On Saturday, 8 February 2025, at 11 a.m. at LAC Lugano, don't miss the meeting with Stefano Mancuso, botanist and professor of General Arboriculture and Plant Ethology at the University of Florence. During his talk, Mancuso will explore communication networks among plant beings, highlighting their crucial role in fostering a sustainable vision for the future.
The meeting is part of SciArt SwitzerlAnd, a project by IBSA Foundation created in collaboration with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura. The initiative aims to establish a dialogue between science and the arts, offering new perspectives and meanings about the world around us.
The event is also part of the thematic programme LAC Science, Ethics and Art, which explores the connections between research, creativity and consciousness. This program addresses contemporary issues related to human nature, the environment and the challenges of scientific and technological innovation. Through talks, performances and events, it invites the public to reflect on the present and imagine new ways of living in an ever-evolving society.
Stefano Mancuso
Scientist and popularizer, Stefano Mancuso is among the world's leading authorities committed to studying and sharing groundbreaking insights on plants: intelligent and sensitive creatures capable of choosing, learning and remembering. Professor at the University of Florence and full professor at the Georgofili Academy, Mancuso directs the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology with offices in Florence, Kitakyushu, Bonn and Paris.
He was the first Italian scientist to be invited in 2010 as a speaker at a TED Global held in Oxford and subsequently viewed more than 1.4 million times on the TED website alone.
In 2014 he founded PNAT, a start-up at the University of Florence to create plant-inspired technology. In 2016 he won the Austrian Ministry of Science and Technology's Award "Wissenschaftbuch des Jahres" for the best science paper of the year.
As a writer, he debuted in 2013, publishing the award-winning best-seller Verde brillante (Brilliant Green) with Giunti. In 2018, his book Plant Revolution won the 2018 Galileo Prize, the most prestigious prize for scientific non-fiction.
This was followed with Laterza by L'incredibile viaggio delle piante (The incredible journey of plants, 2018), La Nazione delle Piante (The plant nation, 2019) winner of the Capalbio Prize and the Earth Prize, La pianta del mondo (The plant of the world , 2021) winner of the Pozzale Luigi Russo Prize, and Fitopolis, la città vivente ( Phytopolis, the living city, 2023). In 2022 he published with Einaudi La tribù degli alberi (The tree tribe), his first book of fiction. His works are translated into 27 languages.
Mancuso is also the creator of several podcasts including Di sana Pianta made in 2023 for Chora Media in collaboration with Elastica's literary agency.
In 2022 he was awarded the Fiorino d'Oro, the highest award of the City of Florence, and was appointed scientific director of the newly formed Foundation for the Future of Cities.
What is SciArt SwitzerlAnd?
To foster an engaging dialogue between seemingly distinct yet interconnected fields to promote scientific culture within an international exploration of science and the arts.
SciArt SwitzerlAnd, a project of IBSA Foundation for scientific research in collaboration with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura and MASI Lugano, Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana, was born with this objective.
Science and the arts have always coexisted in time and space. Although with different methodologies and purposes, artists and scientists observe the world around them, opening us to new perspectives, interpretations and meanings.
Through a variety of event formats and digital products, SciArt SwitzerlAnd sheds light on artistic creations transformed by interactions with scientists, discoveries, and research institutions. Audiences will encounter captivating initiatives born at the intersection of these dimensions and hear directly from the voices of artists and scientists how such distinct realities influence each other.
The new project fits perfectly within the mission of the Foundation, which since 2012 has been committed to spreading an authoritative scientific culture, sharing principles and knowledge in accessible language, and raising awareness of issues related to science, culture, and individual well-being.
