UNDRR: “Venice to lead a network of coastal cities on best practices related to sea level rise to protect cultural heritage”
A meeting between a delegation from the Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF) and Kamal Kishore, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), was held in Rome in recent days at Palazzo Lubin.
The meeting was attended by Foundation President Renato Brunetta, Director General Alessandro Costa, and Pierpaolo Campostrini. Present for UNDRR were Kamal Kishore, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Paola Albrito, Director of UNDRR, Daniela Gilotta, External Relations Officer, and Luca Rossi, Senior Coordination Officer – Early Warning for All Initiative.
The proposal made by Kamal Kishore is for Venice to lead a global network of coastal cities in which best practices related to sea level rise to protect cultural heritage are compared. This initiative can be launched at upcoming events to be curated in Venice by VSF and in Geneva by UNDRR.
The meeting is part of initiatives related to Venice’s role as a “Resilience Hub” under the United Nations “Making Cities Resilient 2030” program, which aims to strengthen the capacity of cities to cope with disaster-causing events. This role was assigned to the City during the 2023 Sustainability Biennial, organized by VSF. On behalf of the City of Venice, VSF maintains active networking activities with UNDRR by promoting initiatives, mainly of an international nature, to disseminate and raise awareness by highlighting Venice’s experience of safeguarding cultural heritage and adapting to climate change.
During the meeting, President Renato Brunetta outlined the Foundation’s mission and its commitment to promoting greater awareness of sustainability issues, with a focus on Venice’s role as an example of urban resilience.
The main objective of the meeting was to explore further ways to intensify the collaboration between Venice and UNDRR, using the city as a reference point to raise awareness and inspire other urban realities internationally, with particular reference to the preservation of cultural heritage.
