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Smoking in cars raises levels of dangerous fine-particle pollutants to many times the limit recommended by the world's health agency, a study published on Monday said. Doctors in Britain measured concentrations of fine particles in cars driven by 17 people, 14 of them smokers, using an electronic monitor on the back seat.

The volunteers were asked to follow their normal smoking habits as the smoke levels in their car were monitored over three days. Out of 104 journeys -- average time 27 minutes -- 63 were smoke-free. During smoking journeys, levels of fine particles were 85 microgrammes per cubic metre on average, compared to guidelines of 25 mcg/cu. metre for indoor pollution set by the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).

Even when when the driver opened the window or turned on ventilation to remove the smoke, particulate levels were still above the WHO benchmark at some point during these journeys. The average peak during smoking trips was 385 mcg/cu.metre, with the highest being more than 880 mcg/cu. metre.

In contrast, particulate levels during non-smoking journeys averaged only 7.4 mcg/cu. metre. The type of fine particulate that was measured is less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. These very small particles are considered dangerous because they can lodge deep in the lung, causing irritation.

"Children exposed to these levels of fine particulate are likely to suffer ill-health effects," says the study, led by Sean Semple of the Scottish Centre for Indoor Air at the University of Aberdeen. "There are increasing numbers of countries legislating against smoking in cars and such measures may be appropriate to prevent the exposure of children to these high levels of second-hand smoke." The investigation appears in the journal Tobacco Control.

Regional Trading Standards chiefs are supporting the month-long Stoptober campaign – by cracking down on cigarette sales to children. ‘Stoptober’ is a national campaign, running throughout this month, encouraging smokers to stub out the habit.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards said latest figures showed that in Yorkshire and the Humber 30 per cent of 11-to-15-year-olds had tried smoking at least once and five per cent were regular smokers. The service, which carries out test purchases and inspections at shops accused of selling cigarettes illegally, is asking more members of the public to come forward with their concerns. Chief officer Graham Hebblethwaite said: “The Stoptober campaign is a great idea to encourage people to quit smoking and get the benefits that come from quitting, such as better lung function and reducing your risk of lung cancer.”

Councillor Val Slater, chairman of the Trading Standards Committee, said: “Stoptober is a brilliant campaign. Residents should become involved in order to help reduce the smoking prevalence.”

A planned review of European Union tobacco legislation will go ahead once the Health Commissioner post is filled, a spokeswoman for the EU executive said Wednesday. John Dalli, resigned as commissioner Tuesday following an investigation by OLAF, the EU's antifraud office, into a complaint made in May 2012 by tobacco producer Swedish Match AB (SWMA.SK).

The Swedish company alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Mr. Dalli, to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus, the commission said. Snus is a tobacco powder that is placed under the lip.

In a briefing with reporters, EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said that she hoped a replacement for Mr. Dalli would be found "swiftly." She said that "the preparations" for a review of tobacco legislation "are advanced but will only be taken forward" once a new commissioner is in place.

Ms. Ahrenkilde Hansen said the commission's decision-making process--quickly reporting the complaint to OLAF--showed the EU's "anti-corruption system works." Giovanni Kessler, director general of OLAF, said there was "unambiguous" evidence that Mr. Dalli was aware that a " person close to him" was requesting a "substantial" sum from the Swedish company. "Our conclusions are that he was aware of this and he didn't do anything to prevent, stop, report on this," Mr. Kessler said.

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), British American Tobacco (BATS) and other cigarette makers hooked Russian women and children on smoking, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, vowing to crack down on the habit.

A ban on public smoking and cigarette advertising that will take effect under a proposed law and higher taxes on tobacco products are “just the beginning” of a campaign to counter high mortality rates, Medvedev said in a video posted on his blog today. Four tobacco companies have controlled the Russian market since the early 1990s, he said.

“Unfortunately in the 1990s, the government didn’t evaluate the risks of foreign tobacco companies’ investments” that went into advertising and designing lighter cigarettes that harmed women’s and children’s health, Medvedev said. The anti- tobacco bill, to be submitted to Parliament this month, is aimed at “protecting all these and other people,” he said.

In Russia, the world’s second-largest market for cigarette makers after China, 39 percent of the population are regular smokers, according to the World Health Organization. About 400,000 Russians, or 0.3 percent of the population, die each year from smoking-related diseases, Medvedev said. That compares with 114,000, or 0.2 percent in the U.K. The government is due to submit a bill to lawmakers by Nov. 1, proposing to outlaw all cigarette advertising and sponsorship as well as kiosk sales immediately, with bans on cigarette trade in all smaller retail outlets and smoking in public places taking effect Jan. 1, 2015.

City licensing officials are trying to clamp down on Toronto’s hookah establishments through a series of health and cleanliness regulations, citing medical concerns over non-tobacco water pipe use. The proposed guidelines, recommended in a report going before the licensing committee on Friday, would require hookah cafés to maintain adequate air ventilation, properly sanitize pipe equipment before use and ban minors from entry. Businesses would also have to hold a water pipe establishment licence.

“There should be some regulation,” said Ilan Kritzer, owner of Sheesha Lounge and Coffee House on Bloor St. W. at Ossington Ave., adding that his business already follows the proposed rules. “Because there’s no regulation at all, there’s potential for abuse — these bars should be regulated and enforcement should be done.”

Hookah — also known as shisha, narghila or water pipe — is sold in tobacco form or as a composite of dried plants, herbs, tea leaves, preservatives and flavouring. Hookah establishments have so far avoided regulation by offering non-tobacco shisha, which does not fall under the provincial Smoke-Free Ontario Act. The 2006 legislation prohibits businesses from offering tobacco-based hookah.

The report stops short of proposing an outright ban of hookah lounges, noting research into the ill effects of non-tobacco shisha use is spotty. But after consultation with Toronto Public Health officials and anti-smoking advocates, city staff believe the health concerns are significant enough to warrant regulation. Public health officials argue that the social element of hookah cafés, where a group of friends can lounge for hours, and mainstream use among youth create a misperception that tobacco-less shisha is benign.

Not so, according to Suzanne Thibault, manager of the chronic disease injury prevention unit at Toronto Public Health. “There is some indication that whether you’re smoking non-tobacco hookah or tobacco hookah, they produce similar amounts of toxins, such as carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (also found in cigarettes),” Thibault said.

Moreover, licensing staff say communicable diseases can be transmitted when people share the same hookah pipe and lengthy second-hand exposure to toxins caused by burning herbs and charcoal, which is used to burn the shisha, can be dangerous. About 80 cafés, restaurants and bars in Toronto offer hookah, according to a Toronto Public Health study conducted this year.

The proposed licence would also require business owners to make available ingredient lists for their shisha. Some anti-smoking lobbyists suspect hookah lounges knowingly sell tobacco shisha. Indeed, Toronto Public Health has laid 81 charges under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act against 25 hookah businesses since 2010, according to the licensing report. Kritzer, who was consulted for the report, said he receives routine inspections from tobacco control officers, Toronto Public Health and the OPP.

Sham Ahmed, owner of Markaz, a downtown shisha lounge, said he would welcome the proposed rules, adding his business already has an over-19 age restriction. “They have these (regulations) in place for everybody but hookah establishments, we just haven’t been looked at before,” he said.

State surcharges on a pack of cigarettes vary widely, from 17 cents in Missouri to $4.35 in New York. But since 2000, only Missouri, North Dakota and California have not increased their cigarette taxes. In 2009 the federal per-pack tax soared too, from 39 cents to $1.01, raising $15.5 billion in 2011. But the federal government also spends $96 billion each year addressing health problems caused by smoking, according to the George Washington University Face the Facts initiative.

The reasons behind the tax hike is based on budget shortfalls. Lawmakers who are struggling to compensate a tight budget are upping taxes on cigarettes. State and local governments brought in $17.1 billion in tobacco tax revenue in 2009, according to the Tax Policy Center. The benefit is that cigarette price increases can deter cigarette smoking. Studies indicate that a 10 percent hike in cigarette prices can reduce smoking by about four percent.

Tobacco choices have also changed because of the federal tax, according to data reported in 2009. From 2008 to 2011, pipe tobacco usage increased by 573 percent and large cigars by 126.3 percent. Neither are heavily taxed as much as cigarettes and both are still small shares of the overall tobacco market.

The United States spends a hefty price on smoking health related problems—$96 billion a year. The info graphic below cites that the adverse health effects of cigarette smoking kills about 443,000 Americans each year. That’s about the equivalent of the population of Atlanta. Tobacco use is also responsible for three out of 10 cancer deaths.

Missouri freshman wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, linebacker Torey Boozer and receiver Levi Copelin will be suspended from the Tigers game Saturday against Vanderbilt. A statement released from Chad Moller of Mizzou Athletic Strategic Communications said, “We’re aware of the incident and have addressed it.

All individuals involved have been immediately suspended from the program for one game. All other disciplinary measures will be handled internally, and there will be no further comment.” “The Maneater” the student newspaper on the Mizzou Campus reports Green-Beckahm was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with possession of 35 grams of marijuana or less.

Capt. Brian Weimer of the campus police department says Green-Beckham along with freshman linebacker Torey Boozer and freshman receiver Levi Copelin were caught smoking marijuana in the Lot G parking lot around midnight. That lot is located near the South end-zone near the stadium. All three were released from jail and have been suspended for one game.

Six bars that were in business before the Rolla City Council’s workplace smoking ban took effect Jan. 2 are hurting financially, according to one city councilman, who suggests smoking be allowed in those establishments after 9 p.m. “Since there was a consensus among these businesses that the smoking ban has caused significant harm, I floated the idea of a 9 p.m. exemption,” Councilman Steve Leonard, Ward 2, said in a memo he presented to the council.

That stuck in the craw of Councilman Tony Bahr, Ward 6, who unleashed on Leonard. “From now on, if you’re going to float an idea, talk to us first,” he said. Leonard said he had talked to the mayor, but Mayor Bill Jenks said, “I didn’t know you were going to float an idea to the businesses.”

Asking why he should not work for a solution to a problem that six local businesses appear to be facing, Leonard said the effect of the Rolla Smoke-Free Workplace Ordinance is dire enough that more than one owner indicated the imminent loss of total investment in the business. “We’re not floating anybody anything until you talk to us,” Bahr replied emphatically.

Leonard had submitted survey forms to six bars; five of them responded that business had been hurt. Those five all responded to a survey question that they would support an exemption to allow smoking from 9 p.m. until closing for customers at least 21 years of age. The sixth indicated possible support for such an exemption.

Bahr asked City Administrator John Butz if any of the six tavern owners had told him they were hurting financially to the extent described by Leonard. Butz said some owners had come by City Hall and indicated business was down, but only one said relief of some sort would help.

Mayor Jenks said confidential sales tax figures indicate that some bars were already showing a downward trend before the smoking ban took effect. “Is it the smoking ban or new businesses coming in” that has the most effect on the six bars, Bahr asked. In the opening of the discussion of the smoking ordinance’s effect, Butz said it is difficult to figure out what that effect is due to “changing economic realities, competition and reporting data.” Butz said the restaurant and bar business generates approximately $26 million annually in Rolla with the city of Rolla collecting sales taxes of $650,000.

When voters go to the polls next spring they’ll pick a mayor and city council, what they apparently won’t do is vote for or against a new cigarette tax. With the tax chopped down to 15-cents per pack, both sides agree a ballot fight is now unlikely.

On Tuesday the city council OK’d the tax by a vote of 5-2, paving the way for the city to provide approximately $35 million over 10 years toward a $370 million cancer research center. Last week following an exclusive Nebraska Watchdog report questioning the size of the tax, initially it was 35-cents per pack, the city went to a cheaper brand—23-cents.

Prior to Tuesday’s vote it was cut again, down to 15-cents, as proponents apparently looked to avoid a vote of the people. According to a recently passed state law (LB745), Omaha cannot impose any new occupation tax (the cigarette tax comes under that heading) that raises more than $6 million a year without voter approval.

Even when the tax was cut from 35-cents to 23 there was speculation Omaha could still exceed that $6 million mark. But at 15-cents per pack—selling an estimated 29 million packs of cigarettes in Omaha next year—the city will bring in approximately $4.5 million dollars.

That’s low enough to keep the tax issue off next spring’s city ballot, the same ballot which will find Mayor Jim Suttle and several members of the city council facing reelection.

Twinsburg police were called to a Ravenna Road business for an alarm on Sept. 22. Officers got to Fast Lane Drive Thru and found the front door shattered. After they secured the building they discovered several cartons of cigarettes were stolen.

Detectives were brought in to process the scene but there are no leads or supspects. Police were called to the Sheetz gas station on East Aurora Raod for a report of counterfeit money that was passed at the register.

Officers took the fake bills for evidence and are still investigating the case. Theft from car On Sept. 21 an Oviatt Lane man told police someone broke into his truck.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday ruled out raising the city’s amusement tax but kept alive a cigarette tax hike provided the money is spent on improving children’s health. The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Emanuel was considering a 1-percentage-point increase in the amusement tax to 10 percent, which would have left Chicago with the highest ticket tax in the nation.

On Tuesday, Emanuel took the amusement tax increase off the table and added it to the list of local taxes he has promised not to raise. He revealed his decision when asked whether he’s concerned that another increase in the cigarette tax would prompt even more smokers to drive across state lines to buy cigarettes at a cheaper price.

“Well, first of all I haven’t made a decision on that, but I can say this — there’ll be no property tax increase,” Emanuel said. “There’ll be no sales tax increase. There’ll be no fuel tax increase. We’re eliminating the per-employee head tax, which was a job-killer. We’re doing it ahead of schedule. And there will be no amusement tax increase. If we do consider (raising) the cigarette tax, it has to invest in children’s health.”

Mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton later said Emanuel also has ruled out a fee for garbage collection that would have mirrored the fees imposed in many suburbs. Chicago’s per-pack cigarette tax was increased by 32 cents in 2005 and by 20 cents in 2006. That raised the city’s tax to 68 cents per pack. At $4.67 a pack, Chicago has the nation’s second-highest combined state and local tax rate on cigarettes. New York City is at $5.85 a pack.

Chicago’s two-tiered amusement tax was last increased in 2009 — from 4 to 5 percent for mid-sized venues and from 8 to 9 percent for large sporting events. The lower tax rate applies to live theatrical, musical and cultural performances in venues with more than 750 seats. Smaller theaters are exempt.

Until an ill-timed controversy over the conservative politics of Joe Ricketts, patriarch of the billionaire family that owns the Cubs, team owner Tom Ricketts was still hoping to use 35 years’ worth of amusement tax growth to help finance a $300 million renovation of Wrigley Field.

Any increase in the amusement tax would have increased the city’s $88 million-a-year take and reduced the number of years the Cubs would need to siphon growth to renovate the ballpark. But it would also have encountered strong opposition from live theaters, movie theaters and from Chicago’s five professional sports franchises.

Emanuel’s administration announced last week that a 2013 budget shortfall pegged at $369 million just two months ago has been reduced to $298 million, thanks to rising revenue and greater savings from the mayor’s “wellness” plan to curb rising health care costs. That allowed Emanuel to move up by six months his plan to eliminate the head tax.

The mayor is also planning “targeted layoffs” and more “managed competition” between city employees and private contractors, including vehicle booting. Police and fire cuts that could be substantial must await the outcome of contract talks with those unions. That will force Emanuel to include a placeholder pay raise for police officers, firefighters and paramedics that may or may not be big enough.

On Nov. 19, 2009, the University of Kentucky chose to become a smoke-free campus, and just one year later the University of Louisville followed suit. Though discussions are preliminary, the possibility remains for Murray State to be next in line for a smoke-free campus.

Judy Lyle, interim associate director of Health Services, said the topic has been on and off the table for a few years now, but said little to no headway had been made in order to enact any smoke-free policies for the University. “We have done some informal surveys and even had a small grant at one point to help with policy development,” Lyle said. “Dr. Ellen Hahn visited our campus two years ago to discuss how University of Kentucky moved to their tobacco-free campus.”

A long-time advocate of non-smoking and co-chair of the UK Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative Task Force in 2009, Hahn shared with Lyle and other Murray State faculty the struggles and procedures involving the transformation of campus policy.

“A policy change such as the one at UK is not something that happens overnight,” Lyle said. “It took a couple of years with much planning and involvement by many stakeholders.” Conducted in the spring of 2012, the last National College Health Assessment for Murray State indicated 65 percent of the campus had never used cigarettes, and 82 percent had not used cigarettes within 30 days of the survey. The analysis included 638 randomly selected students, roughly 6 percent of the total campus population.

While the University continues to allow smokers the general freedom to smoke in most outdoor locations, Lyle believes there are students and faculty who want a tobacco-free campus. “I certainly get comments and complaints from people who come into contact with undesired second-hand smoke and from those who are offended by the butt trash generated by those who smoke,” she said. “There is surprise, more like shock, from those who come from smoke-free communities to our community which is not smoke-free.”

Keely Netz Doctorman, a Murray State alumna working for the Breathitt Veterinary Center in Hopkinsville, Ky., said one of the most difficult parts of enforcing a smoke- free policy resides not in the overall health of people, but in asking people to forgo their personal rights for the safety of others.

“We have not yet worked out how to allow a smoker to fulfill their personal desire to smoke without inflicting second- and third-hand smoke on others,” Doctorman said. “An individual’s personal rights only exist so far as they don’t infringe on the individual rights of another person.” It appears that many students on campus, however, do not mind mingling with smokers. From randomly selected students on campus on two separate days, not a single student voiced major concerns with Murray’s current smoking status.

“I think people have a right to smoke if they want to,” said Ryan Thornton, senior from Benton, Ky. Robbie Parsons, a freshman smoker from Mayfield, Ky., said smoking represents the freedom he enjoys being away from home.

“College was a place for me to get my freedom,” he said. “If smoking were banned, it would hurt a lot of people like me. It would take away our freedom.” Unlike neighboring Paducah, Murray is not smoke-free, and in fact has had its fair share of trouble enforcing no smoking policies throughout the city.

In 2011, the Murray-Calloway County Hospital discussed the possibility of reverting back to designated smoking areas following a 2009 ban on smoking inside or near the facility. Discussion has since fizzled, however, and the hospital campus remains smoke-free.

Already some restaurants in Murray, including Sirloin Stockade and the recently closed Ryan’s Family Restaurant had resorted to smokeless environments, tossing away their ashtrays and converting their smoking sections into large party rooms for extra seating.

Not all restaurants have removed their smoking sections, though, as Applebee’s, Mary’s Kitchen and all city liquor establishments maintain smoking policies and have designated sections for smokers and non-smokers to enjoy their meals and drinks.

Often blamed for the rising cost in health care, smoking and other tobacco products have been medically linked to multiple types of cancer and birthing abnormalities, launching a national debate as to the legality of second-hand smoke.

Director of Human Resources Tom Hoffacker said he would like to learn more about faculty and student concerns regarding smoking and current campus policies regarding tobacco use. Said Hoffacker: “Smoking, along with obesity, is a significant problem that results in high costs for health care. I don’t think anyone is eager to have either of those problems continue.”

Hundreds of people rallied near the Jakarta Convention Center on Wednesday to protest the opening of the World Tobacco Asia 2012 exhibition. The protestors were mostly students from various universities. They gathered at the JCC’s main gate, protesting the holding of the event in Jakarta. It is the second time since 2010 that the event is being held in the nation’s capital.

“We are saddened by the stance of the government that is letting its people be killed by cigarettes,” Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the chairman of the Forum of Jakarta Residents (FAKTA), shouted at the gate. The protestors later said that about 500 of their members managed to break through and enter the tightly guarded venue that was closed to the public and only open to members of the industry.

Other protestors made sure that the alternative gate to the convention center remained blockaded to prevent visitors from getting through. Meanwhile, anti-tobacco activists on Wednesday strongly condemned the hosting of the exhibition in Jakarta.

“This [represents disrespect] against the entire legal territory of Indonesia. This WTA [conference] is illegal because not a single side assumes responsibility for it,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection, said.

Arist lamented that just after the Health Ministry announced the results of the Global Adults Tobacco Survey for 2011 that showed 67.4 percent of adults in Indonesia were smokers — the highest percentage in the world — the country was providing a welcoming atmosphere for the tobacco industry.

He said that it was clear that the government had failed to protect Indonesian children from the health hazards of smoking and had already been defeated by the cigarette industry. Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, a coordinator of the Anti World Tobacco Asia Society, said that the WTA summit was being held in Indonesia because the country was seen as a rising market for the cigarette industry.

“What makes us feel insulted is that our government is too friendly to the cigarette industry,” Haryo said, adding that similar protests were also being held in several other Indonesian cities. Haryo stated that Indonesia has already been alienated internationally because it has not yet ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The holding of the WTA will only worsen matters, he added. “The good name of Indonesia will become even worse in the eyes of the international [community], and Indonesia will be seen as uncivilized because it supports the death of millions of people” by encouraging cigarette smoking, he said.

Yoke, from the Women Network for Tobacco Control, said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must take firm steps to halt the degradation of Indonesia’s image as the world’s ashtray. Zakia, a student in public health at the University of Indonesia, said that the Indonesian Student Movement for the Control of Tobacco Impacts firmly rejected the holding of the WTA meeting in Jakarta. “While other countries refuse to host the WTA 2012, Indonesia invites [it] for the second time. This is a second insult for Indonesia,” Zakia said.

Mary Assunta Kolandai, an international tobacco control advocate from Australia, commented, “this is unacceptable and clearly shows that the cigarette industry does not want the public to know what is currently happening in that industry.”

Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) said that the government must be wise in the campaign against tobacco without killing the tobacco industry, because the tobacco industry contributes about 10 percent to 15 percent of national income.

Enfield Council is urging people to go cigarette-free next month as part of a nationwide anti-smoking drive. The 28-day quitting challenge, donned Stoptober, encourages people throughout the UK to pledge to kick the habit in a bid to help them stop for good.

Enfield and Haringey Stop Smoking Service is running the challenge in the borough. Enfield Council's Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing and Public Health, Councillor Christine Hamilton, said: "We'll be offering lots of help and support to smokers who want to kick the habit and I'd urge people who want to quit to give it a go during Stoptober. “All the research shows that people who stop smoking for 28 days are much more likely to give up for good so now is a good time to start."

More than 15,000 people have quit smoking in the last four years after receiving help from Enfield and Haringey Stop Smoking Service.

The Swiss artist Roman Signer unveiled a permanent site-specific installation with a bang at the countryside headquarters of Ermenegildo Zegna, the Italian clothing brand, on 22 September. Standing in front of the entrance to the company’s historic mill in Trivero, Piedmont, Signer’s work, Horologe, 2012, was covered by a long white cloth, which the artist tore off with a controlled explosion. The event marked the fourth instalment of “All’Aperto” (“In the Open”), an annual site-specific arts programme run by Fondazione Zegna and organised by Andrea Zegna and Barbara Casavecchia.

Signer’s sculpture—which consists of a large clock with no hands, mounted on a four-metre pole—will emit short bursts of vapour from its centre-point at 15-minute intervals for as long as it stands. Signer, who worked in a factory when he was younger, says he was inspired by the vapour emitted by the mill’s towers but also wanted to make a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rigid concept of factory working hours.

“Site-specific public art is not easy to commission, especially away from big cities,” Zegna says, “but we wanted to collaborate with Roman because much of his previous work has taken place outdoors, in nature.” Zegna has collaborated with Casavecchia, an arts journalist and curator, on all the previous editions of “All’Aperto”, and they avoid commissioning monumental and visually aggressive public works that are at odds with their surroundings. “We don’t want to alienate or irritate the people who will be confronted with the work every day, so we prefer subtle and relevant interventions such as this one, which carries clear references to the company’s local history,” Casavecchia says.

The series began in 2007 with Daniel Buren’s intervention on the company roof—an installation titled The Coloured Weathervanes. Next up was Alberto Garutti, an Italian artist and professor of fine arts at the Accademia di Brera, Milan, whose sculpted benches—Dedicated to the people who will talk about it as they sit here, 2009—are dotted around communal spaces in the town of Trivero. The most recent work is Stefano Arienti’s The Telepathists, 2011, which combines a free wi-fi network with sculptures inspired by drawings made by children from the local primary school. “As far as possible, we want to commission works that are in some way relevant and even useful to the local community,” Zegna says.

The curators are already making plans for the fifth edition of “All’Aperto”, although they have yet to reveal which artist they will be working with. The open-air arts programme is one of many cultural initiatives undertaken by the Zegna foundation, including “Visible”, a €25,000 prize that aims to encourage socially engaged artist projects from around the world. The most recent edition of the prize was awarded in January to the Colombian collective Helena Producciones in a ceremony at the Serpentine Gallery, London.