The “Firenzestate” Festival will be the launching pad for Florence’s active participation in the UN campaign “No Excuse 2015,” whose objectives are to remind world leaders of their promise to eliminate extreme poverty, hunger, and gender based inequalities; to combat environmental degradation; and to provide universal access to education, health care, and water by 2015.
The day following his concert last weekend, Lenny Kravitz made a special appearance at Palazzo Medici Riccardi to help introduce the international campaign in which Florence is now officially taking part. Kravitz joined regional and city officials, as well as a UN representative, in explaining to local high school students in attendance the importance of action even on an individual level.
All Firenzestate Festival events will now include the “No Excuse” logo and will function as a way to inform the public about the campaign. City Councillor of Culture Simone Siliani explained that the city’s decision is a vital step in a public awareness initiative, whose aim is to create a population capable of putting pressure on the 189 heads of state who signed a pact at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to work towards a world agreement between richer and poorer nations.
Marina Ponti, Vice President of the Italian component of the “No Excuse 2015” campaign, claims that Italy has done very little for this campaign in comparison to other countries. Florence is the first Italian city that has promised to officially promote the campaign through all of its summer events.
