I would point out that imagining life in 2040 is not very easy. But this can change over these years both the relationship that nations have with scientific progress and their local cultural sources, such as monuments, museums and so on. In many cases, these two aspects of a nation and, by narrowing the scope, of a society or community, are not valued as it should be, since in my view they are two complementary aspects: the first concerns technologies, innovation, investing its future in gradual progress also of human civilisation; the second is the centuries-old contribution of the wider artistic traditions, from painting to seventh art through books and music. I therefore believe that this development is needed on the basis of a substantial financial base and collective action by all, as culture and science go hand in hand. Valorising places of cultural interest and local artistic heritage and encouraging people to take a scientific path from school education onwards, so as to direct many people to these very broad fields of knowledge, is of paramount importance, as it develops various transversal skills and advances in the development of their own critical thinking. To ensure that we do not remain stuck to the metaphoric iron ball that keeps us anchored to the ground of ignorance and neglect.