Festival for Sustainable Development

 

On the occasion of the Festival for Sustainable Development – now in its third edition and scheduled from 21 May to 6 June 2019 throughout Italy – a weekend entirely dedicated to the dialogue between art, society and the environment was proposed. The Festival for Sustainable Development is the largest Italian initiative to raise awareness and mobilise citizens, the younger generations, businesses, associations and institutions on the issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability, to spread the culture of sustainability and to bring about a cultural and political change that will enable Italy to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda and achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The proposal stems from the conviction that it is precisely culture that is entrusted with the most complex and delicate task, namely that of inviting sincere individual reflection, authentic community thinking and a conscious gaze towards a world that can change. These are the reasons why the Novecento Museum, the UNESCO Office of the City of Florence and MUS.E proposed, in collaboration with the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, two days dedicated to sustainability and inspired by the 17 Global Goals defined by the United Nations 2030 Agenda, objectives that form the basis of the Management Plan for the Historic Centre of Florence World Heritage Site: to contribute to an important and vital process that requires each of us to take a new vision and prompt action towards a planet that is less focused on us and more on what surrounds us. The initiatives aimed to disseminate the objectives of the European project AtlaS.WH to raise awareness of the sustainable development of historic cities, contemporary societies and their cultural heritage.

Among the initiatives on the calendar, there was the meeting ‘Life Guards. Dialogues between art, architecture and sustainability’. The conversation took place at the Museo Novecento in Florence and revolved around exhibition projects linked to the theme of sustainability, with particular reference to the works of Lucy + Jorge Orta and the projects linked to eco-sustainable architecture by the German studio Bureau Baubotanik and the School of Sustainability (SOS) directed by Mario Cucinella. The installations, models and images allowed for a reflection on the major themes of contemporary and future society, and offered food for thought towards a new – and possible – balance with the planet.

More information on the initiatives scheduled for Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June can be found on the MUS.E Association website: http://musefirenze.it/larte-puo-salvare-il-mondo/