Europe

Italy and Germany get together to Promote Sustainability

The Italian Embassy in Berlin bolsters sustainable design as part of the European Sustainability Week

May 16th, 2019
Maria Gobbi, News from Berlin
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Photo by Hebbel am Ufel

To celebrate the opening of the European Sustainability Week (29th May - 6th June 2019), the Italian Embassy in Berlin organizes the event "Design for Sustainability. Bridging Italian and German Creativity for Sustainable Development".

The European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW) is a Europe-wide initiative aimed at raising awareness on the theme of sustainable development. To contribute to the event, the Federal Foreign Office and 24 of the Embassies in Berlin are presenting the joint program “Diplomacy for Sustainability”. Every day, from May 29th to June 6th, the participating Embassies will organize events focused on the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals. This way, the participants will have the opportunity to discover how various countries are approaching the theme of sustainability from different perspective.

The Italian Embassy has chosen to focus on design, starting on the very first day of the week with a Conference and Exhibition titled “Design for Sustainability. Bridging Italian and German Creativity for Sustainable Development". Design is nowadays very influential as it may encourage individuals and institutions alike to save resources and rethink the use of objects. In fact, it has been estimated that up to 70% of the costs and 80% of the environmental and social impact of a product over its life cycle are determined during the design phase. As a consequence, design communities in Germany and Italy, accounting for over a third of European Designers, can play a huge role in the road to sustainability.

The event will address topics such as the use of innovative materials to spearheading circular economy into high-value manufacturing and the role of innovative design in the promotion of sustainable resources, inclusive growth, and responsible consumption. The conference, which will see the participation of important personalities of the political and design sphere, will be coupled with an exhibition of Italian sustainable design objects (furniture, furnishing accessories, lighting). Luisa Bocchietto, the curator of the exhibition, is the President of the World Design Organization, a community of professional organizations which strongly advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals in the design field. 

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News from Berlin