A space open to all, designed to bring cardiometabolic health out of the environments reserved for specialists and into people's daily lives. Thus was born Fuori Congress, the installation created in Piazza Tre Torri and which will remain open to the public until October 2nd. An open, free and accessible place that aims to create a bridge between scientific research, healthcare professionals, institutions, patient associations and citizens. The idea was born from a simple consideration: every year large international conferences bring thousands of experts, researchers and clinicians to a city, but often this wealth of knowledge remains confined within the conference venues. Outside Congress tries to reverse the perspective.
Just as the Fuorisalone made design a widespread and accessible experience, Lilly imagined an initiative capable of extending the Congress beyond its traditional boundaries, creating direct contact between those who produce scientific knowledge and the people who live with great health challenges every day. The aim is to make complex issues such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular risk understandable, showing how these conditions are profoundly connected to each other and have a concrete impact on daily life.
Cardiometabolic health as a system of connections
The message that runs through the entire project is contained in one word: Connecting.
Connecting pathologies, because diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases are not separate compartments.
Connecting people, bringing citizens, doctors, institutions, associations and the scientific community into dialogue.
Connecting knowledge to real life, translating scientific evidence into concrete behaviors, choices and tools.
Connecting the congress to the city, so that Milan is not just the location of an international event but becomes an integral part of it.
It is a vision that also reflects the evolution of modern medicine, increasingly oriented towards considering cardiometabolic health as an ecosystem in which body weight, blood sugar, heart, nutrition, physical activity and general well-being are closely linked.
Why is it so important to talk about diabetes today
The choice to dedicate the project to cardiometabolic health also arises from the urgency of the numbers.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, 589 million adults live with diabetes worldwide and estimates indicate that this could increase to 853 million by 2050. Over 90% of cases are represented by type 2 diabetes.
In Europe there are approximately 65.6 million people with diabetes and over 22 million still do not know they are living with the disease. Numbers that clearly show how diabetes represents one of the main health challenges of our time and why it becomes essential to promote information, prevention and awareness.
An installation that can be experienced
Fuori Congress was not conceived as a space to observe, but as an experience to go through.
The installation, designed with the visual identity of Italian designer and artist Marco Oggian, uses geometric shapes and colors to represent the connections between different areas of cardiometabolic health.
Along the route, visitors can find moments of dialogue, interactive activities, immersive experiences, spaces dedicated to movement, nutrition and reflection on their own well-being.
Each area tells a different dimension of health, but they all converge towards the same message: well-being arises from a network of connections and the ability to look at the person in his complexity.
The voices of science, institutions and people
One of the central events of the program is represented by the Connecting Talks, public conversations held during the week. The meetings address the topic of cardiometabolic health from different perspectives: the point of view of research, that of institutions, the contribution of specialists, the role of nutrition and physical activity, up to the concrete experience of people who live every day with a chronic pathology. The underlying theme is always the same: to help the public understand how type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular risk are profoundly interconnected and how prevention and early diagnosis can change the course of diseases.
From theory to daily life
Alongside the in-depth moments, there are initiatives dedicated to lifestyles. Nutrition is addressed as a concrete tool for well-being, through activities that show how to transform the principles of healthy nutrition into choices that are truly applicable to everyday life. Movement is proposed as an opportunity for participation and sociability, far from the idea of sporting performance and closer to the construction of sustainable habits over time. Gaming also becomes an educational tool thanks to a "serious game" developed together with patient associations, which invites the public to reflect on the consequences of daily choices for cardiometabolic health.
A legacy that extends beyond Congress
In 2026 Lilly also celebrates 150 years of history and research. For the company, however, Fuori Congress is not just a celebration of the past, but a look towards the future of cardiometabolic health. The declared objective is to leave visitors with something that lasts beyond the days of the Congress: greater awareness, practical tools, new questions and a deeper understanding of the connections that link health, lifestyle and prevention. Because today the challenge is not just to develop new scientific knowledge. It's about ensuring that that knowledge is able to emerge from conferences, meet people and translate into concrete health. And this is precisely the deepest meaning of Fuori Congress.
