C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia series and other literary masterpieces, says “two heads are better than one.” This is the simplest way to explain the World Expo 2020 theme. Connecting minds from about 200 countries all over the world will definitely lead to creating a better future for the world. And this is really what Expo 2020 is all about.
Expo 2020 Sub-themes
Since “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” is a broad theme, Expo has come up with sub-themes to turn the main theme into something real and tangible. Here are the sub-themes of Expo 2020:
- Opportunity
- Mobility
- Sustainability
Each of these sub-themes has a thematic district in Expo 2020.
Sub-theme One: Opportunity
Opportunity is all about finding the common ground between different cultures to create some kind of familiarity, which gives some sense of responsibility to make a change.
This will happen through events and presentations by people who have started making a change. The main focus will be on the basic human needs of food, energy, and water.
There is a whole district made especially for the theme of opportunity where different countries have pavilions to explore the theme further.
Here are some of the countries in the Opportunity District.
Arab Countries
- Saudi Arabia: In their pavilion, they set an example to the world by showing how they started and what they have reached so far, inspiring the world by showing them that change is possible.
- Morocco: They focus on architecture, mixing modernity and heritage to create their beautiful buildings.
- UAE: The Emiratis plan on amazing the world with their futuristic innovations and technology to show the path to a tangible future.
- Bahrain: In their pavilion, they show how they came over their challenge of the small areas they have. Bahrain pavilion highlights innovation in architecture and technology.
European Countries
- UK: The UK pavilion mainly focuses on Artificial Intelligence and the future. They mainly base their pavilion’s theme on some of Stephen Hawkings’s thoughts about how we as humans can interact and present ourselves to extraterrestrial civilizations. The future possibilities are endless, so the thought of extraterrestrials is a bigger possibility than it is just some movie by Steven Spielberg.
- Italy: The country of art and history will definitely stand out bringing together all elements of beauty, art, technology, education, and more that lead to the future we all hope for.
- Monaco: This pavilion looks like a gem, resembling the “Rock of Monaco.” They will leave their visitors in awe with their beautiful design, how they give you the sense and smell of the French Riviera and the bright, sunny air of Monaco.
- Luxembourg: What their pavilion will highlight is how to make use of all the available resources from nature, manpower, industry, and technology in the path to a brighter future and a New Industrial Revolution.
- Belarus: This pavilion has a very interesting concept which is using nature to inspire technology and a better future. They want to make a balance and use their natural resources, as they have good forests and come up with innovative ideas for a better, more stable future.
- Ukraine: This pavilion focuses on how to create change through smart technology. The Ukraine pavilion is going to mix between their cultural heritage and using smart technology.
- Norway: This pavilion takes everyone to the sea world, highlighting the importance of the ocean. Norway appreciates marine life and seafaring that is deeply rooted in its history and culture.
- Austria: Their pavilion is built with ancient soil to stand for more appreciation of nature and less use of technology.
- Switzerland: Their pavilion is about exploring Switzerland and appreciating nature. They aim at coming up with innovative ideas inspired by their beautiful nature and vast spaces.
Asian Countries
- Japan: The Japanese pavilion blends together their cultural art of origami with technology, proving that working towards the future does not mean you let go of your heritage.
- China: Their pavilion focuses on their architecture, and how they can keep their own authentic style while adding western architecture as well.
- India: The Indian pavilion will bring to the world how they have evolved to the “New India.” They will focus on how they used their manpower and technology to their advantage.
Sub-theme Two: Mobility
Mobility is about how everything moves forward, be it a physical movement or metaphorical movement of ideas, or moving forward in general. It is about how the world transferred through history, yet showing the marvelous impact of the great civilizations that are the reason why we have reached where we are now.
The Mobility pavilion will show the journey of how the world evolved since the ancient civilizations to where we stand today, to the possibilities the future holds.
There are some countries that have their pavilions in the Mobility district, following the theme. These countries are as follows:
- Australia: The land down under brings out all its wonders in their pavilion, from their friendliness and hospitality to their journey over 60,000 years. It reflects the gorgeous nature of Australia and the Aussies.
Arab Countries
- Oman: The Omani pavilion focuses on the effect of frankincense on their development. They show the different aspects they have grown in, and how frankincense helped them reach where they are now.
European Countries
- Finland: A pavilion shaped like an Arabic tent made of snow is definitely something that will attract everyone’s attention. They aim at showing their beautiful icy nature, the breakthrough they reached so far in all aspects like health, education, and technology to inspire the world.
- France: The French pavilion’s theme is light. They bring the essence of the Enlightenment era during the 18th century that was started by the French artists and intellectuals. They emphasize light as a source of valuable energy.
- Belgium: The Belgian pavilion is themed after moving towards renewable energy. They will be keeping their visitors amused by their energy-saving pavilion that is ark themed with the focus on greenery, along with their mouth-watering cuisine items.
- Russia: Their pavilion offers answers to crucial questions like how can people understand each other despite their differences, and how can people connect on the mind level rather than the physical level? Answering these existential questions allow for a better understanding of the world, thus opening up people’s minds to endless possibilities the future can offer.
- Poland: Poland chose their pavilion to be a tree-like design to represent the actual mobility of birds from Poland to Arab countries.
- Latvia: The Latvian remarkable pavilion has a unique, extremely creative design that symbolizes how everything unfolds making space for new chances.
Asian Countries
- Thailand: Their pavilion is covered in artificial flowers that represent their beautiful, colorful flora. They show how their creativity affects their mobility and development.
- Republic of Korea: They show the theme of mobility through actual mobility! In their pavilion, visitors will walk on a moving trail that takes them on a journey to see the innovation of Korean architecture and technology in mobility.
- Turkmenistan: Their pavilion shows their pride in their culture and heritage while combining this with fascinating modern technology. Their main symbol is horses which they will have as holograms.
South America
- Peru: Their pavilion reflects their cultural diversity and shows how this, in addition to their history, and resources are the main reasons for their development. They show a real example of real-life issues and their solutions.
North America
- USA: The USA is using amazing technology making visitors wonder whether the pavilion itself is moving or not. They show their journey from their past to their present, then the future, inspiring everyone with where they have reached now and can accomplish in the future.
DP World also has a pavilion in the Mobility district.
- DP World is a leading trading company that started in Dubai then grew over the years to become global.
- Their pavilion will give people the chance to see how they evolved from a local company to a strong global one.
- They now operate in 45 countries, and they have a huge network of businesses in each of these countries.
Sub-theme Three: Sustainability
Sustainability is concerned with preserving our world, protecting it, and bringing about change to make it better. It offers solutions to right the mistakes we made that affected the world greatly, and how to make sure we keep it that way.
- New Zealand: This pavilion shows how proud they are of their heritage through its architectural style. They also emphasize their strong kinship with their nature and the environment.
European Countries
- Germany: As expected from one of the highest achieving countries in the world, Germany’s pavilion will amaze its visitors with high-tech devices and shows that help their visitors not just imagine the future, but experience it.
- Czech Republic: The Czech Republic’s pavilion will leave its visitors in awe when they show them how they have green lands in desert soil using solar energy and water vapor.
- Sweden: The beautiful Islamic architectural design and the amazing technology they bring to their pavilion is a marvel in itself. They show in their pavilion their path to an extremely promising future.
- Spain: The Spanish pavilion shows their pride in their history and biodiversity. They will exhibit the history of Islamic rule and the breakthrough of architecture, education, and literature from that time forward.
- Montenegro: Their pavilion shows their pride in cultural and religious diversity and their biodiversity. Visitors will get to see how they make a balance between technology and nature.
- Netherlands: The Netherlands will mesmerize the world with its naturally controlled climate and its use of energy, water, and food.
Asian Countries
- Singapore: This pavilion uses the beauty of their nature as the main drive to technology and development. They have 3D greenery showcases, exhibits to represent their history, and they will show how they use their rainforests to preserve nature and the ecosystem.
- Philippines: Their pavilion’s design alone is enough to attract visitors to it. Taking the shape of their coral reef, the Filippino pavilion brings together how their history, culture, people, and creativity ensure a bright future for the world.
- Azerbaijan: Their pavilion is leaf-shaped designed to cool down the high temperature. They will help the visitors understand how their choices can either make the world a better place or be destructive to our nature.
- Malaysia: The Malaysian pavilion theme is “Energizing Sustainability.” They emphasize how they value the environment and can still pursue a bright future.
South America
- Brazil: Obviously, water and the Amazon River are their main theme. Their visitors will experience the air of the river and learn more about how Brazil plans to contribute to reaching a sustainable future.
North America
- Canada: The Canadian pavilion represents Canada’s beautiful landscapes and shows its economic connection with the UAE. They mainly focus on the great impact of the human mind on the future.
Start planning your trip to Expo 2020 already if you haven’t. It’s going to be one of the most exciting journeys you will experience! Hurry up!
