Thanks to the reputation acquired, and to the growing mobilization of Italian society on the themes of sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Festival represents a further step to encourage Italy to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), that brings together over 270 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 2019 the Festival was nominated, among over 2,000 projects, 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.

Conventions, debates, book presentations, exhibitions, film reviews, guided tours, flashmobs: these are the initiatives of the over 270 members of ASviS and of other civil society organizations that are active in Italy, aiming to raise awareness on the various aspects of sustainable development in line with the spirit of civil society involvement promoted by the United Nations.

In its 2020 edition, the Festival expands its reach beyond Italy: ASviS invites everyone around the world to organize events in the context of the Sustainable Development Festival. All countries are called to contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda: consult the Guidelines for the organization of events and submit your local event.

[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.