Local challenges in sustainable tourism served as the core theme of the second Italian-German Municipal Congress held in Merano, titled "Sustainable Tourism: Challenge and Opportunity for Local Communities."
Organized by the Silvius Magnago Akademie and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the technical workshop featured discussions and exchange on best practices presented by international participants. Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF) contributed to the proceedings on May 24 through Director General Alessandro Costa, who presented the experience of Venice and highlighted the pivotal role of MOSE. The complex engineering system designed to protect the lagoon has positioned the Venetian territory as a global benchmark for resilience.
During his address, Costa emphasized that MOSE functions as an enabling factor to attract new investments aligned with socio-economic, cultural, and environmental sustainability. Specifically, the Director General highlighted that the full operation of the mobile barrier system – capable of safeguarding the historic city and the lagoon basin – marks a strategic turning point: Venice has transitioned from a vulnerable site into an ideal living laboratory for developing and testing urban sustainability solutions for coastal communities worldwide.
