A conversation with Alessandra Mazzai

She has personally contributed to the birth of CMCC, and has seen it grow. Get to know the gluttonous reader Martina Marian, a cornerstone of CMCC@Ca’Foscari.

What’s your job at the CMCC Foundation?
I am the manager of the ECIP Division and, for a short time, also the manager of the RAAS Division. Recently, I also managed the new agreement between CMCC and Ca’Foscari University of Venice, that gave birth to CMCC@Ca’Foscari, which hosts the new CMCC offices in Venice.

Which road led you to CMCC?
We could say that the CMCC was born on my watch. In 2003, I started working on a feasibility study towards the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, and in 2005 I followed the notarial act that saw the birth of CMCC. I was there! And I remember the first time we went to Lecce to visit the building where the CMCC offices would be hosted. That’s when I ate my first pasticciotto!

Is your current job the one you had dreamed of when you were a child?
When I was a child, the climate change problem was not well known yet, but I’m not surprised to have chosen a job that supports someone else’s work and looks for solutions to improve the world we live in. I’ve always loved teamwork and to have a mission…

Could you tell us the most important moment in your career life at CMCC?
The most important moment in my professional life at CMCC was the establishment of CMCC after two years of work in Milan with Riccardo Tarquini. I am also proud that the CMCC Fund Raising Office was born as a spin-off of the FEEM Fund Raising office, where I worked until December 2017. I remember the first coordinated proposal I worked on, when I spent nights working on the budget … and I remember the emotion I felt when we received the evaluation and knew that the project had been funded!

What’s on your workstation?
In addition to the laptop, there are papers, post-it notes, coloured pens and a beautiful plant: a birthday present from my colleagues.

How do you travel to work?
After several years of travels by train, bus and boat, now I travel to work with my hybrid car… waiting to buy an electric car.

What do you do in your spare time?
I grow a vegetable garden, I ride my bike in the Venetian countryside, I walk in the mountains, and I sunbathe on the beach. I like reading and eating chocolate!

Cinema or literature: give me a title and explain your choice
Literature! With at least three titles: “Ocean Sea” by A. Baricco, because it’s a beautiful book and an unforgettable crossover of lives. “Love in the Time of Cholera” by G. Marquez, because love can wait. “Atonement” by I. McEwan, because it has an ending that you do not expect and it leaves you there… without words.