“Ancona never changes, but living there is fine”. Ancona is becoming a metaphor for Europe.

“Vedutina” di Ancona

Written by a native of Ancona, who now lives abroad, the second affirmation may seem parochial-minded. But it is justified by the first, which was said by another native of Ancona living abroad, the eminent doctor Giovanni Capannelli, who is special advisor to the dean of think-tank Asian Development Bank Institute.
These two expat Ancona natives met, demonstrating the Small Worlds Theory, at the Business & Investment Summit held in Phnom Penh alongside the Asean Summit (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
In a certain sense, the business summit turned out to be more interesting than the political one. Mainly because it provided an understanding and analysis of the megatrends that are shifting the centre of the world towards the east. In the interview he gave me after his speech, Capannelli defined these trends as “inexorable”, outlining an extremely complex scenario that was at times hard to grasp. As he spoke, I tried to follow his analysis yet could not help recognising my own regional accent, and he was quick to point out, as most Ancona natives are, that he was “from Ancona”. It was then that Ancona was suggested as a metaphor for Europe in the global scenario, and the Asian scenario in particular. While the old continent may currently be going through a period of static development, it can still be upheld as a cultural model. You only need to have the awareness and the ability to declare it. Thanks to that example, it was much easier for me to understand the dynamics and the possibilities of the near future. Which, in the end, thanks to Ancona, does not seem so dark.
It can also be said that Italy at the Asean Summit was well represented by an Ancona native. Not myself of course, but there were two of us.