Mantua Architecture: Thematic Week 2026 on architecture, heritage and climate change

On 19 May 2026 the UNESCO Chair of the Politecnico di Milano (Mantua campus) opened the Thematic Week as part of Mantovarchitettura, the annual festival exploring links between architecture, culture and territory. The event, organized within the network of Italian UNESCO Chairs for the 2026 Sustainable Development Festival, focused on climate change and its consequences for cultural heritage.

Participants included academics, site managers, institutional representatives and local communities. The programme aimed to develop long-term planning tools and participatory approaches that combine technical expertise with local daily practices.

Main topics and approaches

• Climate impacts on heritage sites: assessing effects on World Heritage cities, including Mantua and nearby Sabbioneta.
• Participatory planning: methods to integrate policy decisions, technical knowledge and community input.
• UNESCO programme synergies: World Heritage, biosphere reserves and geoparks as assets for adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• European best practices: presentation of the EU OMC 2020–2024 report on strengthening cultural heritage resilience.
• Living Labs: examples of UNESCO inscribed sites used as territorial platforms for local and international collaboration.

Speakers and contributions

Thematic Week was inaugurated by Professor Stefano Della Torre, holder of the UNESCO Chair, who highlighted the need to address the present challenges of cultural heritage. Institutional contributions emphasized that climate change is also a cultural issue requiring integrated responses across UNESCO programmes.

International voices framed the discussion at European level: Professor Johanna Leissner (Fraunhofer consortium) presented findings from the EU OMC 2020–2024 report on practices adopted by 26 Member States, and UK representatives described initiatives to convert UNESCO assets into living laboratories for climate protection.

Relevance for UNESCO sites in Italy

• It supports the integration of cultural heritage within national and local climate policies.
• It encourages collaborative models among institutions, communities and stakeholders for adaptation and mitigation interventions.
• It provides practical examples of technologies and shared practices useful to UNESCO site managers.

The Thematic Week by the UNESCO Chair at Politecnico di Milano acts as an operational forum connecting research, governance and communities to protect heritage sites from climate challenges.