The First International Participants Meeting for World Expo 2015 opens on October 25, 2011 in Milan and initiated with the Flags Display Ceremony.

The flags of all the confirmed Official Participants to Expo Milano 2015 were unveiled to be permanently displayed in the centre of Milan until the end of the Expo Milano 2015.

From left front: Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of BIE; Giuliano Pisapia, Special Commissioner of Italian government for Expo Milano 2015, and Mayor of Milan; Giuseppe Sala, CEO of Expo 2015 S.p.A.; Jean-Pierre Lafon, President of BIE (25.10.2011)

"This meeting is a key moment in the Expo project. It is equally important for the organizers, for the participants and for the BIE. It is a time when we are laying the cornerstone of the participation; and we are placing a time stamp on the beginning of a cooperation project that will last until 2015 and beyond," said Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of BIE at the opening session.

"The theme of Milano 2015 "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" must be understood as essential foundations for building quality participation," added Loscertales.

"The theme must be a permanent reminder to everyone that we continue to use more of the earth's resources that are available. [...] We shall focus on effective educational messages and deliver - at least some solutions - to make real progress towards creating sustainable lifestyles."

Jean-Pierre Lafon, President of BIE, spoke at the Flag Display Ceremony and indicated that Milan may "take the role of being innovative, not only in the organization, but also your thinking and contents by foreseeing to group the different participations by their theme" to cope with the challenges they will meet during the preparation of the event.

Jean-Pierre Lafon, President of BIE

Giuliano Pisapia, Special Commissioner of Italian government for Expo Milano 2015, and Mayor of Milan, speaks at the Flag Display ceremony

Guido Podesta, President of the Province of Milan

Diana Bracco, president of EXPO 2015 S.p.A

Roberto Formigoni, General Commissioner of Expo 2015 and President of Lombardie Region

A public roundtable "Carta 2015" was organized to discuss the theme of EXPO Milano 2015. The initiative is intended to be one of the main legacies of Expo Milano 2015. Through a broad international debate, it aims at discussing the great challenges the world is facing in the field of nutrition and present proposals for their solution.

Carta 2015 round table discussion

On October 25, 2011, at the opening plenary session of the meetings in Como, Italy, the General Commissioner of Expo 2015, Mr. Formigoni, delivered a message from the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.

"I'm satisfied to have found that the official participants that have joined Milan's Expo are already 57, including governments and international organizations, plus a big number of private entities.

"This universal exhibition will be the most relevant event hosted in Italy in the last decades. I fervently hope that the active collaboration of the national and international parties involved can fully realize the significant potential of Expo 2015, catalyzing the best skills and resources available on a global scale around a strategic theme as 'Feeding the Planet, energy for life'."

The first meeting of the International Participants is one of the most important events during the preparation and implementation process of the Expo that allows early engagement of international participants, who will have the opportunity to actively contribute to the development of the Expo theme.

A video made by Expo Milano 2015 organizers on the First International Participants' Meeting

Read More:
The Program for the International Participants Meeting (in English)

The Official Website of Expo Milan 2015

10/07/2009 – A forum on EXPO Milano 2015 will be held in Milan next week, on July 16th and 17th, announced yesterday Lucio Stanca, CEO of Expo 2015 S.p.A, at a press conference at Cascina Merlata, in the presence of the President of the Lombardy Region, Roberto Formigoni, and the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Italian government for Expo 2015 and Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti.

The forum, to be held at the Teatro Dal Verme, aims to bring together citizens, institutions, universities, volunteers, as well as those from the industries of communication, arts, culture, entertainment, and tourism for a dialogue around the themes of EXPO Milano.

Four special sessions will be open to the public, exploring various issues: youth, expectations of women, the format of the Expo, and the contents of the Expo.

“Expo 2015 will have an ample international scope, development cooperation projects for the legacy that will remain in the city of Milan. We aim to involve everyone. The success of Expo 2015 will be the success of the entire community. For this, the community must actively participate,” said Stanca.

In addition to Lucio Stanca, Letizia Moratti, and Roberto Formigioni, speakers at the forum will include: BIE Secretary-General, Vicente González Loscertales; the President of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini; the President of Club Papillon, Paolo Massobrio; President of IIEO, Umberto Veronesi; President of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Lorenzo Ornaghi; architects Setafano Boeri and Italo Rota; President of Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà, Giorgio Vittadini; President of CCIIAA of Milan, Carlo Sangalli; Chairman of Expo 2015 S.p.A, Diana Bracco, and President of the Province of Milan, Guido Podestà.

The forum will be the second communication initiative after “eXponiti”- the survey project carried out by Expo 2015 S.p.A. to understand views and attitudes of citizens toward the Expo project.

(Source: EXPO Milano 2015 official website - www.milanoexpo-2015.com)

30/06/09 – The results of a survey conducted by EXPO Milano 2015 on the attitudes of the Milan residents towards the Expo were announced on Tuesday by the CEO of Expo 2015 S.p.A, Lucio Stanca, in the presence of the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Italian government for Expo 2015 and Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti.

The survey – called “Exponiti”— was conducted on a sample of 16,500 Milan residents online at www.exponiti.it and through interviews in the city. The results showed enthusiasm by citizens for the Expo, with 77% of the respondents answering that they believed the Expo will have a positive impact on land, participation of the youth and immigrants, and that the Expo will be an event that could counter the crisis.

Mayor Moratti announced: “These are answers that confirm the will of Milanese, especially young people and women, to design the Milan of the future. Not so much a Milan of celebrated monuments or buildings, but a Milan of life, services, opportunities, of development. A city that wants to reshape its own identity, that is esteemed, that is beautiful, and that produces models of quality to be diffused around the world.”

She continued: “But the responses also confirmed the concept of the Expo 2015, which will not merely propose a review for reflection but a laboratory of projects… This exchange of ideas on the future has already begun with global cooperation projects, and the Expo has spread to five continents.”

Mayor Moratti also spoke on the great expectations of citizens for the Expo: “The Expo is seen as an anti-crisis instrument, and the results confirmed the points of interest as the themes we have already been carrying out for a long time, such as transport, ‘green’, culture.”

Mr. Stanca explained, “We are managing money in a period of crisis, aggravated by the situation in Abbruzo, and we are aware of what we must do for the citizens. We think that the involvement of young people of all parts of the world as participants and volunteers and of women is essential.”

Mr. Stanca said that “Exponiti,” the first communication initiative undertaken by EXPO Milano, was “an initiative that has given very positive results.” He continued: “This is the first time for a dialogue: a first step towards the involvement of citizens and to establish a channel of communication.”

(Source: EXPO Milano 2015 official website – www. milanoexpo-2015.com)