary parliamentary procedure, the law was approved in 1922. In the introductory report that accompanied it, Croce set out some fundamental concepts, which would have constituted the cornerstones of any subsequent political action in defense of the environment and the historical and artistic heritage. He underlined the need for a rule that would “finally put a stop to the unjustified devastation that is taking place against the best known and most loved characteristics of our soil”, in order to “defend and enhance, to the greatest extent possible, the greatest beauties of Italy, the natural ones and the artistic ones “. This responded to “high moral reasons and no less important reasons of public economy”. (continues) Among the founding principles of protection, art. 9: Croce’s introductory report The protection of the landscape, for Croce, is also connected to the formation of national identity, since the landscape “is nothing other than the material and visible representation of the homeland, with its particular physical characteristics (…) , with the many and varied aspects of its soil, which have been formed and reached us through the slow succession of centuries “. Article 9 of the Constitution, the first in the world to place protection among the constitutional foundations of the State (Article 9, paragraph 2: “The Republic protects the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the Nation”.