Venice returns as climate capital with the second edition of Venice Climate Week.
From June 3rd to 8th, over one hundred international guests will discuss the climate crisis, water management, and environmental diplomacy in Venice.
Venice is preparing to host the second edition of Venice Climate Week, the major international event dedicated to ecological transition and global climate challenges. From June 3 to 8, 2026, the lagoon city will become the center of an international debate that will bring together scientists, public administrators, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, and institutional representatives from around the world. This year’s edition, titled Planet Aqua, Planet Peace, aims to revitalize the role of water as a central theme of the environmental, economic, and social transformations of the 21st century. Not just a natural resource to be protected, but a strategic element around which to rethink development models, urban governance, food systems, international cooperation, and global security.
Conceived by journalist Riccardo Luna, together with Sara Roversi of the Future Food Institute and Cristiano Seganfreddo of Flash Art, the event aims to transform Venice into a permanent platform for climate diplomacy and regenerative innovation. After its debut in 2025, the project will expand in scope and ambition with six days of meetings, workshops, roundtables, and forums hosted in some of the city’s iconic locations. Among the participating venues are the Procuratie, Ocean Space, IUAV University, the Teatro Goldoni, the Giorgio Cini Foundation, the Arsenale, and the Sea Beyond center on the island of San Servolo. This widespread ecosystem will connect scientific research, culture, finance, institutions, and civil society.
The highlight of the week will be the Planet Aqua – World Blue Community Forum, an international summit bringing together mayors of coastal cities, representatives of Blue Communities, multilateral organizations, and leaders from industry and finance. The stated goal is to build a shared roadmap for protecting water resources and regenerating the areas most exposed to the effects of the climate crisis.
The program will develop along three main lines: generating new scientific knowledge on climate change and the oceans, enhancing the cultural and symbolic role of water, and building operational public-private partnerships to accelerate the ecological transition. Among the more than one hundred announced guests are leading figures in international science, economics, and culture, from Jeremy Rifkin to Sylvia Earle, from Olafur Eliasson to Enrico Giovannini, including Luca Mercalli, Mario Cucinella, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Carlo Carraro. Venice Climate Week is organized by the Future Food Institute and is recognized as an official activity of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
