Borghi in Festival, MiBACT. The rebirth of small municipalities through culture and social inclusion
Covid-19, #dataBeneComune. Open letter to the Conte government
13th November 2020
Triage and bioethics, criteria for admission to intensive care. ISS guidelines
23th November 2020
On 17.11.20 the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBACT) has published a public notice to finance cultural activities in small Italian municipalities.
'Villages in Festival' it is a symbolic initiative, with a very small financial endowment (750 thousand euros). And it is nevertheless worthy of attention, as it is part of a broader political and cultural program of rebirth that aspires to improve the quality of life and promote the well-being and improvement of the inhabitants of Italian villages. Also, and not only, through tourism. (1)
Villages in Festival, the announcement
Villages in festival is an intersectoral project, promoted by the Directorates-General for Contemporary Creativity (www.aap.beniculturali.it) and Tourism of the MiBACT. It is aimed at all Municipalities with a resident population of up to 5.000 inhabitants, or up to 10.000 inhabitants if they have identified the historic center as a homogeneous territorial area.
Municipalities they can present their projects individually or online, activating forms of partnership and collaborative dynamics between public institutions, individual inhabitants, private individuals, professionals and artists, associations, foundations, businesses and non-profit organizations. The projects, to be carried out in the form of a festival, must be presented by 15.1.21, 12 noon.
Villages in Festival, goals
Our projects supported by MiBACT in the call in question can contribute to:
- strengthen the tourist and cultural offer of the area (eg elimination of architectural barriers);
- improve education, training and development activities,
- fill the gap in the supply of services to citizens (for example towards the elderly and people with disabilities),
- to guarantee full and effective participation and social inclusion, through cutting-edge technologies e know-how transfer,
- support and promotion of the food and wine excellences of the individual villages.
Necessity and virtue
The initiative on closer inspection it expresses a growth model that integrates social, cultural and environmental needs in small villages. Based on innovative projects that enhance the dignity and quality of life of each individual. With an inclusive and non-discriminatory approach.
The Italian villages in fact, they can only come back to life thanks to responsible and supportive communities. We need to redesign the spaces, break down architectural and cultural barriers. And develop physical support networks in the area, hand in hand with the digital ones, available to all. As is already the case in some of the realities that adhere to the project 'Small Municipalities Welcome', below.
Small Municipalities Welcome
'Small Municipalities Welcome' is an initiative of great value that aims to address two major social alarms, the ever-increasing poverty and the progressive depopulation of small municipalities. Which follow i trends growing planets of social injustice and wild urbanization. (2) It refers, in Italy, to the following data:
- over 8 million people in relative poverty and 4 million in absolute poverty, already before the Covid-19 era,
- about 3000 Municipalities, out of just under 8000, at risk of extinction. It is essential to mend these tears, investing resources on symbiotic and inclusive ecosystems in the individual territories.
'In some places, rural and urban, the privatization of spaces has made it difficult for citizens to access areas of particular beauty; elsewhere 'ecological' residential neighborhoods have been created only available to a few, where efforts are made to prevent others from entering and disturbing an artificial tranquility.
Often you will find a beautiful city full of well-kept green spaces in some 'safe' areas, but not so much in less visible areas, where the discarded of society live ' Francis (Laudato Be, 45)
If not now, when?
Dario Dongo and Elena Bosani
Note
(1) See Ministerial Decree 8.6.20, n.275. Policy act concerning the identification of the political priorities to be implemented in the year 2020 and for the three-year period 2020-2022:
- priorities II.4.16. 'Supporting the redevelopment and recovery of urban peripheries and degraded areas through culture and the promotion of cultural and creative enterprises',
- priority IV.2.3. '' Activate an effective interaction between tourism policies and enhancement of cultural heritage, in particular with regard to areas with less tourist use, villages and inland areas, also in conjunction with local authorities, through the development of tourist-cultural itineraries aimed at promoting the use of places of landscape excellence '
(2) Dario Dongo. The world in 2050, necessary transformations. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.11.18/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/il-mondo-nel-2050-trasformazioni-necessarie
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Attorney at law in Milan and Frankfurt am Main. An expert in family, juvenile and criminal law, she is now enrolled in a university master's degree in food law
