In these days we have been talking a lot about culture and about what its role could be in order to relaunch our regions and I think this is, finally, the moment to recognize its importance. But when we talk about Culture, we often think about it in commercial terms, considering it as a mere product to be consumed, which provides income and generates economy. Above all we have turned our gaze towards internal areas as little treasures to draw on.
But from my point of view, if we want to re-start and if we want to do it without highlighting the dualism created so far between urban areas and peri-urban areas or inlands, it is necessary to make some considerations. And if we want to think about culture in its generative function we have to go back to its etymological meaning of “cultivating”, from Latin “colere”, intended as a process of care and education, without which everything will fade or wouldn’t exist at all, and therefore intended as a process of Growth.
It’s here, in the most remote areas, that many modest experiences, sometimes ignored, have interpreted culture as a process of co-creation and planning, restoring its key role of caring of citizens and places, experimenting new ways of producing generative welfare, making culture and participating to the renewal of an ever-changing material and non-material cultural heritage, suggesting new management models and where Culture has become the instrument to mend a social bond and develop a plural dialogue by giving everyone, not only technicians and workers, a voice.
We have to acknowledge that metropolitan areas are an exception in our country, so it would be necessary to promote a re-balancing path starting from the edges, the borders, as resources of biodiversity where we can work carefully by creating a real cooperation deal.
Right now, in Italy is born “Lo stato dei luoghi” a national network of activators of places and regenerated spaces based on culture, promoted and managed by private subjects.
The network intends to spread knowledge and promote the advancement of public discussion on the themes of culturally based urban regeneration. For this reason, it considers it's essential to aggregate knowledge and intelligence around its own themes, urging the contribution of those who, in the fields of work, research, training, consultancy, interpret cultural-based urban regeneration as a lever for spreading capacity, building opportunities and generating positive social impacts in the territories.
To do this, the role of culture as a process must be put at the centre.
We should rediscover the authenticity of the places and people who live there and suggest to design tools and put in place not only economic but also human resources that enable inhabitants to become active citizens and, whenever possible, civic leaders. With a Public Policy that guarantees a fair distribution of resources and possibilities throughout the national territory.
A small army of community managers and urban regenerators must be trained and enrolled, and in our country there are plenty of them that until now have acted in subsidiarity and silence and who can now generate opportunities and build trust and enthusiasm.
To do so, it is necessary to rethink the nature of the state. We need to live in a country that is not like a Ouroboros. You will remember Zagrebelsky's metaphor that compared the Italian state to the famous mythological snake that eats its own tail. The state was not born to be the citizen's first enemy. The state should be a good family man, or better still, a good family mother.
We need economic resources to hire and structure human resources.
It is not always easy to be sustainable with cultural activities, especially when, like us at Farm, we use art, culture and education as tools to redeem territories, restore identity and build future and belonging.
But at the same time it is necessary to facilitate and encourage the birth of social enterprises that can support the public in this change of perspective, which was already necessary before Covid-19.
I’ll tell you what’s going on in FAVARA. The 21st of March in Favara we were supposed to set up an Association for Good Actions – Social Enterprise, but since there were more than 50 stakeholders we had to postpone it in order to avoid gathering.
What are the Associations for Good Actions – Social Enterprises? They are open societies which have the ambition to involve all the citizens, not just the jet set of a territory.
We have added the word GOOD in order to forge a traditional tool of consumerism, joint-stock companies, into a social enterprise. We are going to join together landowners and deserted or underused buildings with people who have savings choosing the most competent people to take care of the present and the future of Favara.
Italian banks are full of common people’s savings. Towns are suffering, citizens complain, twenty thousand young people leave Sicily every year and yet banks are full of money. There’s something wrong!
In Favara we imagine to take the total number of inhabitants from thirty two thousand to thirty five thousand in the next seven years and then rise the population by five thousand every ten years up to fifty Thousand by 2050.
We will plan effective strategies to support current workers promoting new occupation, which will hopefully have positive social outcomes. We will create efficient and sustainable building units and strategies to improve the quality of life in Favara supporting a vibrant inclusive, respectful and sympathetic culture.
And so I would like to launch my proposal, albeit a bit challenging.
One billion Euro to set up (at least) 107 Associations for Good Actions – Social Enterprise in all the territorial areas of our country (or in the 80 provinces); money to be invested in addition to the savings of those citizens of the respective areas who would like to take part in the multiannual projects of development regarding their regions. The appointment of the same number of Special Commissioners identified and chosen among women and men of proved ability in the development of communities (and not the usual rejected politicians), who will facilitate the process of aggregation and rehabilitation of the communities.
With Who? The Legislator. From my small experience with Farm and Favara, the project must be launched by the citizens. With all the goodwill, with all the good faith and with all the competences, which could possibly be activated, it is difficult for politicians in Brussels or in Rome (or even in Palermo) to imagine what is needed in Favara or Catania or Taormina; most often different strategies must be employed and furthermore, what is needed today in Favara is different that what was needed ten years ago and it is different from what will be needed in ten years time. And I do not believe that the solutions can be found in the municipalities.
Most of the towns in southern Italy are bankrupt. Among these, Favara, with a debt of 44 billion Euro and 600 employees, mostly recruited through favouritism. Let’s not give it a second thought, let’s appoint Commissioners and keep stiffs alive.
It is necessary to experiment new forms of protection and development of our territories.
Probably by also having the courage to make mistakes and then make adjustments along the way.
I ASK YOU help us in order to enable us to keep on helping you.