As the great six month-long EXPO MILANO 2015 festival draws to a close on the 31st October, organizers are rubbing their hands with glee. Despite initial gloomy predictions, the event has been an unqualified success, with ticket sales well exceeding the initial target of 20 million (achieving over 460 million, according to latest figures).
The exposition hosted over 2,000 events, 113 national days, some 50,000 business-to-business encounters and an infinite number of cookery exhibitions and food presentations.
Organizers hope that the seeds sown by the event with its crucial theme: Nourish the Planet, Energy for Lifeť will continue to bear fruit through the Charter of Milan, drawn up in concurrence with the exposition, The Charter, which has gathered over a million signatures, has the backing of international institutions, including the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO) and was presented to the Secretary General of the United Nation, Ban Ki-Moon during his visit to EXPO on the 16th October, World Food Day. It aims to address the problems of food distribution (some 800 million people on the planet suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while 2.8 million die from diseases related to obesity and a third of the food produced each year is wasted). The Charter aspires to be able to guarantee healthy and sufficient food to all future generations.
EXPO Milano will leave a tangible trace on the exposition site, with its innovative Italian Pavilion to be left in situ while the Milan Administrative Council and the Lombardy Regional authorities propose to create a university campus devoted to science in the Fair area. The spectacular Tree of Life, symbol of the event, may be transferred to the city centre. Most of the pavilions will be dismantled. Some have been created in recyclable materials, while others may be relocated to their home countries. The shining red tiles (made in Italy) that covered the Vanke pavilion are to be sold to raise money to be used to renovate an ancient Chinese temple.
Margaret Stenhouse
Info: www.carta.milano.it