by Marco Quaglia | Jul 13, 2015 | The Urban Media Lab
“Praise be to you, my lord” is the recently published encyclical written by Pope Francis. The sub-title is “on care for our common home”. “Care” and “common” made a ring bell here at LabGov, so we decided to take our time to read the text carefully and critically in order to understand the point of view of the Pope on these topics.
To be very clear the whole encyclical embrace many topics, spirituality and faith of course, but the whole structure is organized to put at the center our “common home”: the Earth. In the 6 chapters, the Pope challenges mainstream paradigms of our society, such as consumerism, short-termism and industrialisation at all costs. Climate change, water scarcity, air pollution and loss of biodiversity are just some of the consequences underlined.
More interesting to us, as LabGov, is when the analysis moves to human activities. Along these lines, on chapter 4, it is launched the concept of “cultural ecology”. Citing from the encyclical: “together with the patrimony of nature, there is also and historic, artistic and cultural patrimony (…). This patrimony is a part of the shared identity of each place and a foundation upon which to build habitable city” (par.143).
This ecology is worth considering and needs to be fostered. It is the ecology of our daily life that makes us work for an “integral improvement” in the setting of our lives: our home, our workplace and our neighbourhoods. According to Francis, mega cities, the experience of overcrowding and social anonymity are creating social bombs within our societies; a communitarian salvation is possible only through creative ideas. Taking into consideration how important is the interrelationship between living space and human behaviour, often to save a building or a neighbourhood, can be enough to save a community. The same can be said for the necessity to protect common areas, visual landmarks and urban landscapes (par.149-150-151).
Another issue is the one of the importance of a re-balance between politics and economy; specifically in the light of our institutional framework. The Pope reminds us the principle of subsidiarity “which grants freedom to develop the capabilities present at every level of society, while also demanding a greater sense of responsibility for the common good” (par.196).
The last part of the encyclical is devoted to the “environmental education” of a new “ecological citizenship”. Little daily actions can contribute directly to the world around us; among those cited – less consumption, social housing and so forth – there is, interestingly, car-pooling as an example of a successful sharing economy practice.
At the end of the day, the encyclical is an interesting read and a must read for all of us. It draws fully from a vast literature – religious and scientific – offering a fresh and inspiring insight on some of the most debated topics of our time. In particular, the focus on life in the cities – with the care and regeneration of urban landscapes, the re-thinking of common spaces and the development of sharing economy practices – is a much welcomed news for LabGov and the international community we are part of.
To read the encyclical: full text
“Laudato Si’” è il titolo della nuova enciclica di Papa Francesco. Il testo, di ampio respiro, prova a mettere in discussione il modello di sviluppo della nostra epoca a favore di una nuova ecologia integrale. Secondo il Papa, è necessario ribaltare questo modello con il fine ultimo di salvare la nostra casa comune, il pianeta. Interessante è l’attenzione dimostrata per le tematiche familiari anche a LabGov e la sua comunità internazionale: la vita nelle città, la cura degli spazi pubblici, e la promozione di pratiche di sharing economy. Sono queste le pratiche che, secondo il Papa, dovrebbero diffondersi tra i nuovi cittadini ecologici.
Marco Quaglia
by Leonardo Rossi | Jun 22, 2015 | The Urban Media Lab
An Italian Foundation (CON IL SUD) wants to revalue some buildings (14 to be exact) according to projects made by the local communities, enterprises and institutions. CON IL SUD granted 4 million euros in order to enact such propositions aimed to allow the community to enjoy such common goods in a sustainable way.
This is the third edition of this call that previously managed to enforce 21 projects with a cost of 8 millions euros.
The Foundation asked to the cities of the south of Italy to propose some buildings and places eligible to this end, and 14 out of the 22 proposed were choose. 5 of those are in Sicily, 7 in Puglia and 2 in Campania.
The legal property of this good will be given by the owner (the region) to the organization that won the call for that building for at least 10 years, in advance of knowing what the use will be, and the requests made for the financing of the renewing of a public good cannot exceed 500.000€.
On their website is it still possible to see the full list of the public goods that are part of the call and everyone can present an idea or a project, even when the call will be over on 14th of July 2015.
This experiment aims to make clear that every community wants to cooperate and to put their efforts together in order to achieve a better lifestyle and a better world for everyone to enjoy.
La Fondazione CON IL SUD alla sua terza edizione per la riqualifica dei beni comuni; terza edizione con I fiocchi
La Fondazione CON IL SUD vuole, con la terza edizione di questo bando, rivalutare 14 beni comuni presenti in Sicilia, Puglia e Campania, grazie ad un fondo di 4 milioni di euro.
Grazie a questo bando i progetti scelti saranno sovvenzionati fino ad un massimo di 500.000€ per le spese di ristrutturazione e i vincitori avranno la proprietà del bene assegnato per almeno 10 anni.
Sul sito internet è possibile consultare la lista completa dei beni comuni scelti e, anche dopo la chiusura del bando che si terrà il 14 luglio 2015 sarà possibile proporre idee e progetti.
by Leonardo Rossi | May 15, 2015 | EducationLabs
What happens when a region is scourged by a natural disaster, like an earthquake? There is the time grief, of course, and the time of reconstruction, involving an extremely delicate phase: the healing of the victims’ souls.
That was the motivation that pushed the Ministry of the Tourism and Cultural Activities to fund an initiative, the “Beni Comuni Project”, that gathered the ETR Foundation, ATER and eleven Provinces (Campogalliano, Carpi, Cavezzo, Cento, Concordia sulla Secchia, Finale Emilia, Mirandola, Novi di Modena, San Felice sul Panaro, San Possidonio, Soliera). Their goal was to recover and reunite the spirits of the communities threatened by the 2012 earthquake by an active participation in the organization of public events with the main goal to foster the sharing sense.
This idea is much needed in a time where society tends to be more and more egoistic, full of technological barriers that allows people to communicate easily with one another, but at the same time tends to label those who cannot afford such connections as “social pariah”. Stimulate the spark of active cooperation and sharing may ignite again an essential characteristic of the human soul that is slowly dying as the society evolves.
The Project reunites 24 partners: from schools to theatres and music schools: through the organization of public events, shows, concerts and readings, this group wishes to foster the reconstruction of the populations that survived the earthquake, thanks to arts and artistic expression. In the words of a member of the Project: “a way to allow the community to restore the spaces destroyed by the earthquake and start again with a stronger sharing
spirit”.
This approach is really valuable, also because allows the people’s mind to wander off such grief and crisis and their souls to understand that nothing is over and everything can be solved, as long as there is a common goal and a common support. Act as one, survive as a whole.
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Cosa accade a una comunità quando essa viene distrutta da un cataclisma naturale, come un terremoto? Ovviamente c’è il tempo del dolore, e dopo la ricostruzione inizia una fase delicatissima: la rigenerazione degli spiriti dei cittadini.
A tale proposito è stato finanziato dal Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo e promosso dal Comune di Carpi in collaborazione con ERT Fondazione e ATER il “Progetto Beni Comuni”.
Esso coinvolge undici Comuni (Campogalliano, Carpi, Cavezzo, Cento, Concordia sulla Secchia, Finale Emilia, Mirandola, Novi di Modena, San Felice sul Panaro, San Possidonio, Soliera) del cratere sismico con l’obiettivo di rinsaldare e ricostruire le identità delle comunità minacciate dal terremoto del 2012 attraverso la partecipazione attiva alla costruzione di eventi artistici che abbiano come orizzonte primario il senso della condivisione e dello stare in comune.
L’idea alla base del Progetto è encomiabile, e potrebbe essere spiegata in vari modi, ma il modo migliore è utilizzare le parole di un esponente del Progetto: “Il progetto Beni Comuni ha un valore intrinseco e speciale. Non è solo un programma destinato alla fruizione, ma un laboratorio di produzione culturale che coinvolge professionisti dello spettacolo ma anche e soprattutto i cittadini. Uno spazio artistico composto da tanti luoghi […]. Un modo concreto per le comunità di rimpadronirsi degli spazi violentati dal sisma e ripartire, con uno spirito di socialità condivisa”.
Questa idea è necessaria anche per un altro motivo: essa consente di far vagare la mente delle vittime del sisma lontano dal dolore e dalla sofferenza, e far capire che nulla è perduto e tutto è superabile, se si collabora e ci si aiuta nella comunità: Agisci come uno, sopravvivi come gruppo.
by Marco Quaglia | Apr 26, 2015 | EducationLabs
The city of Rome will host on May 21-24, the “Biennial of Public Space”, at the headquarter of the department of Architecture (University of RomaTre). The event, promoted by the Public Administration, the University and many associations of citizens has one goal: comparing experiences, best practices and future challenges in the field of social innovation.
The three thematic areas of this year will be: the road, urban regeneration and the unequal city. We should spend some words for each of them. Roads are the most common public spaces in the world – in fact they occupy the majority of the surface of our cities. It is not by chance that one of the most typical case study of what is now known as the “tragedy of the commons” (Garrett Hardin, 1968) is the traffic jam. Mobility is clearly the first element that pops up to everyone’s mind, but is not the only one. If you cannot move easily and reasonably fast, so many things will be precluded to our lives. Long story short: the road is the quintessential connective element of our life.
The second topic, urban regeneration, is something definitely more common to us at LabGov. Public urban spaces are central to our social life, and play a big role in the development of new ideas and other forms of innovation – just think at all the co-working spaces that are emerging. Rome, in particular, needs to re-think and re-shape its phenomenal public space, which in many cases, corresponds to its historical heritage. (On our site you can read just about everything on this topic).
The third and final day will be devoted to the unequal city. Years of globalization and the recent economic crisis are leaving a legacy that is also a challenge: the majority of the world’s population is living or is about to live in cities. Many of our cities were and still are unprepared to receive and accomodate with dignity this mass of people. Peripheries in particular, are under greater and greater pressure, and we are not that far from reality if we say that, it is precisely in these forgotten and sometime neglected spaces, at the border of our urban conglomerates, that some of the most problematic issue are overstocking, and about to explode.
The legacy of the event will be a document called “The message of the Biennale” that will receive international attention, and that will be hopefully, an important step towards an operational turn to the Charter of Public Space, and other similar documents that are getting credit at the international level.
LabGov will be following the event closely; but the Biennale is open to all. So if you are in Rome, and are interested to get a better grasp of what is going on around you, don’t hesitate.
(more info at http://www.biennalespaziopubblico.it/blog/nav-2015/il-profilo-della-biennale-2015/; http://unhabitat.org/habitat-iii/)
Dal 21 al 24 maggio, Roma, nello specifico negli edifici della sede di architettura di RomaTre, sarà il luogo di incontro della “Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico”. Con lo scopo di mettere a confronto idee, azioni e soggetti, la biennale sarà un momento chiave in questo anno, per avere una visione più ampia su alcune delle tematiche più interessanti nell’ambito dell’innovazione sociale degli spazi pubblici.
Le tre aree tematiche saranno: la strada, la rigenerazione urbana e la città diseguale. Ognuno di questi temi, a cui sarà dedicata un’intera giornata, saranno dei punti di partenza per altre decine di tematiche collegabili.
L’eredità della tre giorni sarà un documento chiamato “Il messaggio della Biennale” che aspira ad essere un contributo importante nel dare rilevanza operativa alla “Carta dello Spazio Pubblico” e ad altri documenti analoghi emersi in ambito internazionale.
Aperta a tutti, si possono avere maggiori informazioni al seguente sito: http://www.biennalespaziopubblico.it/blog/nav-2015/il-profilo-della-biennale-2015/?lang=en.
Vedi anche: http://unhabitat.org/habitat-iii/
by Edoardo De Stefani | Apr 10, 2015 | The Urban Media Lab
Thinking about cities, we cannot avoid thinking about pitfalls in public services or drawbacks of its uncured spaces. Also, we cannot avoid speaking about financial constraints, economic crisis and socio-cultural deficiencies.
Though, looking at the positive side, there are people, administrators, professionals, enterprises, academics or simply citizens that actively nudge for urban regeneration.
Eventually, this is also the idea of the municipality of Alessandria, which drafted and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (Protocollo d’Intesa) with the two universities that are present on the territory, the University of Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” and the Politecnico of Torino, with the objective of creating social innovation within the framework of the program “Noi Cittadini”.
The underlying idea is that of rethinking the city and its territory, but most of all the space and the role of citizens.
It is not a secret that public administrators cannot solve alone the enigma of social innovation, simply because designing a project is not only about money or calculus; there are several tangible and intangible resources which are needed for the success, and these include ideas, sentiments, energies, competencies and time.
For this reason it is very important to include all stakeholders in the “regeneration” project, both in the preliminary design phase and in the implementation stage.
The view of the Public Administration as a sort of financier must be abandoned, because again, projects are about discerning necessities and the particular socio-cultural microsystem, but also about finding a line of understanding between different stakeholders, namely a collaborative attitude. Having the opportunity to work collaboratively at a round table with the university and the public administration represents an opening to reverse the paradigm of the old and inefficient public plans.
Nonetheless, what it is important to acknowledge is that including different actors in the show does not mean having a divestiture of responsibilities, but simply a more legitimized process of democratic representation.
LabGov is well acquainted with the dynamics of collaboration between public administration, society and enterprises. It is all within the core of our quintuple helix approach, as represented by the LabGov logo. For this reason, the “Noi Cittadini” initiative represents a good opportunity to reflect on different collaborative opportunities, with regard to new partners and interlocutors.
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Sulla scia dei recenti successi di esperimenti di amministrazione condivisa, tra cui il Regolamento di Bologna sulla cura e rigenerazione dei beni comuni, diverse iniziative stanno poco alla volta prendendo piede sul territorio nazionale. Da un alto, l’avvicinamento a pratiche di collaborazione rappresenta una necessità finanziaria e di legittimazione politica, mentre dall’altro esprime la volontà di godere appieno del diritto di essere cittadini.
Per far sì che progetti interessanti e innovativi trovino poi concreta realizzazione, è necessario costruire un tavolo di progettazione condiviso al quale possano sedere congiuntamente università, cittadini, imprese e pubblica amministrazione.
Parlare di rigenerazione delle città, significa ripensare il ruolo dei vari attori che vivono un determinato territorio, ma soprattutto trovare quelle risorse utili a sostenere un progetto di lunga durata.
L’innovazione sociale e la sua sostenibilità richiedono uno sforzo condiviso, ed è proprio per questo motivo che il Comune di Alessandria, in collaborazione con l’università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro e del Politecnico di Torino, ha siglato un protocollo d’intesa per “fare sistema”.
L’elaborazione di politiche innovative passa attraverso la costruzione di un asse portante tra forze territoriali, economiche, professionali e sociali.
In tal senso, l’operazione “Noi Cittadini” rientra nel quadro di innovazione sostenibile che il comune intende perseguire.
