Climate at the core of June’s GENS Public Programme

This June, Climate Innovation is the focus of GENS Public Programme which continues with a series of events that accompany and expand the 19^th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti (10 May – 23 November 2025). These events, highlighting resilience strategies, local practices, and emerging technologies, will be held at Speakers’ Corner at the Corderie dell’Arsenale.

Saturday, 7 June
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Climate Tech Startups

This event explores how innovative startups are addressing the climate crisis through cutting-edge technologies, such as carbon capture, energy storage, methane emissions reduction, and smart buildings. It also examines the transformative potential of Deep Tech in reshaping industries and driving the “fourth wave” of innovation, with a focused discussion on Future Farming and Nature Co-design.

Speakers include among others: Carlo Ratti (Curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition), Davide Dotti (Business Innovation Director at Edison SpA), Simona Maschi (CEO of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design), Stefano Micelli (Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Carlo Bagnoli (Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Daniele Modesto (CEO of Future Farming Initiative), Chiara D’Adamo (Co-founder & COO at Carpe Carbon), Giusy Cannone (General Partner at Primo Climate), Stefano Bonetti (Founder and President of RARA Foundation), Niccolò Calandri (CEO of 3BEE), Luigi Bubacco (Professor at Padua University), Massimo Portincaso (Founder & CEO at Arsenale Bioyards).
Moderated by: Eleonora Chioda e Maria Claudia Pignata.

Co-organised with Venice Climate Week, which runs from June 3 to 8, aligning with two key UN dates: World Environment Day (June 5) and World Oceans Day (June 8). This international forum aims to spark transformative dialogue and strategic collaboration on climate action, bringing together pioneers, institutions, and communities to shape the ecological transition through new narratives, actionable goals, and systemic innovation.

Tuesday, 17 June
5.00pm – 6.00pm
Domicidio

The event focuses on the concept of "domicide", a term coined by Balakrishnan Rajagopal—MIT professor and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing—to describe the systematic targeting of homes and civilian infrastructure, a pattern now recurring across the globe, from Myanmar to Gaza to Ukraine. This is not merely the destruction of one or more buildings, an all-too-common feature of warfare throughout history. Rather, it is the deliberate, methodical eradication of all dwellings, schools, universities, and hospitals, with the aim of stripping a people of both their identity and their means of survival. Domicide is emblematic of modern warfare, and it is frequently accompanied by genocide and the indiscriminate killing of civilians. (Luciano Violante, Corriere della Sera, Siamo ormai nell’epoca del «domicidio», 18^th January, 2025).

Speakers: Pietrangelo Buttafuoco (President of La Biennale di Venezia), Carlo Ratti (Curator of the 19^th Exhibition), Luciano Violante (President of the Associazione Futuri Probabili).

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Friday, 13 June
11:30 am – 2:00 pm
Collective Artificial

Beginning with great examples of human collective intelligence such as the building sites of Gothic cathedrals, and moving on to particular forms of collective intelligence such as that of ants, this panel discusson will discover relationships and relations between collective intelligence and AI and the ways in which they determine and sustain new systems of relationships and circulation of ideas.

Speakers: Mario Rasetti (Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics, Polytechnic University of Turin), Giuseppe Italiano (Professor of Computer Science, Director of Ai4Society – Luiss Guido Carli University), Antonello Marotta (Professor of Design, Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning, University of Sassari), Donato A. Grasso (Professor of General Zoology, Ethoecology and Sociobiology, University of Parma), Maura Gancitano (Philosopher, Founder of Tlon), Elena Lovera (President of Formedil), Luigi Serio.
Moderated by: Sebastiano Maffettone (Philosopher, Director of Ethos - Luiss Guido Carli University).

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Friday, 20 June
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Italian Architects and Collective Intelligence

Italian architectural projects are now often similar to each other, thus lacking the ‘heroic impulses’ that, for better or worse, were hallmarks of authors from previous generations. Is the frequent similarity between recent projects a form of collective intelligence (also fueled by Erasmus and the ubiquitous diffusion of images via social media) or conformism? Does it mark the end of authorship?

Speakers: Guido Canali (Architect), Massimo Roj (Founder and Director, Progetto CMR), Guendalina Salimei (Curator of Padiglione Italia, Sapienza Università di Roma), Alessandro Scandurra (Designer, Scuola Universitaria SUPSI di Lugano), Susanna Tradati (Partner of Nemesi studio).

Moderated by: Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi (Critic and President of Associazione Italiana di Architettura).

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Saturday, 21 June
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Activate Local Value Chains and Knowledge

This session explores how local skills and resources can build resilient, future-ready value chains. With keynotes from international experts and a discussion led by Bruno Sauer, the conversation highlights innovative regional strategies and invites participants to contribute to a lively, solutions-focused exchange.

Speakers: Thomas Auer (Transsolar), Bruno Sauer (Green Building Council España).

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Sunday, 22 June
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Climate Adaptation by Learning from the Global South

This session examines how the Global South’s lived experience offers essential strategies for climate adaptation. Through expert insights and a moderated discussion with Sebastian C. Koth (Technical University of Munich), context-driven approaches are higlighted through dialogue on how local innovation can shape a more resilient global future.

Speakers: Thomas Auer (Transsolar), Bruno Sauer (Green Building Council España).

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To access the Corderie dell’Arsenale and the Speakers’ Corner, visitors must hold a valid ticket for the Biennale Architettura 2025.

GENS Public Programme is a programme of events to reach out to an audience beyond architecture and other disciplines in an experiential exploration of the Exhibition’s themes.

GENS unfolds through a series of Conferences, Workshops, and other encounters. This large-scale public programmes will take place through the Exhibition in collaboration with international non-profit organizations, think-tanks, foundations, alliances, groups, and universities that delve into topics ranging from AI’s impact on creativity to the ecosystems of smaller cities.

Conferences will convened in different locations, including Sala delle Colonne at Ca’ Giustinian (La Biennale’s headquarters in San Marco) in Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, and at the Speakers’ Corner, designed by Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture), Johnston Marklee (Johnston Marklee & Associates), and Florencia Rodriguez (Director, University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture), with the support of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where scientists, artists, activists, students, politicians and practitioners all come together to showcase the breadth of human approaches to adaptation.