The ASviS Parma Sustainable Development Festival was held from 17 to 23 May 2025 and featured five days of events on environmental, economic, and social issues, linked by the common thread of sustainability and the UN 2030 Agenda, the action plan signed in 2015 by 193 UN countries, including Italy.
Twelve events made up a rich program designed to reflect on the present and future of sustainability, including conferences, readings, talks, film screenings, hackathons, and initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the critical issue of traffic and its environmental implications, with the goal of encouraging increasingly participatory processes based on a sense of shared responsibility.
Within this context, on 22 May, the Voltoni Conference Room at the Pilotta Complex hosted a round-table discussion entitled “The City of Today and Tomorrow: Perspectives on Architectural Sustainability and Urban Regeneration”. The discussion focused on public and private projects and involved representatives from institutions and companies representatives. Among the guests was Andrea Chiesi, Head of Special Projects of Chiesi Group, whose speech provided an opportunity to learn more about the project that will gradually change the layout of the historic Chiesi site in Via Palermo. The place is intended to be open to the city and the community, offering more services and green areas.
The other speakers—following the institutional greetings by Fabrizio Storti, Vice Rector of the University of Parma, and Gianluca Borghi, Councilor for Environmental Sustainability, Energy, and Mobility, Municipality of Parma—were Francesco De Vanna, Councilor for Public Works and Legality, Municipality of Parma; Chiara Vernizzi, Councilor for Urban Regeneration of the Municipality of Parma; Emilio Faroldi, professor and Vice Rector of the Polytechnic University of Milan; Barbara Gherri, Delegate of the Rector of the University of Parma for sustainable construction; and Laura Marchelli, Sustainability Manager of the Mutti Group.
The round table was moderated by Edoardo Vigna, Editor-in-Chief of Corriere della Sera.
The Festival dello sviluppo Sostenibile Asvis Parma 2025 was organized by the University of Parma with the patronage and cooperation of the Municipality of Parma, of RUS – Rete delle Università per lo Sviluppo sostenibile and the EU GREEN Alliance.
