There is a tiny living creature without which our planet would be profoundly different.
An insect capable, every day, of connecting flowers, nature, biodiversity, and life through silent, continuous, and extraordinarily organized work: the bee.
Bees never work just for themselves. Every flight, every flower they visit, every grain of pollen they collect contributes to something greater: the well-being of the entire hive and the balance of the ecosystem around them.
It is precisely this message that gave rise to Nettina. Nettina is the mascot of Net-Education, NET’s educational and outreach project dedicated to the environment, sustainability, and the circular economy. A little character designed to accompany little girls, little boys, girls, boys, families, and people of all ages on a journey of learning, curiosity, awareness, and respect for the local area. Its creation was no accident.
Nettina comes to life on May 20, 2026, on World Bee Day: a symbolic date that celebrates one of the most important organisms for biodiversity and for the future of the planet.
But Nettina doesn’t just represent nature. It also embodies a profound sense of community.
Bees are the perfect symbol of what happens every day in the world of the circular economy as well: thousands of small actions that, together, generate value, transformation, and a future.
A worker bee collects pollen and brings it back to the hive, where a collective process of transformation begins that will lead to the creation of honey. Similarly, every day, citizens, service providers, technicians, facilities, and local communities work together to give new life to materials collected through separate waste collection. Paper, plastic, glass, metals, organic waste, and many other materials aren’t simply “thrown away”—they are sorted, collected, separated, recovered, and transformed into new resources. This is the heart of the circular economy. And it is also at the heart of NET’s work. Behind every successful recycling effort lies not the action of a single individual, but a network of people working together toward a common goal. Just like in a beehive.
Bees teach us that the greatest strength does not come from individualism, but from the ability to work together, to help one another, to share responsibilities, and to build something that benefits the entire community.
That’s why Nettina wants to be much more than just a mascot. It aims to become a positive, contemporary symbol that conveys—with simplicity and lightheartedness—the value of sustainability, participation, and care for the environment. A little face that can help bring people closer to the major issues of our time: protecting nature, reducing waste, recycling, reusing, biodiversity, respecting resources, and building a more sustainable future. With Nettina, a new phase of Net-Education is also taking shape: new digital spaces, new educational activities, new content, events, workshops, and tools designed to engage schools, families, and citizens in an even more innovative and participatory way.
Because sustainability isn’t something distant or abstract. It’s made up of small, everyday gestures.
Of people.
Of collaboration.
Of community.
Just like in a beehive. 