Florence - Feb 21, 2025 at 16:00 - 00:00
February 21 | The Village for Civic Action
Overview
The Village for Civic Action is a complementary event to the Democratic Odyssey’s Florence Assembly, designed to highlight the lived experiences of systemic crises through the lens of grassroots movements, collective action, and polarising debates. By showcasing specific struggles, the event grounds the deliberations of the Odyssey in real-world realities, amplifying voices often excluded from democratic processes.
In the face of mounting systemic crises—whether related to democracy, climate, migration, gender inequality, or social justice—this event aims to demonstrate how communities are organizing and defining their narratives to resist injustice, confront inequalities, and imagine new futures.
Located in Florence’s historic Le Murate complex, a site symbolizing transformation and community resilience, The Village for Civic Action will integrate workshops, cultural dialogue, and artistic expressions. The event bridges the local and transnational, connecting Florence’s legacy as a cultural and intellectual hub with modern-day movements advocating for justice and equality.
Why This Event?
1. Making the Systemic Crisis Tangible
The Democratic Odyssey seeks to address complex systemic crises facing Europe. The Village for Civic Action brings these abstract challenges to life by centering specific movements and their responses to issues such as gender inequality, racism, migration, and digital rights.
2. A Bridge Between Local and Transnational
As Florence hosts a transnational assembly, this event places deliberations within a broader, lived context. By inviting local and international collectives to share their struggles and strategies, the event demonstrates how systemic crises manifest at multiple levels—and how solidarity transcends borders.
3. Amplifying Marginalized Voices
The Village for Civic Action aligns with the Democratic Odyssey’s commitment to inclusivity by providing a platform for grassroots movements, offering them a space to inspire, educate, and mobilize participants.
4. Integrating Culture into Democracy
Art and culture are vital tools for resistance and democratic renewal. The workshops and performances reinforce the Odyssey’s goal of integrating artistic dimensions into deliberative processes, making democracy more accessible, participatory, and impactful.
Event Programme
21 February 2025 – Florence, Le Murate
16:00 – 17:00 | MAD | Exhibitions Guided Tour with Black History Month
17:00 – 18:00 | Gallery | Panel debate: Big tech, Populism and Free Speech with Ponte Europa
17:30 – 18:30 | Casa delle Donne | Femminismo Nero Latino Americano
Kibaka Africa Books meets writer Claudileia Lemes Dias, with Tiziana Chiappelli (Associazione Progetto Arcobaleno), Erika Bernacchi (University of Florence), in conversation with Isabella Mancini (Nosotras Onlus)
18:30 – 20:00 | Gallery | Documentary Screening: Food For Profit by Giulia Innocenzi and Pablo D’Ambrosi
Food for Profit is an investigative documentary that unveils the links between the meat industry, lobbies and political power in Europe, highlighting the contradictions of a system that finances intensive livestock farms with billions of euros of public funds. Through a journey through several European countries, directors Giulia Innocenzi and Pablo D’Ambrosi show, with images and first-hand accounts, the conditions of the animals, the environmental consequences and the public health risks linked to industrial meat production. A work that invites us to reflect on the impact of our food choices and the need to reform an unsustainable production system.
20:00 – 21:00 | Gallery | Panel debate: Beyond Exploitation: Connecting Anti-Speciesism and Climate Struggles for Global Justice
With Andrea Salimbeni (EUMANS), Matteo Galletti (Professor of Bioethics, University of Florence), Lotta (climate artivist), moderated by Virginia Fiume (Activist and Fellow at the European University Institute)
Global crises are not separate: environmental devastation, social injustice, animal exploitation and climate change are part of a system that prioritises profit and domination over the protection of people and the environment. On top of these lie the problems and dangers of the fifth great crisis of our time, that of democracy. This debate is an opportunity to address an urgent question: is it possible to imagine a future that holds climate justice and animal liberation together? Can the defence and radical transformation of deliberative democracy become a real tool for empowerment?
Anti-specism is not just a question of animal ethics but a political movement that challenges the paradigm of exploitation and domination in all its forms. If we really want to address the ecological crisis, we must recognise the intrinsic link between how we relate to animals, exploit the planet’s resources and perpetuate global inequalities.
This debate will explore possible pathways for ecological and social transition, challenging the boundaries of traditional thinking. Because progress does not only mean innovating technologies, but also questioning and transforming our relationship with the planet and the environment.
21:00 – 22:00 | Gallery | Dinner Break with Free Vegan Food & Informal Activities with Europa Porta Europa associations (Gioventù federalista europea, Europiamo, One Hour for Europe Italia, Eumans, Giovani delle Acli) and ESN Florence
22:00 – 22:30 | Gallery | Poetry Slam performance by Giuliano Logos
22:30 – 00:00 | Gallery | DJ Set by Elena Gianetti
Register here to participate
