Blue Livorno, Biennial of the Sea and Water

The subtitle of the first edition, “The thin blue line“, focuses attention on that undefined boundary along which the land meets the sea: at the same time a threshold and a frontier, a place of continuous change, fascinating but fragile point of contact between two worlds, this is the ideal and physical space where the contradictions of contemporary society erupt. It is by looking at it that the Biennale of the sea and water aims to address effectively the common critical issues of many coastal areas, helping to make the relationship between man, sea, and water more sustainable.

At the heart of Blu Livorno there will be environment and environmental sustainability, but there will also be physical and reflective space for the economy, innovation, and marine technologies. Depending on the contexts, the approach will be scientific, technical, or promotional. But Blu Livorno is immediately ready to welcome the general public as well. For this reason, an important cultural, educational, and entertainment activity has been planned on the theme, through exhibitions, entertainment initiatives, food proposals, sports activities, and discovery of the territory in a tourist key with visits discovering the historical-architectural beauties linked to the sea and water and the technical assets present in some of them.

Blu Livorno will take place within an ideal village one and a half kilometers long along the city’s promenade, one of the most beautiful and extensive in Italy. Within this perimeter, an electric train will move, carrying about 60 people, accompanying visitors and tourists in a continuous cycle from one “station” to another inside the Biennale. It will go from the Cantieri Benetti and Lusben in the north, to the Naval Academy in the south, passing through many other locations: from the Lighthouse to the Scoglio della Regina, home of important research centers; from the Tirreno and Nettuno bathing establishments, to the splendid sea-facing terrace of Terrazza Mascagni which will host culture, food, and entertainment; from the Aquarium, to the Bagni Pancaldi, to the Palazzo Hotel with their conference rooms, up to the area of Piazza San Jacopo and the exhibition areas of the Creative Hangars and the Museums of Villa Mimbelli.

The offer of the Biennale del mare, a plastic-free initiative, wants to be an opportunity to activate the discussion among the administrations living along the coast to identify best practices, common solutions, applications to share, knowledge to bring back locally, all illustrated to the general public in a concluding presentation of the works. Through this practice, the aim is to create or strengthen communication channels to improve sea and coastal policies, involving the Tuscany Region and ANCI in dialogue with other regions and countries of the Mediterranean and entering into dialogue with the Government and the European Union.

Blu Livorno is immediately conceived as a national and international event with the involvement of the Parliament, the Commission, and the Conference of the Peripheral and Maritime Regions of the European Union. At the national level, it will see the participation of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Safety, the Ministry of Civil Protection and Sea Policies, ANCI, CONI, Utilitalia, AMBI national, ARERA; at the regional level, it will involve the Tuscany Region, the Maremma and Tyrrhenian Chamber of Commerce, Fondazione Livorno, the Northern Tyrrhenian Port Authority, the Amerigo Vespucci Tuscan Interport, the Water Authority and CISPEL, the Northern Apennine Basin Authority, the Prefecture and Province of Livorno, the Port Captaincy, the Tuscan coastal municipalities, Park Institutions, Naval Academy, ASA, and CNR scientific entities, ISPRA, ARPAT, LAMMA, CIBM, the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, the National Consortium of Telecommunications, the University of Pisa, and the Higher Education School S. Anna.

The Biennale del mare is curated by the Livorno Municipality with the support of the Goldoni Foundation for the organizational part, the LEM – Livorno Euro Mediterranean Foundation for the promotion and communication part, with the important organizational support of ASA, Manager of the Integrated Water Service of the Central Tuscan coast, and the Interuniversity Marine Biology Center, and the contribution of the Livorno Foundation with the Humor Festival. It is an event entirely accessible to people with disabilities.

The event is divided into six thematic areas.

The SCIENTIFIC-INSTITUTIONAL INTEREST DEBATE SECTION will take place in the conference halls of Bagni Pancaldi, Aquarium, Naval Academy, and Hotel Palazzo. Themes will include coastal erosion, saline intrusion into groundwater, monitoring actions on new emerging pollutants, water quality, and anthropic impacts, Posidonia protection, the future of coastal drinking and purification services, agriculture and irrigation along the coast, the latter aspect treated in a national conference scheduled at the Hotel Palazzo. All meetings will be set against the backdrop of the latest European Directives.

The EXHIBITION SECTION/BLUE ECONOMY will be located in the Hangar Creativi, the renovated urban space located on the axis leading from the sea to the Fattori Museum. Here an Expo dedicated to new technologies applied to the sea will be hosted, along with conferences addressing the challenges of sustainability, between logistics, tourism, fishing, coastal development, new technologies, and the use of renewable energies along the coast: from wind, to offshore solar, to the significant development of green hydrogen, which could see Livorno as a primary Hub. The Hangars will also host themed performances, a press area, and spaces for BtoB meetings available to exhibitors. The theme of fuels for energy and environmental transition will instead be addressed by OLT Offshore LNG Tuscany in an initiative planned in parallel at the Pancaldi headquarters.

The ENTERTAINMENT AND FOOD SECTION will focus on the Terrazza Mascagni. At the center of the charming sea-facing view, there will be the Terrace Theater hosting proposals from the Humor Festival: Antani. Comedy and satire as if it were, produced by the Livorno Foundation, in addition to a series of conferences on social themes. There will also be a dining area to promote culinary specialties curated by Slow Food, an institutions area, including the Coast Guard, Carabinieri, and State Police, and associations area, with a significant reference to Livorno delle Nazioni and the theme of accessibility to the sea. The gastronomic excellences of the Liberty Livorno era will be the subject of the initiative “La Belle Époque del gusto” curated by Enoturistica at the Hotel Palazzo. Fisar and the European School of Sommeliers will also be present at the Biennale to talk about the excellences of the Tuscan Coast. Finally, at the Terrazza Mascagni, activities ranging from live drawing thanks to the Trossi Uberti Foundation, to astronomical observation with the ALSA association, and much more have been planned.

The INFORMATIVE SECTION will be distributed between Acquario, Scoglio della Regina, and the Naval Academy. Here there will be training and information moments for the general public: from experiential education for the little ones, to the opening of the research centers of the Scoglio della Regina in collaboration with the Coast Guard, to visits to the Naval Academy and the discovery of the great organizational machine of the Civil Protection. Also planned are activities to discover sea creatures, habitats, and seabeds with the experts of the Livorno Aquarium, as well as workshops, informative moments, and direct experiences with the Marine Biology Center and the research institutes of the educational pole, ISPRA, and the University Pole. It will also be possible to snorkel with the Sottosopra association.

The TOURIST-CULTURAL SECTION, aimed at discovering Livorno through excursions, visits to monuments and museums, temporary exhibitions, sports, and entertainment activities. The Granai di Villa Mimbelli, adjacent to the Fattori Museum, will host a selection of works dedicated to Corto Maltese from May 14 to 22: an artistic spin-off of the monographic exhibition by Hugo Pratt opened in Siena, at the Palazzo delle Papesse, from April 10. The Giovanni Fattori Museum will be open for guided tours awaiting the celebrations for the artist’s bicentenary in September. From the Circolo Nautico Nazario Sauro, boat tours organized by the Itinera and Pescatori Azimut cooperatives to the Fossi and the Medici Fortresses, the Port, and the Meloria Shoals will set sail. From the Aquarium, shuttle buses will depart to visit “the monuments of Water”: from the Gran Conserva of the Cisternone, to the Corallo thermal baths, up to the Leopoldino Aqueduct; but also walking tours, with guides telling about the Biennale places and its connection with water through Greencity Treks and Itinera. At the closing of the Biennale, there will be a celebration of the opening of the Via Francigena del Mare from the Sorgenti Leopoldine to San Jacopo, an event in collaboration with territorial associations. Involved, with an inaugural journey by sea to the Italy-France border, will be the Livornese Archaeological Paleontological Group, Confraternity of Santa Giulia, Cammino di San Jacopo, Proloco Livorno, Cammini d’Etruria, Cammino dei Tirreni, Costiera Calafuria, CAI, OSC WWF, and Association Giro Cacciucco bikers. In the southern access area to Blu Livorno, guided tours of the Cripta di San Jacopo and the Naval Academy and a LED wall on the history of the Lazzeretto di San Jacopo near the Baracchina Bianca have been planned. Near the northern entrance, the Cantieri Benetti and Lusben, the Livorno Lighthouse, and the Navy ships docked at the Morosini Dock will open for visits.

Lastly, the SEA SPORTS SECTION. The marine areas overlooking the Tirreno bathing establishments and Nettuno baths and the Nazario Sauro pier will host open sports activities and competitions, including disabled persons, coordinated by provincial CONI and associations. The related program is being defined in conjunction with the Naval Academy, Coast Guard, Sportinsieme Livorno, Parachuting Academy, Ardenza Pier, Wind Surf Gabriellini Surf Tre Ponti, Associazione Canoa, State Police Nautical Section, Italian Sailing Federation, Rowing, Vvff, Palio Committee, Barontini Committee.

The event is supported by a large number of national and territorial economic stakeholders, but many other memberships are ongoing. Major companies such as OLT Offshore LNG Toscana, Azimut|Benetti Group, Solvay, Suez, Ineos, Iren, Alfasolution (Iren Group), Almaviva, Aquanexa, Gas and Heat, Erre2, Laviosa, Porto 2000, Interporto Toscano, Banco BPM, Lorenzini Terminal, Almaviva, Grundfos, Sares Srl, D-Marin, Gemis, Spedimar, Kaiser, 3d Next Tech, Caffè Toscano, Frangerini, Ies Solare, Navigo, Artes, Crossover, Mercedes, Mps. Revet have decided to support the Biennale. Rotary Livorno and Propeller Livorno will also participate in the event.