#31 Social entrepreneur Marta Foresti on creativity and our common future

Marta is a lot: A 51 year old Italian Londoner, a philosopher
turned social scientist, a single mom of two cool teens, a dancer
and a cyclist - a changemaker: a woman who gets things done. She
recently quit her job of nearly 20 years leading global policy
research to create something new. In October 2022, she founded LAGO
- Local Actions on Global Opportunities. It is a new collective
focusing on cities, creativity and the movement of talent and
ideas. We talk about her journey getting there, she says: “I
realized that I wanted to do something new. I had written enough
policy papers, so many words, trying to make a difference. Time to
tell a different story, to explore new ways to make the most of
local innovations to address global challenges.” We discuss why we
need a different narrative and new stories on the common destiny of
Africa and Europe based on cooperation and opportunities. As an
example she highlights the collaboration on fashion, textiles and
design between the mayors of Freetown, Sierra Leone and Milan,
Italy launched last June during Milan Design Week. She says
“Creative sectors create jobs and are key drivers of local economic
development. So I am working with designers, artists and innovators
to connect them with policymakers and other leaders interested in
exploring different solutions to unresolved ‘wicked’ global
problems.  And with this, creating a new narrative on our
'collective future'”. She shouts out to all other pioneers,
innovators, and changemakers out there: get in touch!  To get in
touch with Marta Foresti:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-foresti-36255334/
https://twitter.com/martaforesti
https://www.instagram.com/lago_collective To learn more:
https://odi.org/en/insights/creating-our-collective-future-what-the-arts-and-design-can-do-for-development/
https://moleskinefoundation.org/marta-foresti-joins-moleskine-founation-as-senior-advisor/
https://odi.org/en/events/our-collective-future/ Music/Video/Poem
reading credit: On Freedom Of Movement (Wi de Muv), 2022
Studioknxx; Directed by Julianknxx    Studioknxx; Courtesy of the
artist and Studioknxx