The Sustainable Development Festival

Following the success of the previous editions, and five years after the adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda, the yearly Sustainable Development Festival returns with its fifth edition. The 2021 edition will take place from September 28nd to October 14th. 

Thanks to the reputation acquired, and to the growing mobilization of Italian society on the themes of sustainable development, the event will represent a further step to encourage Italy to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), that brings together over 300 organizations from the economic and social spheres, organizes the Festival together with its members and with the support of the partners and tutors, over a period of 17 days, as many as the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda[1]. The initiative constitutes a single widespread and inclusive event, comprising hundreds of events organized throughout the national territory.

The Festival was created to raise awareness among growing segments of the population on social, economic and environmental sustainability, going beyond subject-matter experts, in order to foster a cultural shift in individual and collective behaviors, and to stimulate “bottom-up” requests that commit the Country’s leadership to comply with the agreements undertaken in the UN. Furthermore, the Festival wants to give voice to citizens, businesses, national and local administrations, universities and civil society in order to foster dialogue and the sharing of best practices on the issues of the 2030 Agenda.

The Festival is a unique experience at international level that allows to reach millions of people in Italy every year thanks to the participation of hundreds of organizations all over the Country, the active role played by universities and the opening of "sustainable development squares” in a number of major Italian cities. This stimulates an unprecedented reflection on the future of our Country, of Europe and the world.  In 2021, for the second time, the Festival was nominated as a finalist for the SDG Action Awards of the UN SDG Action Campaign, for it being an innovative initiative and a unique experience in the world.

[1] In September 2015, 193 countries, including Italy, adopted the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, committing to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Since then, international organizations, national and local governments, businesses and civil society organizations across the world have mobilized to design and implement policies and strategies to achieve the 17 SDGs and 169 Targets the Agenda sets forth.