The Award Ceremony of the Florence Ambassador Award 2024 to Take Place Today at Palazzo Vecchio
Florence, 29th October 2024 – From film director Cinzia TH Torrini to Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, Prof. Stefano Mancuso, and microbiologist Rino Rappuoli, up to Carlo Fuortes, Superintendent of Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, to be awarded this year. These are just some of the “Ambassadors of the Florence Spirit”, awarded by the city in these last years during the Florence Ambassador Award, an event promoted by the Municipality of Florence, in co-operation with Fondazione Destination Florence and Firenze Fiera, and with the support of Triumph Group for this year’s edition. Year after year, this event has been growing, increasingly acquiring importance and prestige. It is now ready to celebrate its 8th edition on Thursday, 31st October 2024 at Palazzo Vecchio, paying tribute to all the excellent personalities in the academic, scientific, congress and cultural field, who helped to bring events of great relevance to the city thanks to their work.
This human capital contributes to celebrate Florence in the world by acquiring high-profile congresses and conferences. In 2024 alone, Florence won 14 international congresses, having an overall economic impact of around 36 million Euros, with 15,000 participants expected to attend the events. These initiatives are the result of work developed by Fondazione Destination Florence and Firenze Fiera. This year, they collaborated for 39 further bids concerning events on schedule from 2025 to 2029, that could bring over 26,000 attendees to the city. According to international consulting company Gaining Edge, Florence is the first city in Italy to co-operate with its academic and scientific fabric in attracting international congresses, with a harnessing ratio equivalent to 90%.
Having now reached its 8th edition, the Florence Ambassador Award will start today, at 18:00, inside the Salone dei Cinquecento. It will see the participation of Mayor Sara Funaro, Jacopo Vicini, Municipal Councillor for Economic Development, Tourism, Exhibitions, and Congresses, Giovanni Bettarini, Municipal Councillor for Culture and Investee Companies, in addition to Massimo Manetti, President of the Florence Chamber of Commerce, Ersilia Menesini, Vice Rector for Teaching, Career Guidance, and Services for the students of the University of Florence, Laura Masi, President of Fondazione Destination Florence , and Lorenzo Becattini, President of Firenze Fiera.
WINNERS. This year, 14 awards will be given to as many prominent figures within the academic, scientific, and congress field. Among them, Roberto Ferrise, expert in climate changes concerning agriculture, Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forest Science and Technology of the University of Florence, applying mathematical models for a more resilient agriculture, Marco Bindi, Full Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forest Science and Technology of the University of Florence, Mauro Guglielmin, Director off the Research Centre on Climate Change of the University of Insubria, expert in Permafrost, and particularly in the impact that climate change can have on this environment. Awards will also be given to Roberto Graglia, expert in computational electromagnetics, Full Professor at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications of the Polytechnic in Turin, Giuliano Manara, Full Professor expert in Electromagnetic Fields at the Department of Information Technology of the University of Pisa, Giancarlo La Marca, Full Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Florence, and Deputy Scientific Director of IRCCS Meyer, Michele Piana, Full Professor at the Mathematics Department of the University of Genoa, Maria Sofia Randich, Research Executive at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory of the National Institute of Astrophysics, Sergio Solinas, Researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Sassari, Pietro Ubertini, Associate Director of Research at the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), Nicolò Pietro Paolo Macciotta, Full Professor of General Breeding Science and Genetic Improvement at the Agriculture Department of the University of Sassari, Antonio Toscano, Full Professor of Neurology at the University of Messina, and Giuseppe Lepri, founder and President of Newtours Spa, a historic reference point for the Florence Meeting Industry.
The Florence Municipality will appoint a special award to Carlo Fuortes, Superintendent of Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, for giving new vitality to this institution, making it a strategic asset of the city and combining culture and tourism with the congress world thanks to its multi-faceted soul. During the event, Fuortes and Giovanni Bettarini, Municipal Councillor for Culture, will be engaged in a dialogue on “La tradizione del nuovo” (The Tradition of the New).
Finally, Fondazione Destination Florence will assign an award to celebrate 40 years of activity of TC Group – Tecnoconference and Gerist – which, thanks to their professionalism and expertise, play a central role in the Florence Meeting Industry.