October 15–17, 2026

San Servolo Island, Venice

The global climate agenda is at a critical turning point.
While political momentum slows, technological progress is accelerating and firms are becoming even more convinced that sustainability is a competitive advantage.
The real divide is no longer between believers and skeptics, but between innovators and defenders of an unsustainable status quo. Climate action must move beyond moral narratives toward scalable solutions, economic opportunity, and systemic redesign.

This is the framework of the Fifth Edition of the Venice (former Dolomite) Conference on the Global Governance of Climate Change and Sustainability.

This will take place on October 15–17, 2026, at the iconic Isola di San Servolo. The choice of Venice is no coincidence. As a city on the frontline of climate change, it represents both the urgency of the challenge and the need for innovative, global solutions. Venice stands as the "global capital" where climate change strategies are drafted, considering the political, managerial, communication, and intellectual challenges of the 21st century .

 

The Venice Conference unfolds over three days:

Day I – Thursday, 15 October

Three Problem-Solving Groups (PSSGs) will explore and present solutions to fundamental trade-offs at the heart of transforming systems:

  1. The mobility of the future – A business case for the eternal city – How to integrate the Tiber into Rome's public transportation
  2. Rebuilding Venice - Housing, climate adaptation and practical urban retrofitting - A plan
  3. Beyond differentiation: the robotized selector and the future of waste

Each group will begin its work in advance through dedicated preparatory webinars.

Day II – Friday, 16 October

Businesses, enterprises, think tanks and policymakers from all around the world will debate several key issues in the field of sustainability, among which:

  1. Insurance at a strategic crossroad: climate unpredictability, new products and artificial intelligence as a trigger of personalized risk management (in partnership with AXA)
  2. Materials as a competitive frontier: how co innovation and advanxced polymers are reshaping fashion, packaging and industry (in partnership with Venisia)
  3. Small modular reactors (SMRs) at the edge of the energy transition: reliable low-carbon power, industrial competitiveness and the test of technological credibility
  4. Beyond the horizon - offshore wind and the next chapter of global electrification
  5. The paradox of agrifood: from compliance to regeneration - corporate strategies for climate resilient supply chains.

Moreover, three other PSSGs will explore and present solutions to fundamental trade-offs related to global climate governance:

  1. Reforming COP
  2. Managing geo-engineering: risk, responsibility and global oversight
  3. Developing renewables in Africa: grids, finance and distributed solutions (focus on solar)

Day III – Saturday, 17 October

The draft of the Venice Manifesto will be discussed, finalised, and presented to the media. Follow-up thematic events will take place in the months thereafter to sustain momentum and implementation.

The Conference is designed not as a one-off event, but as a catalyst for long-term platform for problem-solving.

 

Please find more information and the draft program of the conference at this link:

https://www.thinktank.vision/en/conferences/dolomite-conference/on-the-road-to-the-fifth-venice-conference-on-the-global-governance-of-climate-change-and-sustainability

 

VIU students and faculty are invited to participate.