Italy opened Friday the Milan International Expo 2015, a prestigious event which is held every five years. The fair follows the 2010 Expo in Shanghai, China.
145 countries worldwide will take part in the Milan Expo which will run until October 31st 2015, showcasing global food, technology and culture will lift a gloomy national mood and fears that it will be overshadowed by scandal, delays and protests.
Expo 2015 will feature interactive technological displays on the theme of "Feeding the Planet, energy for life,” with national pavilions presenting educational exhibitions and local cuisine.
Cultural events, futuristic architecture, a "supermarket of the future" and dozens of restaurants fill the site which required more than 1 million square meters (250 acres) of farmland on the outskirts of Milan to be concreted over.
"Today it is as though Italy is embracing the world," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said at a glitzy opening ceremony that featured a fly-past by jets trailing the colors of the Italian flag. "All you experts who kept saying 'We'll never do it' -- this is your answer," he said. "I like to think that tomorrow begins today."
With 10 million tickets already sold, officials are counting on some 20 million people attending, and hope overall revenues will top 10 billion euros ($10.75 billion), half from foreign visitors drawn to Milan.
Israel’s pavilion features a huge vertical green field of wheat, rice and corn, which are the main sources of vegetarian food, creating a mosaic of textures, smells and colours. It is meant to create the impression that a slice of the Israeli landscape was transplanted in urban Italy.
The vertical slab of vegetation is powered by drip irrigation, which pools at the bottom of the display and is piped back through to the top. Over the course of the exposition, the crops will mature from green sprouts to a golden field, which will then be rotated out for other seasonally appropriate produce.
The pavilion doesn’t accomplish just aesthetic functions but it introduces the Vertical planting, a revolutionary technology that allows land and water resources to be spared.
Behind the billboard, visitors can learn about the history of Israeli agriculture, modern Israeli innovation, thriving companies that made the desert blossom. At the Expo, Israel presents the Fields of Tomorrow, a pavilion dedicated both to the tradition of the land of milk and honey and the ultimate technologies in sustanaibility, agriculture and nutrition. ''Fields of Tomorrow'' demonstrates Israel’s ability in many domains. Among those are the cultivation in rocky land, growth of vegetables in the desert, new methods of irrigation and improvement of seeds quality. Israel showcases its commitment to share the results of expertise and research for a better future.
Israel is a young country, 67 years, with a tradition of three thousand years and an approach projected into the future. In less than 70 years, hard work, research and development have been able to transform a mostly arid land into fertile terrain.
‘’Today Israel is one of the leading countries in the field of science and innovation. Investments and opportunities to develop new technologies earned it the features of a real Start-Up Nation,’’ said Elazar Cohen, the General Commissioner of the Israeli pavilion.
“We can present to the world our achievement in agriculture technology to show that Israel is not only a country in political conflict located in the Middle East, where there are so many problems,” said David Knafo, the lead architect on the project.
‘’Israel’s image as the site of conflict between Jews and the Palestinians is gradually changing,’’ said Italian journalist Maurizio Molinari, a correspondent of daily La Stampa in Jerusalem. ‘’The younger generation is more interested in technology than in politics, and Israel is a fascinating start-up nation. I believe that the Milan Expo will help strenghten the country’s technological image.’’
The Israeli pavilion is in a “very, very important location,” Knafo stressed, just in front of the Italian pavilion and close to the central plaza. “That means we are going to be exposed to practically every visitor to the park,’ Knafo added.
In the entrance room actors and performers interact with the public whilst videos are projected along the walls. The first part of the exhibition narrates the story and the lives of three generations of farmers who managed to make the desert bloom.
A section of the exhibition is focused on the work of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL)-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) in various fields and especially afforestation. With 240 million trees planted in th last 70 years, KKL-JNF has been reforesting Israeli landscapes.
KKL-JNF gives a new chance to endangered ecosystems by storing seeds, developing seedling nurseries and planting trees. It develops environmental and social projects all across Israel. Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees today than 100 years ago.
Israel’s pavilion has been built with the most advanced green technology devices including energy saving and water and air treatment. The whole structure will be recycled at the end of the Expo.