If you think that peace is not natural, much less automatic, then you will also agree with the idea that peace must be created, provided that one desires it of course. In these lines we explore this idea. Personally, the mere fact that peace must be created in order to have it (that is, that you do not find it already made in life) is for me a sufficient reason to cultivate the ability to create and therefore learn art! The following text deals with this topic. Which we could also express like this: what is the purpose of this Third Paradise? What is the purpose of art?

Speaking of art, let us therefore go into specifics and see how the symbol of the Third Heaven is even a symbol of 'peace building.' First of all, the symbol of the Third Paradigm describes the fact that between nature (generally represented by the circle on the left, since those who read from the left begin on the left) and the human, there is the possibility of a purposeful, generative encounter. In fact, the center circle is a space where nature can meet the human artifice, identified by the right circle, there can coexist with this artifice: it is a large circle in the middle, empty, even aesthetically beautiful, all held together with measure and proportion, two equal circles at the sides and in the center another circle as large as the two of them together. However, the middle circle does not come to eat the other two from which it comes; on the contrary: it holds them together! Before the symbol of the Third Heaven is formed, this meeting of opposites can bring three kinds of outcomes: it can be sterile; or deflagrating and destructive (at least for us humans and other innocent species); or, finally, it can be generative. If it is this third possibility, then the symbol of the three circles takes shape. And it is precisely in this third possibility that lies, in my opinion, the attraction of the symbol. Somehow it possesses a beauty that speaks to our mind and makes us realize that there is a secret: we understand that that symbol means something beautiful, something important that we have been striving for all along, without even knowing it. And that is the harmony, the balance, the beauty, the peace that is generated when we meet others and each other.

Second, in addition to our coexistence in harmony with nature, the symbol of the Third Heaven represents creation itself. Indeed, it describes what happens when two opposite circles meet and together create; to do so, however, it is obviously necessary that they meet in the right way, so to speak: that is, in that way by which precisely they create something that was not there before. This fact is precisely the basic explanation of creation. Thus, the symbol of the Third Heaven is a symbol of creation. But why should it be connected to peace, beyond the fact that it indicates how a space of harmony can be found in the relationship between nature and human? The answer is precisely that the two side circles represent all possible antinomies. All pairs of different or opposite elements behave as the symbol describes, when their encounter does not explode into destructive conflict, but is expressed in the creation and generation of what was not there before.

It could be said that nature, truth be told, is also quite experienced in generativity. And it is true: it is not as if we can claim the title of sole creators on this planet. In fact, nature is named for that very reason: nature means that it is about to be born, that it must be born, that it will be born. A beautiful definition of generativity. So nature by nature is not static; rather it is continually being generated. In fact, for this very reason, nature attracts us. Often, the great inner hole of the spiritual within us is opened and filled precisely because of nature. Both because of its terrifying and sublime aspects and because of its ability to heal ills and reunite us with each other. So: if nature already does on its own what is needed, is it not time to leave it alone? What need is there now to work on generativity with a symbol, a concept, a discourse, a project like the Third Paradise? Is it not enough to return to it, to nature? To sink into the sea of the immeasurable and the planetary cycles of transformations, to lose oneself in being and becoming, to leave behind the idols and beliefs of culture and cultures, to abandon artifice, to deny consciousness, reflection, technique, science and progress? Many, alas, answer these rhetorical questions in the affirmative. Some wish for an Eden where the human-if we must keep it-is fully integrated with nature without thought, consciousness and intention. Other species, they say, will be mostly better off without us. Indeed, it is true that they will have one less danger to deal with, but they will still be left with quite a bit of trouble: as you know, comets, ice ages, etc., and then that unpredictable mechanism of random genetic mutation that is capable of changing everything in a few generations or even one!

Can we then say that peace would be natural, if only there were no humans? Well, let us not forget that many animals have to follow heterotrophy, that is, mauling one another. Perhaps in the eyes of a philosopher all the blood shed daily to feed the millions of predators on Earth will seem all in all an inconsequential fluctuation in the overall and physiological balance of the Planet. Personally when I imagine peace I do not associate it with the very natural need of spiders, lions, whales and wolves to truncate the lives of other living animals. It is true that they do not know sadism, an exquisitely human invention, yet they do not seem to me to live an existence of universal peace and cosmic harmony at all. Turning to humans-since we have not found the automatic and constant realization of peace in nature-we note with pleasure that we are among those species that can very well do without preying on other animals (let alone other humans, at least in theory!) because we can happily stick to a vegetarian or vegan regimen. Too bad, however, that out of gluttony, amusement and sadism, we aspire with almost unwavering determination to a heterotrophic diet, thus turning the planet into an immense mephitic concentration camp, with torture chambers, ovens, mass graves and horror industries, for non-human animals (unfortunately we frequently have them for humans as well, actually). So, we cannot say with all serenity that peace is at home on this planet. Peace seems to be neither an automatic natural condition, nor even the typical outcome of human operation, of the artificial paradigm (or paradise). This explains, then, why generativity is needed if we really want to unearth peace on this Earth: it must be invented. We don't find it ready-made, nice and ready. We have to create it, peace, whatever it is. Is that a task reserved for humans? I wouldn't say so. Sometimes on closer inspection (and for ‘closer inspection’ one need only read the accounts of science popularizers like Carl Safina, for example) it seems that animals know very well what we are talking about when we say peace: think of the society of bonobos, or elephants, or the networks of fungi connected by mycelium with trees and plants and who knows what we have yet to understand. So while I am convinced that peace is not automatic and natural, I also do not subscribe to the idea that peace is an absolutely and only human artifact. Let us say that peace is not an easy matter either for nature or for us. But it can be done. It exists and has existed, on Earth. With us and without us. What does it take then to make peace? Evidently it will need the ability to invent it. Therefore, the ability to create is needed. If one wondered what all this talk about peace would have to do with art, it will now be quite evident: art is creation, and without creation peace is not given.

What has been mentioned is evidently very much connected with the symbol of the Third Paradise. As we know, this was born in Biel in 2002, that is, in the months following the Twin Tower bombing in September 2001. In those months, the Bush Administration was helping to build the case for unleashing the war in the Middle East and justifying the invasion of Iraq: in fact, the infamous doctrine of preventive war, already widespread in the 1940s in the United States and Europe, was being revived. It was not said that war was being waged, quite the contrary: peace was indeed being flown, everyone said. Unfortunately, however, not without a certain sense of humor, one had to go through war. And so to the horror and pain of thousands of people, for years and years, mostly innocent people and even completely unaware of what was going on. Of course and on the other hand, doctrines such as preventive war, and all wars in general, also involve immense profits, what is probably the real reason for them.

Let us return to the Third Paradigm. The elaboration of the symbol - and the concept it represents: the generative and harmonizing encounter between opposites - thus takes place in the same world situation in which the idea of Preventive War resurfaces. In those years, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte come to elaborate and promote instead the idea of Preventive Peace (cite, for example, the exhibition at Milan's Palazzo Reale in 2023, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Preventive Peace). It will not escape one's notice that compared to the doctrine of preventive war, Preventive Peace sounds less absurd, more logical and convincing, if not actually even more desirable. Now, however, we still have to deal with war. But where does this war come from? We discussed in the first paragraphs of this text how the symbol of the Third Heaven represents peace as a symbol of the generative harmony between opposites. These opposites do not always come from the other than themselves. For us humans, as predicted by a certain interpretation of the Mayan calendars, the real danger we face we have created ourselves. In fact, we are at war with ourselves. So much for automatic peace, whether natural or artificial. The war comes precisely from ourselves. It is something we make. We create it ourselves!

In 2018, speaking at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainability at the United Nations in New York, I described how World War III was already underway: it was not, I said, a war of one state against another, but a siege of ourselves against ourselves. Our way of life is so toxic that it poses the most serious threat to our survival. This is evident when we look at the climate, food supply chains, living conditions in cities, the state of the oceans, and probably every other aspect of our so-called development model. From 2018 to now, 2025 things have even gotten worse, although there are those who still try to deny this and cheerfully propose migrating to other planets while deporting migrants among the states on this planet. Compared to this scenario in which humans pose as a threat to their own survival on the Planet, what does the Third Paradigm project represent? We have seen in recent years that it is understood as an effective formulation of where we need to go, that is, an effective way of expressing and understanding the goal on which to commit our resources. In fact, the Third Paradigm indicates as an overarching goal the generation of harmony and balance in our relationship with nature. What about peace? This harmony is most clearly and completely expressed by the idea of peace. Making peace with the Planet is the commitment that this century has before it. The Third Paradigm says this loud and clear. Once we understand this, then we can delve into the ways and areas to put it into practice, this goal. The project is so immense, and so urgent, that one quickly realizes that in fact not only is it not utopia, but instead there is even money to be gained: this world peace can generate an industrial, technological, social and political revolution that will include all aspects of our lives, from how we feed ourselves to how we dress, to our homes, to our cities, to energy...

Now that we have seen some aspects of the relationship between peace and creation and thus symbol/concept/formula of the Third Paradise on a global and historical level, I would like to turn my gaze to another dimension that is close to my heart, which represents the direction Cittadellarte has been following in recent years and which is crucial to realizing the dream of world peace: our daily lives. The symbol of the Third Paradigm, we have seen, applies to the global dimension, as it points to the compass for our survival and prosperity; but it is an equally useful tool when brought to the more immediate and proximate dimensions of the everyday activities in which we engage our active lives, recalling Arendt's well-known expression. Indeed, it is precisely to the dimension of the everyday that communities of practice are built. By this term I mean any type of organization that groups people together according to the activity that is carried out in it, generally these are groups united by the dimension of work. Communities of practice are the element at the heart of my social vision, from which the idea of Demopraxia was born. The concept and expression Demopraxia replace kratos with the term praxis, precisely, practice, doing, making, in line with the principle that creating is the basis of taking responsibility for creation. These practice-based social formations act in the social fabric as de facto micro-governments. This is true for every culture and historical context. Always and everywhere, in fact, there remains for the various social formations a margin of autonomy, that is, of governance. Multiplied by the number of organizations, this perhaps small margin becomes enormous, capable even of measuring itself against the power (kratos) of institutional government. Demopraxia aims to promote integration between the united organizations (communities of practice) and national and international institutions, from state governments to the United Nations: that is, it is about integrating to the organization of the United Nations, the nations of the organizations-that is, the united communities of practice. These organizations distributed everywhere in the social, productive, cultural fabric of our societies are precisely the place where the potential for responsibility and care that we increasingly urgently need is formed, since, as mentioned above, in them take place the activities through which we shape society, create and modify our own world, now reaching, in the age of the Anthropocene, to decisively modify Planet Earth itself. I emphasize a fundamental aspect: responsibility and care are characteristics of those who create, because from the faculty of creation directly derives freedom and autonomy without which there is no foundation for either responsibility or care. This is a fundamental principle underlying Cittadellarte's vision: responsibility derives from freedom; freedom necessarily entails responsibility.

Returning to peace and the relationship to the Third Paradigm and art in general, we note that if peace is to be created, those who can create it will also need to take care of it. Others may decide to apply it or not, just as they may decide to opt for world war, conducted through the reckless exploitation of people and natural resources. It is necessary, then, that we invest in those people and organizations that are concerned with creating, with caring, that feel responsibility, and feel an urgency to engage in changing things as much as possible... We thus move from the global and historical dimension, to the everyday dimension where we live and act. And we find that actually creating and responsibly caring for the people and things around us are all matters within our reach. There are many people whose lives revolve precisely around these situations. Ezio Manzini among others has elaborated extensive reflections and research along this trajectory, particularly in the volume devoted to the politics of the everyday, "those that each of us enacts in pursuit of our own life projects. They can lead toward new forms of connected loneliness, or they can contribute to creating flexible, open, inclusive and, for this reason, socially sustainable communities."

The dimension of the everyday is precisely where communities of practice dwell and act. In fact, and in a perhaps trivial way, we note that everything that happens during our day is a consequence of causes, that is, it is determined. Events are caused by forces in action, whether it is the delay of the streetcar or the pay raise or the smile of a person for whom our heart stumbles. Is this whole ecosystem automatic? Do we have anything to do with it? Is it all left to chance, to the perfect concatenation of cause and effect? Can we help cause chance, so to speak, that is, co-determine the events that happen to us? And if we answer in the affirmative, then: how? What is needed? Does it also serve the creation of what was not yet there? Does it need a formula to help us think about creation and apply it in every area of life through the principle of putting two different things together and finding a balance? Does it need the principle of peace between opposites, preventive, dynamic and generative peace? At Cittadellarte we think that all these questions can be answered that yes, it does: the Third Paradise represents exactly the reasons and ways of expressing and pursuing this ‘yes’.

Paolo Naldini, Biella, February 16, 2025