Now in its fifth edition, the Sustainable Development Festival organized by the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), is the largest Italian initiative to raise awareness and mobilize citizens, younger generations, businesses, associations and institutions on the issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability, spread the culture of sustainability and bring about a cultural and political change that will allow Italy to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda and achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The 2021 edition of the Festival was held from September 28 to October 14, in a hybrid format, in-person and online to stimulate reflection on the important issues raised by the pandemic. The initiatives took place throughout Italy and online. The events that made up the calendar of the event could also take place in the "surroundings" of the Festival, that is in the week before (September 21-27) and in the week after (October 15-21). 

Also this year the Festival didn't stop at national borders, but was open to the whole world. In fact, the collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Maeci) continued with the aim of spreading the messages of the event abroad, through the involvement of the Italian diplomatic offices.  In addition, according to the agreement defined between ASviS and the Commissariat of Italy for Expo 2020 Dubai, the Festival was also an opportunity to emphasize the link between beauty and sustainability, the central theme of the Italian Pavilion in Dubai.

MaPathon

During the Sustainable Development Festival, the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS) along with Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS) in collaboration with the University of Bari Aldo Moro, organized the MaPathon, a co-operative mapping challenge of a developing country with the aim of increasing the international collaboration.

The initiative was sponsored by and organized in collaboration with UN Mappers, a community of mapping enthusiasts part of the Unite Maps, an initiative aiming at enriching topographic and operational data in UN missions.

MaPathon was also sponsored by SDSN Italia, the Italian Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).