By Biography
Francesco Rutelli was born in Rome in 1954. He is married to Barbara Palombelli, a journalist and anchorwoman. They have four children and five grandchildren.
Rutelli has been elected six times to the Parliament: in the Chamber of Deputies in 1983, 1987, 1992, 2001, and 2006; and from 2008 to 2013 as a Senator of the Republic. He was also elected as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004.
Rutelli was the first Mayor of Rome directly elected by the citizens in December 1993 and re-elected in 1997, receiving the highest number of popular votes in the history of elections in Rome up to that point (985,000 votes in 1997). Under his leadership, the administration implemented significant transformations in the capital.
He served as the Deputy President of the Council of Ministers and Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities of the Italian Government from 2006 to 2008.
Rutelli held various institutional positions, including President of the Human Rights Committee at Montecitorio, President of COPASIR (Bicameral Committee for the Oversight of Intelligence), Special Government Commissioner for the Great Jubilee of 2000 and, as Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for Italian Tourism.
Since 2013, Francesco Rutelli has chosen not to hold political-institutional positions and has engaged in activities, both professionally and as a volunteer, in areas where he has developed expertise and exercised his civic passion, such as the environment and sustainability, culture, and the international promotion of Italy.
Among his professional activities, Rutelli created an LLC dedicated to promoting the Italian Experience, advising and collaborating with international and national private entities.
From October 2016 to November 2024, he was elected President of ANICA, the National Association of Film, Audiovisual, and Digital Industries, according to Confindustria rules. He led the largest, ‘historic’ association that brought together Producers, Distributors, Technical Industries in Italy to welcome the global and national companies of Media Publishers, International Exporters, Digital Publishers and Creators, including Cartoon Italia. With his leadership, the companies associated with ANICA have more than doubled, and the economic, management and capital fundamentals have clearly consolidated.
In collaboration with ANCE (National Association of Private Building Contractors) he is the Director of the “Cities in the Future 2030-2050” event. PROGER Group (first Italian engineering company) asked him to lead its Global Art & Culture Division. He created and chairs (2021-2027) ANICA Academy for Film, Audiovisual, and Digital, which, in partnership with RAI, Netflix, Paramount, Medusa, Vision, Gaumont, Fondazione EOS and LABS trains new professionals to serve in qualified positions within the film and audiovisual industry.
Among the activities he carries out on a voluntary basis: in 2020 he founded and chairs the Soft Power Club. The Club has brought together leading international figures, managers, cultural figures, and representatives of institutions from five continents in five editions—in Venice, India (Kerala), Naples, and Rome (at the Bank of Italy and the Chamber of Deputies). The Club, which has also awarded the Soft Power Prize, aims to define inclusive messages and pragmatic objectives, serving as a meeting point for a renewed and effective multilateralism and the “power of persuasion” in an age of growing conflict. He is the creator and President of Videocittà, the major festival of moving images that has taken place in Rome annually since 2018, with growing public success and participation from Italian and international creators and innovators. He is expanding its activities throughout Italy and Europe. He created ESGR, a benefit company (Environmental, Social, Governance Reputation), committed to a transparent, high-quality reputation for the sustainable growth of businesses and supply chains, and to the training of sustainability managers (2021-2025).
In 1989 he created over Centro per un Futuro Sostenibile, founded in 1989, focused on global environmental issues and climate change. He founded and chairs Associazione Priorità Cultura and Associazione Incontro di Civiltà, dedicated to dialogue among Great Cultures, as well as the restoration and reconstruction of artistic and architectural masterpieces damaged or destroyed in recent conflicts in the Mediterranean and Middle East. He coordinated an exhibition inside the Colosseum, inaugurated in October 2016 by the President of the Republic and visited by over 300,000 people; the reconstruction of the Nimrud Bull, placed at the entrance to the Basra Museum (Iraq) since 2024.He is the founder and President of Cultural Heritage Rescue Prize, whose International jury has awarded the Brave in the rescue of endangered Art worldwide. He was appointed as a Special Advisor to ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) from 2021-2023 and he served as the Coordinator of the Group for Ancient Cultural and Religious Routes, including the Via Francigena, at the Pontifical Council for Culture, following Pope Francis’ recommendation. He founded in 2019-with the contribution of prestigious academics, professionals and experts Scuola di Servizio Civico, which trained with interdisciplinary skills young people capable of committing themselves to the service of the Capital.
His most recent books: “Tutte le strade partono da Roma” (Laterza, 2020); “Roma, Camminando” (Laterza, 2022); “Il secolo verde” (Solferino, 2023) ; “Città Vince, Città Perde” (Laterza, 2024); “Roma, la Città dei segreti” (Newton Compton, 2025).
1.EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENT
On the European front, Rutelli, along with the French political leader François Bayrou, founded the European Democratic Party. He was elected co-President in Brussels starting from 2004. Today he is Honorary President of the Institute of European Democrats (IED) in Brussels, of which he was President (2019-2025).
In the 1990s, Rutelli was a member of the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, where he chaired the Urban Policy Commission.
As a Member of the European Parliament (1999-2004), he promoted numerous pro-European parliamentary initiatives, advocated for human rights, and opposed the death penalty. Rutelli was the Rapporteur for the Anti-Corruption Directive.
He played a key role in the popular referendum in June 1989, seeking a constitutive mandate for Italian members of the European Parliament, which received an 88% affirmative vote from the electorate. He was awarded the Crocodile-Altiero Spinelli Prize for his commitment to European integration.
In the Italian Parliament, Rutelli served as a long-standing member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He initiated the establishment of the Human Rights Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, which he chaired for two terms. At the end of the 1990s he was appointed as Urban Development Advisor in New York by Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali.
Rutelli was president of COPASIR (2008-2010), the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic which controls the activity of the Intelligence Services. He has drafted and led to the approval of several reports: on human trafficking as a strategic threat to national security, as well as the first report to Parliament and the Government on Cyberspace, its implications for national security and the necessary reforms of the structures that they supervise.
Rutelli was the honorary president of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin (2013-2014), President of the Italy-UAE Association (2016-2017), and Coordinator of the Italy-China Cultural Forum, established by the governments of the two countries to address Culture, Creativity, Design, and Tourism (2016-2021).
Francesco Rutelli collaborates with various think tanks, universities, and international foundations.
The approach of his initiatives is inclusive, as seen in the formation of the Soft Power Club, whose members include: H.H. Prince El Hassan Bin al Talal, Crown Prince of Jordan; Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian entrepreneur, president and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited; Lord Charles Powell, diplomat, pro-European politician, and British businessman, former chief of staff to Margaret Thatcher; Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development); Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA); Fatou Jeng, Founder of Clean Earth Gambia; Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Colombia and Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and UNDP Administrator; Yuan Ding, Vice President and Dean of China Europe International Business School – CEIBS; Philippe Donnet, CEO of Generali; Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic, Secretary General Europa Nostra; Amitabh Kant, CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India- NITI; Charles Rivkin, CEO of MPA Hollywood/Washington DC; Samia Nkrumah, founder of the Nkrumah Foundation for the Pan-Africanism; Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Founder and Director-General of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
The Club has so far awarded the Soft Power Prize to John Nkengasong, a virologist leading international institutions based in Africa in the fight against COVID-19, to marine ecosystems scientist Kim Cobb, and to climate activist Vanessa Nakate.
2.POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONS
In November 1975, Rutelli joined the Radical Party and was elected Secretary of Rome and Lazio in 1979. At the age of 26, in 1980, he became the National Secretary. He led numerous initiatives in support of civil and human rights, justice, and the environment, promoting the Gandhian culture of nonviolence and the fight against global hunger and malnutrition. Notably, he was arrested at the nuclear plant in Latina in the summer of 1981, spending three days in prison, ultimately leading to the closure of the plant after a public referendum. Rutelli was fully acquitted for his peaceful demonstration. At 29, in 1983, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time. At the funeral of the historic leader of the Radicals, Marco Pannella, in Piazza Navona (May 2016), Rutelli recalled the extraordinary merits of the Radical Party for Italian democracy, and reiterated his gratitude for the exceptional political and civil experience led by Pannella.
During his long parliamentary career (1983-2013), he contributed to various legislative measures, from securing funding for the digitization of justice to recent anti-crime laws on the DNA database and the introduction of the “flat-rate tax” for rentals. He served as parliamentary group leader on multiple occasions.
Due to his environmental commitment, he was elected National Coordinator of the Italian Greens and later became the leader of the parliamentary group. A reformist environmentalist, he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Urban Areas in the Ciampi government but resigned after two days in 1993.
Leading the center-left coalition L’Ulivo, Rutelli challenged Silvio Berlusconi in the 2001 race for the Prime Ministership. During the campaign “L’Ulivo per Rutelli,” he gained ten percentage points in popularity, receiving over 16.4 million votes but lost the election by a margin of 1.4%.
In the same year, the new party “La Margherita – Democrazia è Libertà” received 5.4 million votes, and Rutelli was elected President, later reconfirmed in 2004 and 2007.
In 2006, Rutelli was appointed Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister for Cultural Heritage in the Prodi government, also taking on the Tourism portfolio, a strategic sector which he has often dealt with, especially for economic development and competitiveness policies and the promotion of cultural tourism.
The government achieved the lowest public debt in decades, below 100% of GDP, restoring Italy’s credibility in international markets (as an indicator, the spread between Italian government bonds and German Bunds was around 30 points).
As Deputy Prime Minister and leader of La Margherita, Rutelli promoted and adopted innovative economic and social policies, such as portability and renegotiability of mortgages, a significant reduction in the fiscal burden for businesses, and a bonus for lower pensions.
Rutelli strongly supported Italy’s participation in multilateral commitments by the international community and in peacekeeping and peace-enforcing operations.
Under his leadership, La Margherita-DL aggregated a plurality of political cultures and democratic, reformist, Catholic, and liberal personalities. In the 2006 general elections, La Margherita-DL elected 120 parliamentarians, contributing in 2008, with Rutelli’s strong commitment, to the formation of the Democratic Party ( although, it should be remembered, the absolute popular votes collected by the Margherita in 2001 – 5 million 391 thousand – were higher than those of the PD – 5 million 348 thousand, in 2022). Rutelli left the party in 2009 due to the prevailing left-wing positions but maintained friendly political and personal relationships.
Due to the conduct of La Margherita’s former treasurer, the party’s history and achievements were briefly overshadowed. However, investigators, courts at various levels, and the Court of Cassation clarified that La Margherita was a victim of embezzlement, and Rutelli was a victim of slander, as also confirmed in civil court in 2023. The final judgment, issued in December 2017, resulted in the confiscation of the embezzled funds, directly assigned to the Italian State. Additionally, the party donated an unprecedented 6.5 million euros from La Margherita’s remaining assets to the Ministry of Economy.
La Margherita-DL has been recognized as an excellent “political school,” with some of Italy’s most prominent figures in politics and democratic institutions, including the current President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, participating in the party’s experience.
3.A FAMILY BIOGRAPHY LINKED TO CULTURE: PASSION, INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES, AND ACHIEVEMENTS FOR ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL CULTURE
Francesco Rutelli’s family boasts ancient cultural and artistic legacies. His great-grandfather, Mario Rutelli, is the creator of the Fontana delle Najadi (1901) and the monument dedicated to Anita Garibaldi on the Gianicolo in the capital. Mario Rutelli crafted dozens of monuments and statues in public and private spaces in Italian cities, including some of the most important modern works in Palermo.
The great-great-grandfather, Felice Martini (from Parma), was the chief designer responsible for the last renovation (1873) of the historic Arsenal of Venice. His wife, Ada Corbellini, was a poet and patriot of the Risorgimento. The great-grandfather, Ottavio Marini (from Loreto), served as the Director of Antiquities and Fine Arts for the Italian government during the 1910s and 1920s, as well as the Director of the Academy of Fine Arts and the National Engraving. The Palermo branch of the family, starting with entrepreneur Giovanni Rutelli, oversaw the construction of the grand Teatro Massimo, numerous buildings on via Roma, and, in the Liberty style, along the Mondello waterfront (including the Charleston).
As the Mayor of Rome and later as Minister of Culture, Francesco Rutelli contributed significantly to the creation and realization of numerous strategic cultural buildings, infrastructure, and institutions, museums, and galleries in Italy. Among these, the Auditorium – Città della Musica, a project awaited in Rome for 60 years, designed by Renzo Piano, whose location Rutelli, as a City Councilor alongside Antonio Cederna, deliberated, secured funding, and oversaw construction during his mayoralty. Other achievements include a comprehensive plan for restoration and archaeological excavations, the renewal of the Capitoline Museums, the new museum case for the Ara Pacis, the opening of more than 20 exhibition spaces (covering over 22,000 square meters during his mayoral term), including the Gallery of Modern Art (later named MACRO), the Scuderie del Quirinale, the Centrale Montemartini, up to the MAXXI Museum and the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini (which had awaited a conclusive definition for over half a century).
While in government, Rutelli initiated the restoration of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the construction of the Auditorium of the Maggio Fiorentino in Florence, the radical refurbishment of the Archaeological Museum (of the “Bronzes”) in Reggio Calabria, and that of the Archaeological Museum in Taranto, as well as the completion of the Reggia di Venaria Reale in Turin.
He formulated and approved the new Landscape Code in 2008. In addition to restoring reduced funding for cinema, he introduced the innovative Tax Credit system, revitalizing the film and audiovisual industry. He established the Theater Festival (in Naples) and revitalized the international Spoleto Festival.
Throughout his various national and international commitments, as well as in public-private collaboration, Rutelli has been dedicated to defining and promoting an innovative Italian Cultural Diplomacy and developing a new concept of Soft Power. He promoted the creation of the first (to date, the only) White Paper on Italian Creative Industries (published in 2009). As Minister of Cultural Heritage, he implemented a systematic Cultural Diplomacy strategy that, through successful negotiations involving state attorneys, Carabinieri, archaeologists, scholars, and diplomats, allowed for the recovery of dozens of archaeological and artistic masterpieces of immense value that were stolen ((along with the restitution of works held illegally on Italian soil). Among other things, the Goddess of Morgantina, the Euphronios Krater, the Trapezophoros of the Griffins and the Doe, and the statue of Vibia Sabina were recovered. The value of the definitive return of these assets to Italy through the political and diplomatic initiatives promoted by Rutelli was estimated, based on insurance alone in 2008, at approximately 500 million euros. This strategy was carried out within the framework of UNESCO Conventions, collaborating with international museums and cultural institutions, and developing and establishing new legal criteria and agreements for loans and scientific and dissemination cooperation.
The leaders of ANICA, the first and most representative association of film and audiovisual companies in Italy, proposed to Francesco Rutelli in October 2016 to preside over the association during a period of profound transformative changes in this major production and creative industry. He was unanimously elected and re-elected twice until 2024.
As President of ANICA, he was responsible for the MIA (International Audiovisual Market) from 2017 to 2021, in partnership with the Audiovisual Producers Association (APA). He created and coordinated a new event to promote creativity and the audiovisual and digital industries and foster dialogue among all creative and productive sectors of moving images. This event, known as Videocittà, saw significant participation from talents and personalities (including 18 Oscar winners) and the public (over 500,000 spectators). In 2024 Videocittà was one of the 10 winners (o”large scale2 projects (out of 830 applicants) of the Creative Europe programme (2 of which are in Italy).
He is the founder and President of the Associazione Priorità Cultura, dedicated to the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage, contemporary art, and the creation of public-private partnerships in various cultural fields. With the Associazione Incontro di Civiltà, he leads an international campaign for the salvation, cataloging, restoration, and reconstruction of heritage affected by recent conflicts and at risk in the Mediterranean area. Exhibitions and international conferences, from 2014 to 2019, took place under his guidance in Rome (Palazzo Venezia, Colosseum, Palazzo Poli), Brussels (European Council), Paris (UNESCO), and with ICCROM, at the Rome headquarters of FAO. An impeccable reproduction of the Bull of Nimrud, destroyed by Daesh, was installed in February 2024 at the entrance of the Basra Museum (Iraq) through the initiative of Incontro di Civiltà and Priorità Cultura.
The Cultural Heritage Rescue Prize, founded by him, took place in Venice, Spoleto, and Palermo, and was awarded by an authoritative international jury to the ‘Brave’ who save Art, sometimes risking their lives.
He has conceived and presided over various cultural events, holding the singular record of neologisms coined by a political figure (ten, listed in the Treccani Dictionary of Neologisms, 2009, 2018).
4.ROME
In December 1993, at the age of 39, Francesco Rutelli was elected Mayor of Rome, becoming the first to be directly chosen by the citizens. He was reconfirmed in 1997 with 985,000 votes (marking the highest number of preferences expressed in any mayoral election in the city of Rome in both elections). He was then elected President of the Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities.
Rutelli promoted profound changes in the capital, thanks to the commitment and teamwork of a qualified and extensive management group consisting of competent, passionate, and motivated individuals. In addition to transformations on the Capitoline Hill and in the archaeological field (including the return of the statue of Marcus Aurelius, the opening of the Tabularium, the new museum of the Markets of Trajan, and excavations at the Imperial Forums), hundreds of public works were completed during Rutelli’s seven-year administration. These include the so-called “Programma 100 piazze” (with more than 160 squares restored or newly built); a new tram line after decades (line “8”); the inauguration and operation of railway lines (including the new San Pietro-La Storta line) and the refurbishment of major stations, with the activation of an integrated metropolitan rail system covering about 300 km of tracks; the third lane of the Grande Raccordo Anulare and the Rome-Fiumicino Motorway; the structures of the new Mercati Generali on the Tiburtina.
Numerous private initiatives were encouraged and realized, including the modernization of cinema spaces (“Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”), the new tourist port of Ostia, and the radical transformation of the hotel system.
The new city plan was approved, allocating more than 60% of the territory to green and agricultural areas, and canceling forecasts for constructions of nearly 60 million cubic meters (which had been approved for an unrealistic urban development with 5 million inhabitants). Many projects initiated and financed during his administration continued in the subsequent years (such as the construction of the new “C” metro line, the large road tunnel under Monte Mario, and the new Congress Center – “La Nuvola” – in the EUR).
Popular and social events that became essential were established during Rutelli’s tenure, such as New Year’s Eve in Piazza (since 1993), the Rome Marathon (since 1995), and Memory Journeys for students to former Nazi concentration camps (since 1994). Unprecedented realities were also instituted, followed by many cities; these included the first Italian Film Commission (Cinema Office), the Mayor’s Adviser for the rights of homosexual people, the InformaGiovani, and the Office for the Rights of animals.
Rutelli was appointed Government Commissioner for the Great Jubilee of 2000. In 41 months (a record time, compared to the national average of 9 years), about 800 public works were completed (96% on time), in a transparent manner, without a single legal proceeding, and without casualties at work. Maintenance works, management services, and reception guaranteed the arrival of 27 million pilgrims and visitors from around the world during the 13 months of the Jubilee (70 million presences). Among the results of these transformations, spread throughout the entire city territory and consistent with ordinary programming and administration, were the complete restoration of the ancient path of the Appia Antica, the restoration of all bridges over the Tiber, the transformation of numerous public spaces (including Piazza del Popolo) into pedestrian areas, the opening of dozens of new parks and recreational areas, the underpass Principe Amedeo-Gregorio VII, and Richard Meier’s church in the Tor Tre Teste district.
Rutelli also ran for the 2008 elections but was defeated, receiving 46.3% of the votes. In 2015-16, he declined proposals to present his own candidacy, promoting the aggregation of the contents of a civic platform for the renewal of the city (Prossima Roma). In 2019, he promoted the Scuola di Servizio Civico, which trained over fifty young people available to collaborate in the recovery of public service in the capital.
5.ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT
Francesco Rutelli has been an environmentalist throughout his career. He was elected National Coordinator of the Green Party and parliamentary group leader in Montecitorio, a municipal councillor in Rome (1989), and a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies (1992).
In 1989, he founded the Center for a Sustainable Future (CFS), a terminology that was new at the time -, which promoted initiatives in Italy and internationally on the global environment and climate change, bringing together authoritative economists, scientists, and experts.
Appointed Minister of the Environment and Urban Areas in the Ciampi government in 1993, Rutelli resigned after only two days. Nevertheless, he managed to establish the natural reserves of Valle Averto (Venetian Lagoon) and Valli di Comacchio (Po Delta) and introduce incentives for agricultural activities within national parks.
He is responsible for Law 113 of 1992, which stipulates planting a tree for every newborn. The law was later expanded by the Italian Parliament (on Rutelli’s proposal, including the provision that the trees be planted for adopted children as well). During Rutelli’s tenure, 120,000 new trees were planted in the city of Rome; if universally applied, it would have allowed for the planting of 15 million trees in Italy.
His term as the first Green Mayor of a European capital marked a significant reduction in air pollution (CO, NOx, Benzene), the operation of the largest fleet of electric buses in any international capital, an ecological turning point in the water cycle (96% purification of wastewater and full bathing suitability of the sea at Ostia), the creation of 200 new public gardens and parks (5,300 hectares), and an agreement with the region to create the system of the 13 major parks of RomeNatura.
Rutelli was the promoter of important conferences on climate change: two of them (“Turning Point”) took place on the eve of the Paris Agreement (December 2015) at the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the French Senate. He also signed the law ratifying the Montreal Treaty by the Italian Parliament against the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer. In 2015, Rutelli proposed using this binding instrument to replace HFCs, chemicals that significantly contribute to the greenhouse effect. In November 2016, together with major Italian and international institutions, he promoted a conference at the FAO on the decisive role of forests and sustainable agriculture for the environment and climate. In July 2017, the International Conference “The Agenda for Climate and Energy in Changing Global Scenarios” was held at the University of Milan, where the proposal for the necessary reduction of methane emissions in the oil and gas sectors was put forward. Since 2024 he promoted a coordinated action to place climate change adaptation at the center of public policies; pro-adaptation initiatives have been carried out in collaboration with ANCE (National Association of Building Contractors), Proger and the Venice International Architecture Biennale.
In June 2021, he published the essay “Climate: A ‘Green Revolution’ Begins. Really?”. Among his recent conferences are “Sustainable Future, Ecology, Economy, Politics” (University of Milano-Bicocca, April 2021) and “Sustainable Development, Theories and Best Practices” (Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, September 2021). Among those held in 2025: FIEC Conference, Athens, “Solutions for Water Resilience” (May); Energy Festival, Lecce (May); Italian Hydrogen Summit, Rome (November).
In his book “The Green Century” (Solferino, 2023), he analyzes the crucial choices to achieve emission reduction goals with the essential support of populations, as well as governments, leveraging the creation of new production chains and new jobs.
He has promoted the Benefit ESGR (Environmental, Social, Governance, Reputation) with the collaboration of authoritative professionals, managers, scholars, technologists, and an Advisory Board made up of 10 Italian personalities of international standing.
6.EDUCATION
Honors Degree in Landscape and Environmental Planning, University of Tuscia – University of Rome “La Sapienza”
Diploma in International Organizations, Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI)
Honorary Degree in International Affairs, John Cabot University in Rome
Honorary Degree in Public Service, Temple University in Rome
Honorary Degree in Human Letters, American University in Rome
Honorary Academic of the Arts of Design, Academy of the Arts of Design in Florence (the oldest Academy in the world)
7.ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES
Board Chairman ANICA Academy Cinema, Audiovisivo, Digitale
Predisposizione e Lectio Magistralis per il Corso di Formazione ‘Carta d’Identità ESG Manager’, Roma e Milano (2024)
UNINT, Scuola di Scienze della Politica, Il Soft Power oggi (2024)
Green Transition e Formazione, Università LUMSA (2024)
University of Arkansas, Palazzo Taverna, Climate Policies, Sustainability, or Greenwashing? (2024)
Cerimonia di commemorazione di Biancamaria Bosco Tedeschini Lalli, Università Roma Tre (2023)
Lectio per i Dottorandi in Paesaggio e Ambiente, Università La Sapienza, Facoltà di Architettura (2023)
Master’s in Film and Audiovisual Management, 24 Ore Business School, Rome (November 2017)
Professor at the Master’s in Landscape Design at the University Consortium for Socioeconomic and Environmental Research (CURSA), Rome (2017)
Co-Chair and lecturer of the Master’s in Sustainable Development, Geopolitics of Resources, and Arctic Studies at SIOI (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Visiting Professor at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (2016, 2017)
Visiting Professor at John Cabot University in Rome (2016)
Inaugural Lecture for the Academic Year 2018, UNIPEGASO, Naples
Member of the Digital Economy Board, Faculty of Economics, La Sapienza University, Rome
Chairman of the Board of Directors, ANICA Academy Cinema, Audiovisual, Digital
Lectures at Roma Tre University: Master’s in Languages, Intercultural Communication, and Management (2021); International Master’s in Cultural Heritage (2021); Master’s in Landscapes of Contemporary Cities (2022)
Inaugural Lecture “The City After COVID,” School of Civil Service, Faculty of Architecture, La Sapienza University (2021)
Gregorian University, Rome and the Jubilee (2022)
Books and Essays
Roma, la Città dei segreti, Newton Compton 2025
Città Vince, Città Perde, Laterza 2024
Il Secolo verde, Solferino 2023
Roma, Camminando, Laterza 2022
Soft Power. Per un Multilateralismo efficace nel mondo post Covid, L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2021
Tutte le strade partono da Roma, Laterza 2020
Introduzione a “Estremi” di Gianluca Ansalone, Guerini 2026
Introduzione a “Fuori dalle Emergenze”, di D’Angelis e Grassi, Il Mulino, 2026
Introduzione a “Il Parnaso di Villa Aldobrandini a Frascati”, Roma 2025
Ripensare la città. Modelli urbani al tempo del COVID. Testimonianze, 2020
Climate Change and sea level rise: will be COVID-19 a game-changer? IED, Bruxelles, 2020
“E’ possibile riprodurre le cose distrutte”. Incontro di Civiltà- Priorità Cultura, 2019
La Diplomazia Culturale Italiana, Incontro di Civiltà, 2018
Contro gli Immediati. Per la scuola, il lavoro, la politica, La nave di Teseo, 2017
Prefazione a: Ottant’anni di EUR, Roma 2017
Prefazione a: Roma e l’Appia. Rovine Utopia Progetto, Quodlibet, 2017
Incontro di Civiltà: Radici, Ragioni, Obiettivi di una Grande Campagna, in: Rinascere dalle distruzioni. Ebla, Nimrud, Palmyra, Incontro di Civiltà, 2016
Città e pellegrini. Il lavoro del Commissario, in: Giubilei. Spiritualità, storia, cultura, UTET Grandi Opere, 2016
Conservation and Transformations in Contemporary Cities, in: Building the Future, World Monuments Fund, 2015
Paradossi, rischi e speranze del negoziato sul clima, in: Equilibri. Rivista per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, Il Mulino, 2/2015
Contributo in: Un nuovo clima. Come l’Italia affronta la sfida climatica, Rubbettino Editore, 2015
The Return of Iconoclasm: Barbarian Ideology and Destruction by ISIS as a Challenge for Modern Culture, Not Only for Islam, in: Art Crime, Terrorist, Tomb Raiders, Forgers and Thieves, Palgrave Macmillan 2015
La via stretta di un riformismo verde, in: Ambiente in Europa. Economia verde. Ambiente Italia Rapporto annuale di Legambiente, Edizioni Ambiente, 2014
Diplomazia Culturale. L’interesse italiano, le nuove prospettive internazionali, in: La Diplomazia Culturale. Forza del dialogo, potere della cultura. Le opportunità per l’Italia, Aracne Editrice, 2013
Non è vero, Rubbettino Editore, 2011
Cyber minacce e sicurezza, Camera dei Deputati, 2010
La svolta. Lettera a un partito mai nato, Marsilio Editori, 2009
Memoria, bellezza e futuro, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali, 2008
Quindici Parole, Baldini Castoldi, 2001
Roma e il Grande Giubileo del 2000, in: Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Il Libro dell’Anno, 2000
Roma oggi e domani, Newton & Compton, 1997
Capitolium, Rome’s official Magazine, Editor, 1997-2001
Piazza della Libertà, Mondadori, 1996
Progetto per Roma, Theoria, 1993
Dieci anni al Duemila. Il buongoverno ecologico. Gruppo parlamentare Verdi Arcobaleno, 1989
Per il disarmo, Gammalibri, 1982
9.HONORS AND RECOGNITIONS
Cavaliere dell’Impero Britannico per nomina della Regina Elisabetta II
Cavaliere di Gran Croce per nomina di Re Juan Carlos di Spagna
Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine di Sant’Agata, Repubblica di San Marino
Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine di Rio Branco per nomina del Presidente della Repubblica Federativa del Brasile
Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine di Leopoldo II per nomina del Re del Belgio
Ordine del Servizio Diplomatico Gwangwa Medal per nomina del Presidente della Repubblica della Corea
Membro onorario delle prime Forze di Reggimento (“Green Berets”, Fort Bragg, USA)
Membro onorario dell’Associazione Nazione Partigiani d’Italia (ANPI)
Premio BIT per il Turismo Italiano
“Trofeo Latino” per la promozione della cultura italiana
“Premio Arca” (Associazione per la ricerca sui crimini contro l’arte) per l’impegno al recupero dell’arte trafugata
Premio “Mayors who made history”, Barcellona
“Premio Letterario Capalbio”
“Premio Internazionale per l’Archeologia”, Paestum
“Premio UNESCO Valencia Mediterraneo”
“Sigillo” dell’Università per Stranieri di Perugia
Premio Speciale “Montale Fuori di Casa”, Senato della Repubblica
Premio Europeo “Alloro della Democrazia”, Varsavia
Premio Europa Nostra Awards, Berlino
Premio Cuore di Roma, Ass. Abitanti Centro Storico
Premio internazionale “Foyer des Artistes”, Roma
Premio Cimitile per la migliore opera edita di attualità
Premio Internazionale Capalbio per la Saggistica Politica
Premio Roma allo sviluppo del Paese
10.SPECIAL PROJECTS
Soft Power Conferences. Venice, 2024. Kerala (India) 2024. Naples, 2025. Rome, 2026
Città nel Futuro, 2030-2050, in collaboration with ANCE, 2025-2027
CO-Vision, Creative Europe, 2024-2026
Observatory on the Soft Power of Food, in collaboration with Confagricoltura, 2026
ANICA ’80 in the presence of Italian President Republic, 2024
Member of the Advisory Board, Federmanager
Strategic European Autonomy, IED, 2021-2023
Videocittà, Festival of Moving Images, Rome 2018-2024
Curator of exhibitions for the reconstruction of Cultural Heritage at the European Council, Brussels (April 2017); at UNESCO, Paris (November 2017); at FAO on the occasion of the ICCROM General Assembly, Rome, November 2017
Creator and curator of the exhibition at the Colosseum, Rebirth from Destructions. Ebla, Nimrud, Palmyra, Rome, October-December 2016
Creator and curator of the exhibition at Palazzo Venezia, Syria, Splendor and Drama, Rome, June-August 2014
Founder and President of the Cultural Heritage Rescue Prize (2014-present)
Curator of various publications and essays: Rebirth from Destructions. Ebla, Nimrud, Palmyra (Incontro di Civiltà, 2016); Francigena, the Joy of Walking to Rome (Priorità Cultura, 2016); For an Energetic Europe (Center for a Sustainable Future, 2016); Italy and China, The Economy of Culture (Priorità Cultura, 2016); Turning Point, The Paris COP 21 (Center for a Sustainable Future, 2015); Culture, Inexhaustible Energy (Priorità Cultura, 2014); Europe 2020: Stuck in the Middle? (Center for a Sustainable Future, 2013); Walking, to Rome and in Rome (Priorità Cultura, 2013).
11.CONFERENCES AND RECENT INITIATIVES
CO-Vision nella Tenuta Presidenziale di Castelporziano, il Pinus Pinea, 13 Marzo 2026
Ricordo di Fulco Pratesi, Fondatore del WWF Italia, 3 Marzo 2026 Camera dei Deputati.
Omaggio a Giuseppe De Rita, 17 Febbraio 2026, Accademia di San Luca.
Sfide e opportunità per le città nel XXI Secolo. Dialogo con Ricky Burdett. Museo MAXXI, 12 Febbraio 2026
Marco Aurelio nell’era digitale, Musei Capitolini, 22 dicembre 2025
Videocittà Awards, Napoli, Auditorium Bagnoli, 14 Dicembre 2025
La Città Giusta, ricordo di don Luigi Di Liegro, Basilica SS Apostoli, 24 Novembre 2025
Il rilancio degli itinerari nelle Catacombe minori, SS. Marcellino e Pietro, via Casilina, 4 Dicembre 2025
Venticinquennale della Fondazione, Campus Biomedico, Trigoria, 24 Ottobre 2025
Strategie di Adattamento per un Cambiamento climatico che non aspetta. Venezia, Biennale Internazionale di Architettura 2025, Settembre 2025
Intitolazione di un Giardino a Ada Rossi, Roma, 9 Maggio 2025
Lecture Urbis et Orbis, Casa dell’Architettura, 5 Maggio 2025
Alberi e Paesaggi nel Mediterraneo, con Giuseppe Barbera, Orto Botanico, 19 Marzo 2025
Le Arti e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, Novembre 2024
CO-VISION, Pinus Pinea Project, Museo MAXXI, Ottobre 2024
Inspiring Cities, COIMA, Villaggio Olimpico Milano, Ottobre 2024
Come cambiano le Città, Pianeta Terra Festival, Lucca, Ottobre 2024
L’Italia dei Conservatori, Hotel Quirinale, Ottobre 2024
La Stagione dei Diritti – gli Anni ’70; Casa della Memoria e della Storia, Settembre 2024
60 Under 30, La Giovane Roma, Link Campus, Settembre 2024
Assemblea nazionale ANCE, Auditorium PdM, Giugno 2024
Inaugurazione della stele in Via del Corso in memoria dell’arresto di Enzo Tortora, Giugno 2024
Inaugurazione della Targa da me donata a Radio Radicale per ricordare la Liberazione di Roma e non dimenticare le crudeltà e le torture della Banda Koch, Giugno 2024
Attraversamenti: confronto pubblico sul libro di Goffredo Bettini, Auditorium PdM, Maggio 2024
L’Europa di De Gasperi – Il futuro dell’Europa, Hilton La Nuvola, Aprile 2024
Camminata pubblica sulle orme delle Benefattrici nella storia di Roma, Aprile 2024
Ispettori di Produzione, giovani per ‘Creare Storie’ e per ‘Creatività Talentuose’, Lamezia, Aprile 2024
Intrecci Mediterranei, Cultura e Sport per la Pace, Università Antonianum, Aprile 2024
Le sfide dei Cambiamenti Climatici, Vicenza, Palazzo Chiericati, Marzo 2024
Il Secolo Verde e il Futuro, Repubblica di San Marino, Marzo 2024
Reporting Climate Change – Il valore della Sostenibilità, Esperienza Europa Piazza Venezia, Marzo 2024
Commemorazione dell’eroe Garibaldino Lorenzo Achille Scotto, Mura Gianicolensi, Febbraio 2024
India Soft Power Conference, Trivandrum, Kerala, Febbraio 2024
Giorgio Napolitano e la democrazia parlamentare europea, Senato della Repubblica, Febbraio 2024
Resilience in Papal Rome (1656-1870), City’s Response to Crisis, Protomoteca del Campidoglio Febbraio 2024
Testimonianze culturali di guerra, Museo delle Civiltà, Febbraio 2024
In memoria di Franco Zagari: Questo è Paesaggio, Orto Botanico, Gennaio 2024