For its fourth edition, the Dolomite Conference on Global Governance of Climate Change moved from the Dolomites to the Venetian Lagoon, taking place from October 16 to 18 on the Island of San Servolo as a side event of the Biennale della Sostenibilità 2025. The relocation carries strong symbolic value: Venice—a city that for centuries has coexisted with and contended with the waters that made it great, and home to the MOSE system, the largest climate adaptation infrastructure project—proved an ideal setting to address climate strategies and resilience.
Promoted by Vision Think Tank in collaboration with VSF, the conference relied on the Problem Setting–Solving Groups (PSSGs) methodology: collaborative workshops led by experts and supported by teams of professors and PhD candidates from leading Italian and European universities. Through this structured approach, participants addressed strategic sustainability challenges, spanning urban regeneration, waste management, mobility, agri-food, recycling, energy transition, "cities of the future," and loss and damage. International and intergenerational dialogue enriched discussions, connecting universities, research institutes, students, and corporate representatives committed to sustainability, with preparatory work initiated weeks earlier through dedicated webinars.
The conference also placed special emphasis on climate diplomacy and negotiation tactics through four climate negotiation workshops organized in partnership with CEBRI (Centro Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais), adopting an experimental format aimed at breaking deadlocks in global negotiation processes.
The proceedings culminated in the drafting of the “Venice Manifesto”, synthesized from the insights generated during the conference sessions and the contributions of students participating in the PSSGs. Conceived as a practical, strategic tool to support upcoming policy evaluation processes in sustainability, the document will serve as a foundational discussion paper at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The event was organized by Vision Think Tank alongside a network of academic and research institutions, including Bocconi University, Politecnico di Milano, LUISS Guido Carli, and Venetian academic partners Iuav, Venice International University (VIU), and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, with additional support from Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
