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"The Making of a World Expo" Special Fall/Winter/Spring Essay Series

Milan Expo 2015: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life"

     The "World's Fair Express" began in the summer of 2014 as a part of the summer theme "The Art of Progress." Each of the major pages on the site is themed to a particular World's Fair/World Expo, beginning in the City of Light, Paris, in 1889. The path of each of the pages listed in the links above finishes with the last World Expo which was held in China in 2010. All this leads up to the celebration of the next World Expo which will open in Milan, Italy, in May of 2015. Modern World Expos last for six months and attract millions of viewers, but they also have evolved from their World's Fair roots. The Milan Expo will have a very focused theme, "Feeding the Plant, Energy for Life." The essays which will appear on the site between now and may will delve a little deeper into the content of the Expo and how the event will be addressing the theme. The schedule of the articles that will appear through May 2015 is included below.

• November/December 2014 - Introduction to the 2015 Milan World Expo

• January - March 2015 - Monthly Expo-related topics

• April/May 2015 - News of the opening and early reviews of the 2015 Milan World Expo

January 2015 Essay

"Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life:"
Expressing a Theme

     "Expos are changing the way in which they encapsulate and communicate innovation by shifting from a view of innovation, purely driven by materials and products, to one supported by solutions and practices.
     Recent Expos have placed greater emphasis on selecting a specific theme as their core and organizing principle. So, Expos have come to support the dual goals of public diplomacy. On the one hand, Expos represent a key asset for governments and international organizations in their efforts to communicate the major issues at the top of their global agendas. At the same time, the host city and country can serve as a catalyst for bringing global attention to a key issue for humanity, attaching to it a more innovative and relevant image . . ." (n1)

     The central question to be asked via the "Feeding the Planet, Energy For Life"-themed Milan Expo is "Is it possible to ensure sufficient, good, healthy and sustainable food for all mankind?" As stated in the Expo's theme guide, "the theme of safe, healthy eating is a truly global issue that directly or indirectly involves most of the earth's population." (n2) The January essay will delve a little deeper into various aspects of the theme and how that theme will be conveyed to Expo visitors.

A Global Mandate

     Part of the relevance for the theme, especially for 2015, comes from the relationship of this year to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. What are the Millennium Development Goals? In 2000, the United Nations (U.N.) published a report called "We The Peoples" to coincide with the Millennium Summit, a gathering of government leaders to address the role of the U.N. in the 21st century. Part of the purpose of the summit was "to identify and act on the major challenges ahead." (n3) The "central challenge" as outlined in the document was "to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world's people, instead of leaving billions of them behind in squalor." (n4) The report continued by saying "Inclusive globalization must be built on the great enabling force of the market, but market forces alone will not achieve it. It requires a broader effort to create a shared future, based upon our common humanity in all its diversity." (n5)

     The outcome of the summit was the setting of the U.N.'s Milliennium Development Goals, "the most broadly-supported, comprehensive and specific poverty reduction targets the world has ever established." (n6) The goals have been addressed by the international community in the last decade as "time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions - income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion - while promoting gender equality, education and environmental sustainability." (n7) Many of those goals have been indentified by the organizers of the Expo as being relevant to the context of the event, especially since the year 2015 was indentified as the target year for reaching several of the goals. Those Millennium Development Goals are (with the ones indentified by the organizers as being of special relevance to the Expo theme included in bold text):

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
          Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day.
          Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
          Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
          Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
          Target 5: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health
          Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality rate.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
          Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
          Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
          Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
          Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without significant access to safe drinking water.
          Target 11: Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
          Target 12: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction - both nationally and internationally).
          Target 13: Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries' exports, enhanced programs of debt relief for heavily-indebted poor countries and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction).
          Target 14: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions).
          Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.
          Target 16: In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth.
          Target 17: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
          Target 18: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies. (n8)

     Has progress been made in reaching the targets established within the Goals? Yes. According to figures published in the Millennium Development Goals Report of 2014, extreme poverty has been reduced by half. In 1990, almost half the population in developing countries lived on less than $1.25 a day. This rate dropped to 22% by 2010, reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty by 700 billion . . . Access to improved drinking water increased for over 2.3 billion people as well . . . But while child mortality has been almost halved and chronic undernutrition among young children has declined, one in four, or about 162 million children still suffer from chronic undernutrition." (n9). While portions of the thematic information within the Expo will aid in bringing global attention to issues such as the Millennium Development Goals, they will be only a part of a broader discussion of ensuring "sufficient, good, healthy and sustainable food for all mankind."

From Farm to Fork, Through History and Into the Future

     In an eight-part series from May to December of 2014, National Geographic magazine presented a series of articles called "The Future of Food" (along with the accompanying website www.natgeofood.com). The series explored a variety of examples of how humans may be able to feed two billion more people by 2050 without overwhelming the planet. The challenge for the organizers of the Milan Expo will be to cover the same type of topics and beyond, from farm to fork, from the past to the future and across several dimensions - all in ways which will inform, entertain and perhaps inspire visitors. If at its opening the Expo adheres closely to the principles and practices outlined in the original Theme Guide, then visitors will be able to experience the theme along several dimensions permeating every aspect of the Expo. The Expo will be designed to serve as a stage "where participants from all over the world can showcase the most innovative solutions to the problem of 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.'" (n10). Early indicators from the Theme Guide, initial public videos and the Expo website indicate that the theme will be experienced by visitors in the following ways:

• Through a basic framework examining food production and food consumption set against a backdrop of nature, reflecting "the quest for balance between mankind's need for food and the [natural] resources available." (n11)

• Through interpretations of approaches broken down into three broad categories: a) Scientific/Technical (including scientific observations and practices, production processes and rules regulating safety and quality), b) Socio-Cultural (including food traditions, cultural practices and social/educational programs within countries, civil organizations or communities), and c) Cooperation for Development (including methods and tools of cooperation to reduce hunger, malnutrition and social imbalances). (n12)

• Through thematic representations in architecture (including a sustainable approach to design and construction), performances and events (including everything from tastings and demonstrations to open-air theater and cooking classes), food services (including restaurants featuring the best food products from around the world), and technology (including a "Smart City" approach in which digital networks will enhance the visitor experience). (n13)

     As outlined in the November/December essay, there also will be five physical thematic areas of the Expo in which "the unifying narrative thread of the Event will be developed." (n14) These thematic areas will be: 1) Pavilion Zero, an introductory space situated near the main entrance which will "focus on some of the basic questions raised by the theme, . . . and [look] at the history of mankind through food; (n15) 2) Biodiversity Park, "a huge garden spread over 14,000 square meters" (n16) using greenhouses arranged in blocks to "show the different forms of life on all levels, from genetic diversity to various types of ecosystems;" (n17) 3) Children's Park, 4) Arts and Foods, an area including a variety of art forms "exploring the relationship humans have had throughout history with food as an object of symbolic reflections;" (n18) and 5) The Future Food District. The Future Food District will "allow visitors . . . to understand how the food chain will work in the future. A wide range of information technology will be used to explore food preservation, distribution, purchase and consumption, with particular attention paid to the individual choices of each consumer and how these will impact on commercial and private food provision." (n19) All of these thematic areas are described at greater length on the Expo website.

Extending the Expo's Reach

     Technology has always played a role in the World Fairs/Expos, and advances in technology are now shaping the planet in ways which can extend the mission of "fostering the Expos as platforms for education, innovation and cooperation, . . . [facilitating] the link between traditional diplomatic activities and public diplomacy." (n20). For event organizers as well as the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), this extension of the reach of the event has come through the Digital/Virtual Expo. According to Secretary General of the BIE, "the digital expo is a strategic initiative which embodies how physical expos can incorporate and be enhanced by the logic, the mediums and the trends of the 21st century, . . . connecting and engaging a bigger global public, especially the younger generation." (n21)

     For the many around the world who might be interested in the theme or learning more about the event but not be able to attend, the Milan Expo will be accesible via the Virtual Expo. The Virtual Expo will be a platform allowing visitors to explore the exhibition site and supporting materials/links online. It can be accessed at www.virtual.expo2015.org (at this time, this site may take quite a while to load). Some of the features of the 3D Virtual Tour also may be viewed in the introductory video below.

(If the video doesn't load, it can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSpu_PsO7kU).

     The framework for expressing the Expo theme as outlined here will be extended upon and personalized by each country, company and organization participating in the event. The extension of the theme's expression in country and corporate pavilions and "clusters" will be discussed at greater length in a future essay. For now, the weekly progress of construction of Expo facilities is being documented in a drone-based video posted every Monday. The video can be accessed from the "Belvedere in Citta" link on the Expo website, www.expo2015.org. Thank you for visiting the "Essays" page this month and please come back again in February!

FOOTNOTES - The footnotes are indicated in the text in parentheses with the letter "n" and a number. If you click the asterisk at the end of the footnote, it will take you back to the paragraph in which the citation was located.

n1 - Gonzalez Loscartales, Vincente, "Advancing Public Diplomacy Through World Expos," Public Diplomacy Magazine, Issue 3, Winter 2010, pp. 81 - 82. Available online at www.publicdiplomacymagazine.org; viewed October 2014 - January 2015. (*)

n2 - Expo 2015 S.p.A., Theme Guide, Milan, Italy: Expo 2015 S.p.A., September 2012, p. 8. Viewed online October 2014 - January 2015 at www.expo2015.org. (*)

n3 - Annan, Kofi A., We The Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century. New York: United Nations Department of Public Information, 2000, p. 5. (*)

n4 - Ibid, p. 6. (*)

n5 - Ibid. (*)

n6 - U.N. Millenium Project, Jeffrey D. Sachs, director, Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals. London/Sterling, VA: Earthscan/United Nations Development Program, 2005, p. 2. (*)

n7 - Ibid., p. 1. (*)

n8 - Ibid., pp. xviii - xix. (*)

n9 - United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014. New York: United Nations, 2014, pp. 4 - 5. (*)

n10 - Expo 2015 S.p.A., Theme Guide, p. 9. (*)

n11 - Ibid., pp. 11 - 12. (*)

n12 - Ibid., pp. 15 - 17. (*)

n13 - Ibid., pp. 23 - 31. (*)

n14 - Expo 2015 S.p.A., Theme Guide, p. 36. (*)

n15 - Ibid., p. 38. (*)

n16 - Ibid., p. 40. (*)

n17 - Ibid., p. 41. (*)

n18 - Ibid., p. 45. (*)

n19 - Ibid., p. 43. (*)

n20 - Gonzalez Loscartales, Vincente, "Advancing Public Diplomacy Through World Expos," Public Diplomacy Magazine, p. 80. (*)

n21 - Ibid., p. 85. (*)

LINKS LIST - The list of links external to the website found in the essay.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - The bibliography for the November/December 2014 Essay and the January 2015 essay is included below.

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