The first edition of the Biennale della Sostenibilità, promoted and organized by the Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF), started on June 1. This event will unfold until November 25, featuring a series of events dedicated to reflection and international dialogue on the themes of sustainable territorial development, based on the experiences gained in Venice.
“The MOSE Era” began in the Squadratori Hall of the Venetian Arsenal with a large audience in attendance. The meeting, moderated by Corila’s General Director, Pierpaolo Campostrini, was welcomed by the participation of institutions, including a video intervention by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini. The event also featured the presence of VSF President Renato Brunetta, Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, regional councilor Francesca Scatto, and Commander of the Maritime Military Studies Institute and Commander of the Military Navy Garrison of Venice, Andrea Petroni. The debate then delved into details with contributions from the speakers.
President Renato Brunetta emphasized the need to enhance MOSE: “It is the first and largest sustainability project that our country can showcase to the world, the largest movable hydraulic system in the history of humanity. There is no other project like it. 70% of the world’s population lives on coastlines, in cities located in port areas, and is at risk of survival starting from the next century. MOSE, instead, provides security to the city of Venice for the next hundred years, but it can also provide it to the rest of the world. It is an example of sustainability that Venice wants to present to the world, it is a public good that we will request UNESCO to recognize as a work of world culture. Italy could offer the rest of the world its patents, technology, manufacturing, and security. Thanks to MOSE, it is no longer the world saving Venice, but Venice saving the world.” The Foundation’s President continued, “MOSE took thirty years to build, with about seven billion in direct expenses and as much in indirect costs. However, if we look at the estimates for similar projects in other parts of the world, we see that it doesn’t cost that much. It is based on a ‘simple’ principle, Archimedes’ principle, which has a straightforward concept but an extremely complex implementation. It involves separating the sea from a lagoon, closing the port inlets, simultaneously raising the gates of the movable barriers, making them disappear when they are no longer needed, and redirecting the water to oxygenate the lagoon.”
