Venice at the centre of the world

Six days of programming, seven venues across the city, over one hundred international speakers: scientists, mayors, policy makers, entrepreneurs, artists and activists brought together to work on one of the most urgent challenges of our time. The title of this edition is itself a manifesto: water no longer merely as an emergency or a resource to be managed, but as a fundamental infrastructure of the 21st century and a lens through which to read the great transformations of the contemporary world – from coastal cities to food systems, from global governance to security, health and migration.

The project is led by Riccardo Luna and co-curated with Sara Roversi of the Future Food Institute and Cristiano Seganfreddo of Flash Art.

Among the more than one hundred confirmed speakers are figures of international standing: economist Jeremy Rifkin, marine biologist Sylvia Earle, artist Olafur Eliasson, entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul Polman, scientist Thomas Crowther, and artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. Alongside them, leading Italian voices including climatologist Luca Mercalli, economist Enrico Giovannini, Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, ecologist Ersilia Vaudo and naturalist Telmo Pievani – in a programme that weaves together science, politics, art and business.

This year’s programme unfolds across three pillars – Planetary Knowledge, Civic Imagination and Regenerative Alliances — bringing together scientific research, artistic practices and operational diplomacy. At the heart of the week, the Planet Aqua – World Blue Community Forum, a high-level gathering of mayors, local governments, scientists and global leaders to build a concrete Action Plan on water resource management and ocean governance. Not a mere statement of intent, but an operational roadmap and a formal commitment across disciplines: science, policy, finance, culture and civil society.

Featured image: Archive – Venice Climate Week 2025