The Forum of the Third Paradise is an artwork created by Italian Master, Michelangelo Pistoletto in 2003 to activate community dialogue for positive action, as underpinned by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Forum provides a platform to engage art as a teacher and tool to build community and environmental wellbeing.
At the centre of the artwork is the extended infinity symbol created by Pistoletto. Each loop has a special significance; the left-hand loop symbolises the natural world, whereas the loop on the right signifies the artificial world built by human intelligence. The larger, central loop represents the union, rebalancing and restoration of both these opposing dynamics.
The Forum of the Third Paradise was presented for the first time in Australia by Independent Schools Victoria at the 2017 Arts Learning Festival to engage young learners and their school communities with this global network that focusses on sustainable development and positive practice. In 2019, the Forum was once again part of the Arts Learning Festival with students and teachers sharing the projects for sustainable practice both initiated and implemented in their school communities.