On Thursday, November 20, 2024, the conference “The Venice Paradigm: Strategies for Adaptation to Sea Level Rise and Disaster Risk Reduction” was held by VSF at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Divided into three parts, the Italian Pavilion’s side event is part of the official program of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.
The event was opened by MASE’s director general for European and international affairs and sustainable finance, Alessandro Guerri, who stressed that Venice is a positive example of adaptation to climate change.
During the first part, dedicated to “The Role of Local Climate Action,” VSF director general Alessandro Costa dialogued with Animesh Kumar (UNDRR) and Alessandra Antonini (CoR, European Committee of the Regions) on how local policies can contribute to global climate change risk reduction goals. The discussion also touched on Venice’s role as Resilience Hub of the UNDRR initiative “Making cities resilient 2030” and addressed the tools and skills needed to implement adaptation policies.
The second session, titled “Venice as a Model for Climate Adaptation and Cultural Heritage Enhancement,” saw Pierpaolo Campostrini (VSF, CORILA) discuss with Francesco Musco (Iuav) and Andrew Potts (Europa Nostra) the role of Venice as an example of the need for cultural heritage protection. In fact, the results obtained since MOSE came into operation have enabled intensive restoration of damaged cultural heritage assets and provide pointers that are valid worldwide.
In the concluding session, moderated by Vittore Negretto (Iuav), titled “From local to global: opportunities for cooperation and knowledge transfer – common comparison,” the speakers discussed the opportunity to share the “Venice model” with the international community, through the involvement of the city itself in the various networks of which it is part: sharing experiences is the main factor that allows a concrete response to the challenges posed by climate change.
