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The first International Forum on the Sustainability of Cultural Institutions, a global hybrid event, will take place from September 26 to 28, 2025. The Forum will be held online worldwide, with three in-person hubs: in Santa Sofia (Forlì-Cesena, Italy) at the Vero Stoppioni Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Art, in New York at the MOFAD – Museum of Food and Drink, and in Guangzhou (China), in collaboration with the Institute of Digital Art and Technology of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, at the Songshan Lake Boxes Art Museum in Dongguan.

The Forum addresses sustainability by moving beyond rhetoric and grounding it in a concrete and operational dimension. Cultural institutions are not seen as static structures, but as living ecosystems, capable of regeneration, adaptation, and care for the communities in which they operate.

The program is structured around 8 thematic roundtables and 3 international keynote lectures, focusing on key issues for the future of the sector: research, heritage as active memory, circularity, territorial collaboration, human & more-than-human, economic ecosystems, education, and digital technologies.

Each roundtable is conceived as a collective laboratory, tasked with asking practical questions and formulating factual responses: what are the actual emissions of the cultural industry and how can we reduce them? how can new creative research be integrated with heritage preservation? which digital tools can reduce environmental impact and expand accessibility? what resources can be shared among diverse organizations?

The Forum will be a low-emissions event: it is designed in a hybrid format to minimize travel and transportation—the main sources of emissions in international events—while preserving moments of in-person exchange. Furthermore, all residual emissions will be offset through a tree-planting program in collaboration with Alberitalia.

International Forum on the Sustainability of Cultural Institutions
September 26 – 28, 2025
Santa Sofia (IT) | New York (USA) | Guangzhou (CHN) | Online on YouTube in Italian, English, and Chinese

Friday, September 26

10:30 – Opening Presentations
Ilaria Marianini, Mayor of Santa Sofia
Gessica Allegni, Councilor for Culture and Environment, Emilia-Romagna Region
Loretta Amadori, Fondazione LAM
Fabio Cavallucci, Founder of Institution
Lucilla Grossi, Forum Coordinator

11:00 – Keynote: Zigeng Wang

11:45 – Break

12:00 – T1 – Research and Visions
Moderator: Małgorzata Ludwisiak
Guests: Lorenzo Balbi (MAMbo and AMACI), Marco Baravalle (Institute of Radical Imagination), Stefano Cagol (Artist), Michele Cerruti But (Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto), Erzë Dinarama (Architect and Designer), Francesco Manacorda (Castello di Rivoli), Morad Montazami (Art Historian and Curator), Kirsty Robertson (Western University; Centre for Sustainable Curating), fRoche_S_he (Fugitive architects), Alessandra Zagli (LAMA Impresa Sociale)

14:00 – Lunch Break

14:45 – T2 – Territorial Collaboration
Moderators: Alice Cappelli, Riccardo Varini
Guests: Fabio Cavallucci (Curator, Founder of Institution), Hedwig Fijen (Manifesta), Antye Greie-Ripatti (Sound Artist), Christian Hampson (Yerrabingin), Suzanne Lacy (Artist), Christelle Muhimpundu (Mass group), Angelantonio Orlando (Ministry of Culture), Ivo Pons (Design Possivel), Luo Sen (706 Youth Space), Ibrahim Tchan (Ecomusée Tata Somba)

16:45 – Break

17:00 – T3 – Education
Moderator: Edith Doron
Guests: Christopher Fynsk (European Graduate School), Ray Gastil (Urbanist), Pau Palacios (Agrupación Señor Serrano), Eric Shiner (Powerhouse Arts), Cecile Shellman (Consultant on Equity and Inclusion), Janera Solomon (Culture Strategist), Francesco Maria Spampinato (University of Bologna)

19:00 – Break

19:15 – T4 – Heritage as Living Memory
Moderator: Nazli Parvizi (MOFAD)
Guests: Roberto Casamenti (Innkeeper at La Campanara Restaurant), Florian Idenburg (So-Il Architects), Liu Ke (Songshan Lake Art Museum; Boxes Art Museum), Adrianna Kowalik (Secondary Archive), Jennifer Wen Ma (Artist), Saskia Randle (Climate Museum), Fabio Salbitano (Alberitalia; Sassari University), Ozoz Sokoh (Scholar and Chef)

Saturday, September 27

09:30 – Opening Presentations
Chiara Bellini, Councilor for Culture, Municipality of Santa Sofia
Ji Ran, Vice President, Songshan Lake Art Boxes Museum, Dongguan
Fabio Fabbri, Gestholding
Lucilla Grossi, Forum Coordinator

09:45 – T5 – Circularity
Moderator: Nicola Bianchi
Guests: Claudia Collina (Regione Emilia-Romagna), Davide Crippa (IUAV; Cluster of Sustainable Exhibit Design), Paola Dubini (Bocconi University), Enrico Giovannini (ASviS), Kim Kraczon (Ki Culture; Gallery Climate Coalition), Michele Lanzinger (ICOM), Nikola Ludlová (Jindřich Chalupecký Society; Islands of Kinship), Luca Vitali (Montaonda Editore), Katarzyna Wojtczak (Artist)

11:45 – Break

12:00 – T6 – Digital Technologies
Moderator: Christina Zheng Yi
Guests: Alfredo Cramerotti (Media Majlis Museum), Nils Gallist (Live Performance 3D Artist), Zhao Jie (Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts), Echo Luo (Artist), Maria Grazia Mattei (MEET Digital Culture Center), Li Men-Zhi (Guangzhou Roof Art Center), Masayuki Sono (Clouds.AO), Francesca Velani (LuBeC), Gu Zhen-Qing (Curator)

14:00 – Lunch Break

15:00 – T7 – Economic Ecosystems
Moderators: Tom Cebic, Julia Lammer
Guests: Franco Broccardi (Studio Lombard DCA, Milan), Leigh Christie (Engineer and Entrepreneur), Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Forlì, Johanna Hoffman (Design for Adaptation), Pascal Keiser (Bourges Capitale européenne de la Culture), Michał Pałasz (European Climate Pact Ambassador), Pier Luigi Sacco (University of Chieti-Pescara), Zhao Yuheng (Impact Hub)

17:00 – Break

17:15 – Keynote: Timothy Morton

18:00 – Launch of Institution’s Platforms

Sunday, September 28

10:30 – Opening Presentations
Daniele Valbonesi, Councilor, Emilia-Romagna Region
Claudia Mazzoni, Acting President, Casentinesi Forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna Park
Lucilla Grossi, Forum Coordinator

11:00 – Keynote: Jérôme Bel

11:45 – Break

12:00 – T8 – Human and More-than-Human
Moderator: Valentina Avanzini
Guests: Camilla Alberti (Artist), Can Altay (Artist and Professor), Marianna Dobkowska (Curator), Alessia Martella (Os-servo), Klaas Kuitenbrouwer (Nieuwe Instituut; Zoönomic Institute), Liu Yi (MoCA Yinchuan), Gabi Scardi (Scholar and Curator), Silvia Zublena (Orto Botanico di Pisa)

14:00 – Lunch Break

15:00 – 17:00 – Closing Summary Session

Note

T7: Heritage as a Living Memory (USA) is hosted by MOFAD at The Arts Center in Governor's Island, New York, during Climate Week.

T5: Digital Technologies is hosted by the Institute of Art and Digital Technologies, Fine Arts Academy of Guangzhou, at Songshan Lake Boxes Art Museum, Dongguan

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