The Florence Ambassador Award Rewards Professionals Who Have Brought Prestige to Florence throughout the World
Florence, 27th October 2025 – Having now reached its 9th edition, and promoted by the Florence Municipality in co-operation with Fondazione Destination Florence and Firenze Fiera, the Florence Ambassador Award returns to celebrate those who have contributed to strengthening Florence’s role as an international conference hub.
The event will be held on Thursday, 30th October 2025, at 18:00, inside the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio, the beating heart of the city. The initiative recognises academics, researchers, scholars, and representatives of local companies who, thanks to their prestigious careers and the network of international relationships they have built, become true ambassadors of Florence around the world, promoting the city as an ideal venue for events of global importance.
THE HONOREES. Among this year’s honorees is Joyce Acciaioli Rudge, who moved to Florence from the United States and founded the Splendor of Florence Festival in 1999, an event dedicated to the magnificence of Florentine arts and crafts. Alessia Bonafede and Michele Migliore of the CNR-IBF are recognised for organising the ‘Computational Neurosciences – OCNS 2025’ event, while Roberto Brighenti is recognised for bringing the European Mechanics of Materials Conference – EMMC20 – 2026 to Florence.
In the veterinary and zootechnical sector, Elena Canelli is celebrated for the European Symposium of Porcine Health Management – ESPHM-ECPHM-2026, while Mariangela Caroprese receives recognition for the European Veterinary Immunology Workshop – EVIW 2027. The world of astronomy is represented by Paolo D’Avanzo of the Brera Astronomical Observatory (INAF), promoter of SWIFT Discoveries 2025. Developmental and educational psychology is also a protagonist, with Ersilia Menesini and Annalaura Nocentini – Professors of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Florence – awarded for the European Association of Development Psychology – ECDP 2027.
Concerning the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT-2025) congress, five awards are presented respectively to Chiara Nozzoli, Head of the transplant programme in the Hematology Department of the Careggi University Hospital, and to Professors Raffaella Greco, Annalisa Ruggeri, Claudia Boglione, and Fabio Ciceri. Franco Trabalzini, Director of the Otorhinolaryngology department at the Meyer Hospital in Florence, received the award for the International Congress of the European Society of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology (ESPO-2029).
Lifetime Achievement Awards
The ceremony will end with the prestigious lifetime achievement awards, which will be presented to Gianna and Andrea Barocchi, whose family business – Baspi – has been a leading chauffeur-driven car rental company in Tuscany and Italy since 1923, and to Federico Isola, whose family founded the FH55 hotel company 70 years ago – a reference in the Florentine hospitality sector.
The Florence Ambassador Award thus confirms its role as a showcase for professionals who, with commitment and passion, contribute to making Florence an international reference point in the world of conferences and quality hospitality.