Ideas for a sustainable world

Bewilderment best describes the look on the faces of visitors to the Swiss Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015 as they file into the first of the four exhibition rooms.

It’s the middle of July, the outside temperature is climbing up to Bangkok levels and the pavilion is not air-conditioned. Nonetheless, the visitors persevere, taking the elevator to the third floor and getting out in a room that looks just like a poorly stocked silo. The top shelves are empty while ready-mixed coffee packets line the lower levels.

A member of the pavilion’s staff tells us we are free to take home the coffee as much as we like.

 “But please bear in mind that we filled four floors with coffee for the entire Expo period. We’re already down to the third floor and rapidly approaching the second. I don’t know if the coffee will last until the Expo ends in October,” she says.

The message is repeated in the remaining three silo rooms, which are stocked with dried apple, salt and water respectively. As stocks decline, the floor of silo lowers in a physical reminder that food and water resources are not unlimited.

The entire tour takes less than 10 minutes but the message lingers long after we leave. The presentation exemplifies Switzerland’s ideas on how to be sustainable, responsible and innovative and perfectly fits the Expo’s theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. It also drives home the point that with the global population predicted by rise from 7 billion today to 9 billion in 2050, it is essential that we stop mindless and selfish consumption right now. In fact, of the 20 or so pavilions I visit during my stay in Milan, Switzerland’s is the one that best drives this message home. 

That said, many good ideas can also be found at other pavilions. Altogether 54 countries out of a total of 148 participating nations have independent pavilions on the 110-hectare site. The first one everyone should visit is Pavilion Zero, where the United Nations highlights sustainable farming approaches and calls for knowledge sharing and increased public awareness of waste. Here again the message is clear: the world has a diverse range of food and food will be available to all if we cut waste and loss, which is currently estimated at a whopping 25 per cent of global output.

South Korea suggests fermentation as a way of filling the gap. Inside the two-storey pavilion, visitors become acquainted with “Hansik”, the local word for Korean food. Video presentations, robots and kimchi jars are fully exploited to stress that fermentation will be the answer to the world’s hunger. Fermentation ensures less food loss and waste. The ground floor is filled with more than 100 kimchi jars. White cloth coverings serve as small video screens showing a variety of fermented vegetables and food. 

Japan tells the world how respecting the wisdom of nature can help. Throughout the 45-minute tour, visitors are introduced to the Japanese culture of putting harmony first. Highlighting harmonious diversity, Japanese dishes change according to the season and food-making techniques including fermentation are applied. In the last room, visitors are invited to sit at dining tables where, aided by interactive technology, they learn more about food and about sharing. The message here is subtle but no less clear: all are free to choose what to eat but they should also learn how to share with others. 

Digital technology is fully exploited in the German Pavilion, which showcases the different sources of nutrition – soil, water, climate and biodiversity – as well as food production and consumption in the urban world. All visitors are handed seed boards, available in the German, English and Italian languages. When the white boards are put under a spotlight, they turn into video screens, revealing more information on the exhibited items. We see a seed and through the boards, we know the shape and name of the plant that the seed will produce. 

While the pavilion touches slightly on the vital role played by bees in the global ecosystem, it’s the United Kingdom that drives the point home through an innovative architectural design. Stepping out of the food loop, its pavilion features the steely design of a globe inside a beehive. At night, 1,000 LED lights are switched on to turn it into a real beehive. The aim is to underline that bees pollinate more than half of the world’s main food crops yet their numbers are being decimated annually as a result of the increased use of pesticides. How can the world survive without bees? 

Further seeds of a good idea are sowed at the Israel Pavilion. Matching the theme “Fields of Tomorrow”, visitors learn through a 4D experience about the lives of three generations of farmers whose sustainable and innovative approach has turned an arid land into one that’s known for its bountiful fruits and vegetables. Thanks to a vertical field, each part of which is nurtured through a drip irrigation system, visitors travel through time to learn how a desert gave birth to the cherry tomato and how the country became a major exporter of agricultural products. Notably, Israel is now developing a rice breed that will rely less on water.

The Expo is packed with ideas for improving sustainability in food. Now it’s up to all to sit up and take note.