From March 9 to March 12, 2026, Accademia Europea di Firenze hosted the second edition of its Sustainability Week, a four-day immersive experience that brought environmental and cultural responsibility to the center of academic life.More than just a series of events, the Sustainability Weekrepresented a meaningful step forward in AEF’s long-term commitment to sustainability as a lived, shared, and interdisciplinary practice.
AEF Experience
AEF Sustainability Week 2026:
Deepening Commitment to Environmental and Cultural Responsibility
March 9–12, 2026 | Florence, Italy
From March 9 to March 12, 2026, Accademia Europea di Firenze willhostits second annualSustainability Week, an immersive four-day event that brings environmental responsibility to the heart of education.This year’s Sustainability Week reflects AEF’s deepening commitment to sustainability not as a slogan, but as a lived experience across disciplines, daily practices, and global perspectives.
THE ARRIVAL
I didn’t know a city could look at me before I learned how to see it.
Before I understood how to love it, Florence was already reading my soul.
I arrived with my soul wrapped in silence,
with words I didn’t yet know how to say to myself.
I didn’t come to find anything.
I came, perhaps, to lose myself.
And in that losing…
I began to recognize myself.
And I ended up finding parts of me I didn’t know were waiting to be seen.
When I first stepped into the Accademia Europea di Firenze (AEF), I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew I would be studying in a new city, meeting new people, and navigating unfamiliar routines, but I had no idea how much this experience would shape the way I see myself and the world around me. Looking back now, my time at AEF was far more than an academic programme; it was a period of personal expansion, self-reflection, and genuine growth.
A typical day as an AEF student in Florence begins quietly, with the soft morning light settling over the city as I make my way to school for 9am Italian class. There’s something about walking through Florence that already puts you in the right mindset for learning a new language. The streets feel calm at that hour, the tourists haven’t fully woken up yet, and the cafés are just opening their doors. By the time I reach class, I’m somewhere between awake and still shaking off sleep, but Italian grammar waits for no one.
- Finding a Home in Florence: My AEF Experience Across Generations
- Discovering Florence Through Language and Art at AEF
- AEF Expands Global Partnerships with Pistoia Basket and Elon University
- AEF Strengthens International Ties at the DI-Integra 2025 Assembly
- AEF Sustainability Week: Green Living and Local Action
- Learning Italian Sustainably: Student Life and Eco-Friendly Living at AEF
- Finding Home in Florence: My First Two Weeks at AEF
- “A Tempest” by Shakespeare at Montedomini: AEF’s Theater Workshop Where Students and Seniors Share the Stage
- Acque Sconfinate: Mostra di Maria Xagorari - exploring Florence’s artistic underground
- AEF and Eco-awareness: Actions for our environment
