Ecomondo, Italy’s flagship event for the green, blue, and circular economy sectors, is set to return this month for its 28th edition, cementing its role as a premier platform for cross-border collaboration and innovation amid rising global investment in climate technologies.

Organised by the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), the trade fair and conference will be held from November 4 to 7 at the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy, featuring over 200 sessions and expected to draw over 800 experts. The debates will span crucial topics from climate mitigation and digital twins to water management and regenerative design, with sessions also touching on digitalisation, cutting-edge technologies, and financing plans for the green economy.

Alessandra Astolfi, Global Exhibition Director Green & Technology Division at IEG, highlighted the event’s growing global stature.

“Ecomondo is currently considered as the main European platform for green technologies and the circular economy with a high international value that goes well beyond the Italian market alone,” Astolfi said. She added that the event is “transforming itself into a hub that generates global sustainability trends and favours trans-national partnerships in the environmental sectors.”

The agenda for the four-day event is packed with high-level discussions. Notable sessions include “Technological Solutions for Resource Recovery in the Mediterranean” and the “Africa Green Growth Forum – The Mattei Plan – A high-level dialogue on sustainable development in Africa”. Other sessions will explore “Circularity in Electrical and Electronic Equipment”, “Circular Fashion: Supply Chains & Storytelling”, and “Blue Horizons – Trans-Mediterranean Cluster Collaboration”.

Looking ahead to the 2025 edition, Astolfi detailed the primary focuses, with a strong emphasis on technology integration.

“Priorities for 2025 will particularly include the development of circular supply chains for materials and waste, innovation in water systems and the blue economy, regeneration of degraded soils, regenerative bioeconomy and sustainable energy production from biomass,” she noted.

Digitalisation will play a critical role in the event’s discourse. “Great attention will also be paid to environmental digitalisation: AI, predictive analysis, digital twin and satellite data as enabling levers to make environmental processes more efficient and resilient,” Astolfi stated, adding that “Further prime focuses at Ecomondo 2025 will be critical raw materials and sustainable finance.”

The trade fair, which originated in 1997 as a show for the recycling sector, has progressively expanded its scope to become a “system event for the ecological transition.”

Astolfi confirmed a strategic regional focus for the event’s future.

“We expect to see active participation from Mediterranean and MEA countries with the aim of stimulating industrial collaborations and joint environmental projects,” she said.

More than 350 international hosted buyers from 66 countries are expected to attend Ecomondo 2025. Top markets include Egypt, Algeria, Spain, Bulgaria, Iraq, Tunisia, Senegal, Canada, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Jordan. To complete the picture, around 90 international associations will be involved and over 30 official delegations will be arriving from 30 countries.