OneWorld.net (U.S.)

TRENTO, May 27 (OneWorld Italy) - Economists, jurists, business executives, politicians, and writers from across the planet are descending on Trento, Italy this week to debate work, politics, justice, education, solidarity, ethical and ethnic matters, civil service, corporate governance, social integration, rights, meritocracy, and much more.

Four continents will be connected to "The Festival of Economics: The Market and Democracy," which will take place May 29 through June 2. Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe are going to be joined up through a worldwide network for solidarity created by women.

The two previous editions of the Festival addressed the themes of "Wealth and Poverty" and "Human Capital, Social Capital."

If you missed them, you can catch up on the topics online; the Festival's Web site showcases videos, debates, forums, reports, and more.

But there's no substitute for taking part in the Festival in person. The "alpine town" of Trento changes into Athens. Every corner becomes lively with discussion, debate, knowledge, and interaction. Thousands of people crowd the activities and events.

And there is dissent as well. Last year some used the "agorà" to publicize their "anti" policies, but the Festival always accepts the challenge -- and answers with a positive attitude and a wealth of "pro" solutions.

It is no accident that Trento, the capital city of the region that L'Espresso magazine has recognized as "able to field the best policies for interaction among different peoples," is near the top of the list of quality of life. It is "a region that has been able to surprise," according to Lorenzo Dellai, president of the autonomous province of Trento.

These are just some of the names that are taking part in this week's discussions: Luisa Diogo, prime minister of Mozambique; Paul Krugman, lecturer in economics and international relations at Princeton University and editorial writer for The New York Times; Paul Collier, professor of economics at the University of Oxford; Benjamin Friedman, lecturer in political economics at Harvard University; Egor Gaidar, prime minister of Russia in 1992 under Boris Yeltsin's government; and John Lloyd, journalist and editorial writer for the Financial Times. The dialogue will be rounded out by some important names in the Italian economic scene: Mario Monti, Guido Rossi, Francesco Giavazzi, Luciano Gallino, Sergio Marchionne, Piercamillo Davigo, and more: thirty academics from different universities in Italy and as many women from four continents are going to gather.

And the Festival will be environmentally friendly too. Free bicycles will be available and electric cars are going to carry the materials to and from events. Everywhere there will be cases for trash separation and collection. Most of the documents have been printed on recycled paper. On the conference tables, speakers will find municipal water in glass cups and pitchers. Plastic usage will be reduced to a minimum. Regional and seasonal foods will be served to the participants.

"Trento for Kyoto," the shared plan promoted by the city council to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, is going to provide energy from solar photovoltaic panels to enlighten the central Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square). The "barrier-free" Festival will offer a version of its program in Braille, and everybody will have the opportunity to listen to lectures online from the site www.festivaleconomia.it.

Every speech will be translated into English using a cutting edge technology for automatic translation and it will be published on the Web site within six hours. If you can't attend the events personally you can participate virtually through the WebTV, and if you can't find a place in the conference room you can watch the wall screens that have been installed in several squares.

A lot of supporting activities, such as infopoints, the Festival bookshop, the humor corner, films, and performances from around the world are going to complete the Festival experience.

In a word, the Festival is expected to be an answer to narrow-mindedness. It promises to be a means to aggregate against the "atomization" of the human experience and to help replace "me" with "us." An antidote to fear. A way to show that "another world is possible."

*Fabio Pipinato is director of Unimondo (OneWorld Italy). Article text was translated by Sara Martinelli