On 1 March 2018, in 100 cities around the world 100 “Ambassadors” of Italian culture – architects, designers, entrepreneurs, journalists, critics, communicators, educators – will discuss the relationship between design and sustainability, the latter being seen from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The aim is to investigate what the contribution of design could be on nature and the human being. Personalities from different fields – education, information and commerce – will gather for an ideal roundtable on sustainability issues associated with design, customs, and production processes. They will bring back to Italy experiences of excellence they will find in the countries the will visit (handicrafts, technological innovations, construction methods, materials) with a view to investigating any possible design cross-fertilisations. The Italian Design Day in the World is an integrated promotion project launched by the Foreign Ministry and reaches its second edition – the 2017 Italian Design Day was a very successful event, involving up to 20,000 design experts – with a view to highlighting the excellence and peculiarities of Italian design around the world. Italian design was born in the workshops of Renaissance artists, whose diverse skills brought to life innovative products with a high aesthetic content. Ever since then research in the field of industrial design has grown and developed through a constant interaction between design schools and art movements, combining Italy’s remarkable craftsmanship tradition with technological innovation. The design has developed along with the growth of the country since the years of the so-called “economic boom”. It has become a key feature of Italian production and an economic driving force. A study carried out by Bain&Company has highlighted that Italian design accounts for over a third of the world’s industry turnover, which totals 100 billion euros. Moreover, design portrays a very distinct feature of the Italian spirit, which in itself has many of the elements that are internationally identified with ‘Brand Italy’. In a world where there is a growing interest about Italy and its products, the design provides “an Italian experience” through objects which combine beauty and originality with the quality of raw materials and production methods, demonstrating the culture and traditions of the country’s diverse regional areas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has placed design at the very core of its promotional strategy known as “Vivere all’Italiana”, which seeks to promote Italy’s cultural and production system through an integrated action combining culture, economy, Italian language and scientific research. The Italian Design Day is a team activity initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in cooperation with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activites and Tourism, Fondazione La Triennale di Milano, ICE-Italian Trade Agency, Salone del Mobile, ADI Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, Fondazione Compasso d’Oro and Fondazione Altagamma. All public and private stakeholders representing top-quality Italian design will participate, including enterprises, via Confindustria, public and private stakeholders in the educational sector, making up a grand total of more than fifty players, including associations, federations, universities and design schools. The Italian Design Day 2018 is really in tune with the theme selected for the 22nd Triennale International Exhibition, “Broken Nature – Design Takes on Human Survival”, which will take place from 1st March to 1st September 2019. Italy – a world leader in design – will showcase ideas, projects and high-quality solutions, promoting an international debate, about sustainable policies, that is meant to contribute to the 22nd Triennale, and become a point of reference for the Expo 2020 Dubai “Connecting minds, creating the future.”
