Silvia Zimmermann participated in the latest edition of the International Seminar ‘Metropolis of the Future’, organised by the Bilbao Metropoli 30 Association. The title of this edition was ‘Humanizing Cities: The Next Urban Revolution’ and served to focus on the importance of humanising cities, understood not from an anthropocentric perspective that encourages the exploitation of resources, but from an approach that promotes harmonious and respectful coexistence with the world we inhabit.
Silvia Zimmermann’s commitment lies in promoting a new humanism that contributes to human development in an equitable and ecologically sustainable world.
Once again this year, the event has brought together leading international experts who have shared innovative urban projects and initiatives, with the aim of inspiring new strategies for Metropolitan Bilbao. Through presentations and round table discussions, the seminar addressed the key challenges in economy, ecology and society, promoting a more humane and sustainable city model. These thematic blocks are those of the Urban Revolution Aurrera! manifesto, published by Bilbao Metropoli 30, which summarises the global challenges facing cities and calls for the radical changes needed to tackle them.
Within this framework, the seminar featured a keynote lecture by Silvia Zimmermann, co-president of the International Club of Rome; a disciple and collaborator of the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, she studied Social and Cultural Anthropology at La Sorbonne, Paris, and Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires, and is the author of numerous publications. She has received recognition as an Ambassador for Peace from the International Thousand Years of Peace Foundation and was highlighted as one of the most influential women in Argentine history by Rome International’s Dictionary of Argentine Women, an organisation that brings together outstanding leaders in science, economics, politics and business to foster innovative thinking and global action in the face of the planet’s challenges.
Silvia Zimmermann was the founder of the Argentine Chapter of the Club of Rome and currently shares the position of President of the International Club of Rome with Paul Shrivastava, from where she promotes the objectives of this association of personalities from all over the world, united around the will to work in favour of human development, so that the world is materially sufficient, socially equitable and ecologically sustainable.
Silvia Zimmermann highlighted the intangible elements that contribute to humanising our cities, among which she mentioned the identity of each urban environment, the need for the memory of spaces to build emotional ties and the importance of public space and encounters.
Her humanist vision, which poses the challenge for cities to take care of the ‘being’ of human beings and to bet on hope without limits, has inspired the audience in this global and shared challenge of humanising our cities.