National Festival of Civil Economy 2026: the eighth edition begins in Florence

The 2026 edition of the National Festival of Civil Economy opens from 1 to 4 October: "The Economy that is good for you. The sound of the growing forest". Among the guests, Nobel Prize winners Shirin Ebadi and Philippe Aghion. Director Leonardo Becchetti: "It's not enough to talk about the tree that falls, we need to support the forest that grows." At the center are the themes of the person, rights, innovation, but also the responses to the energy crisis and inequalities

Palazzo Vecchio will host the eighth edition of the National Festival of Civil Economy from 1 to 4 October, the event that every year brings together academics, entrepreneurs and representatives of institutions around the themes of sustainability, participation and the common good. The title of this edition is "The Economy that is good for you. The noise of the growing forest", an image that recalls the choice to talk about good practices instead of just stopping at negative news, and which is intertwined with the themes of the person, rights, innovation and public happiness. An edition that arrives at a time marked by geopolitical tensions, energy crisis and growing inequalities. Among the guests, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and the 2025 Nobel Prize winner for Economics Philippe Aghion. We interviewed Professor Leonardo Becchetti, director of the Festival, to delve deeper into the themes at the center of this event.

What is the civil economy in concrete terms for you and how does it differ from the traditional economy?

It is what can save us from this horrible period of zero-sum mentality which means wasting time, human lives and economic resources on conflicts and wars (one against one is always less than two). At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were around one billion of us; today we are more than eight billion. And, at the same time, the average global life expectancy has risen from around 32 years in 1900 to more than 73 years in 2023. Is life a zero-sum or positive-sum game? All this time wasted in conflicts over resources and territories is first and foremost stupidity and a regurgitation of the past. The news only tells us about the roar of falling trees, but says nothing about the forest that continues to grow and is animated by the efforts of all of us. The "growing forest" is in the title of this year's festival: it is the most beautiful image, which also questions the world of communication. When is the good news news? It would answer a huge question from all those who can't stand hearing about falling trees anymore, but want to listen to the sound of the forest growing.

Why is the theme this year "people, rights, innovation and public happiness"?

We always think in terms of a forest that grows, despite everything. I'll give you an example: some leaders, including the American one, seem to be regurgitations of the past that make us take steps backwards on the ecological transition while the problems of the climate emergency, as we experienced this summer, worsen and affect everyone but especially the weakest (inflation, deaths from heat waves, tens of thousands in Europe). Yet the forest grows. The world went from 2 to 3 terawatts of installed renewable energy capacity in just 19 months. Africa is making giant strides and some American states (Texas and California) are leading this progress despite Trump.

There are virtuous circles that connect the flourishing of life, rights, sustainable innovation and private and public happiness. We tell them starting from the good practices that bear witness to them and are concrete signs of hope, up to the political strategies and top systems.

Staying on current events: what responses can the civil economy give to the ongoing geopolitical crises, between risks on energy supplies and soaring inflation?

One very simple thing can be said: the three great inflationary waves that have made us poorer in the last fifty years derive from a single cause: energy dependence on fossil fuels (first the oil crisis of the late 1970s, then the gas crisis due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, now that of the Strait of Hormuz). The way is simple and consists in doing what everyone is doing at a different speed: reducing dependence on fossil fuels. This also means reducing production costs and increasing the competitiveness of our companies which pay 23% more for energy than the European average.

You have chosen guests such as Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Philippe Aghion, Nobel Prize winner for economics: what convinces you to put human rights and economic theory on the same stage?

We have an extraordinary system in place to create economic value, produce goods and services but we have remained almost illiterate in the ability to distribute the wealth produced and guarantee rights. And inequality is taking its toll on us in terms of social unease that fuels tensions and populism. Nobel Prize winner Stiglitz, who was our guest in a past edition, says very clearly that inequality is not a destiny, it is a precise political choice. A choice that not only produces social costs, but puts democracy at risk because it creates a class of super-rich capable of manipulating information, communication and election results.

The civil economy model promises to reconcile profit and the common good, but in practice, when these two objectives come into conflict, who decides which prevails?

The data tells us that the key variable for individual happiness (World Happiness Report editor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve will be with us at the Festival this year) is generativity. And generativity is the impact of our choices on the lives of others. Generativity is not just philosophy, it has entered into concrete economic choices. The impact evaluator is one of the most appreciated professions today, the procurement rules give rewards for the impact, the PNRR investments are evaluated on the expected impact. Placing the criterion of impact at the center, which coincides with private happiness and public happiness, is the principle to be used to choose what prevails and what are the best ways and projects when conflicts arise between profit and the common good.

Is there a risk that the civil economy remains a discussion for professionals without intercepting those who are most distant from these issues?

Only if we are not good at communicating, popularizing and popularizing its great treasures. This is why we created the Festival.

Looking at artificial intelligence: how does it fit into the vision of the civil economy, in terms of work and inequalities?

To answer that would take another interview, if not an entire book, and we don't have all the answers yet. What appears certain is that already today cognitive automation can free up extraordinary spaces for the most beautiful things in life: human relationships, interpersonal care and free time. We will have - and already have thanks to it - increasingly better goods, services and medical care available. I graduated almost forty years ago with a computer that was little more than a word processing program. The computer I have today costs almost the same but do you have any idea how much more quality (search engines, internet, artificial intelligence) is inside? I don't think AI will reduce work at all. Rather, I believe it will enable us to produce and access previously unimaginable goods and services that will always require the human complement to produce.

Eight editions later, what has really changed in the territories thanks to the Festival?

When we started we were almost the only ones to propose a festival of this type. Today, festivals that focus on the positive have proliferated in an impressive way: this is perhaps one of the most beautiful things. Furthermore, the idea of ​​measuring the generativity of territories and describing good practices has also become viral. I think this is the most important result.

What is the project or "good practice" born from a previous edition that you are most proud of?

It is impossible to mention one without offending the others. I have many friends in mind who do amazing things working in all sectors: manufacturing, food, social services. When we think about these realities we often talk about Olivetti. Today there are hundreds, thousands of "Olivetti" in the country, who just need to be met and told about to give hope and stimulate good and generative innovation. We don't just talk about history, we talk about the present. Despite this difficult moment, no one can take away the profound joy of hoping and working for a better world. The Festival is a relational asset and a unique opportunity for generative people to meet to take a step forward together.