10.6092/issn.3034-8544/18766
How does the University contribute to the growth of cultural life and of quality of life in the cities in which it is located? How does it promote the cultural inclusion of those strata of the population increasingly excluded from cultural life? How does it promote the development of cultural and creative enterprise?&nbsp;
Culture represents one of the main keys to reading the relationship between universities and cities: it is the engine of participation, confrontation, and growth in urban communities, especially in the southern regions, where, according to the April 2022 Fair and Sustainable Welfare data, there is a particularly sharp decline in cultural consumption, well below the European average. This is a worrying picture that threatens to undermine the understanding of society's complex problems and the democratic frameworks.

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3034-8544
18766
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en
Giuliano Volpe
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Urbana
cultural enterprises
The Role of Urban Cultural and Youth Policies
Text.Serial.Journal
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2024-01-25
2023-12-18
2024-01-25
2024-03-20
87-88
Urb
Giuliano Volpe
2024/01/25
10.6092/issn.3034-8544/18766
87
Department of Humanistic Research and Innovation (DIRIUM), University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’
3034-8544
1
cultural enterprises
en
88
The Role of Urban Cultural and Youth Policies
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1
                                                      URBANA Vol. 1, N. 1, 2024               87




The Role of Urban Cultural and Youth
Policies.
CHAIR SESSION2


Giuliano Volpe

University of Bari Aldo Moro

giuliano.volpe@uniba.it


How does the University contribute to the growth of cultural life and of
quality of life in the cities in which it is located? How does it promote the
cultural inclusion of those strata of the population increasingly excluded
from cultural life? How does it promote the development of cultural and
creative enterprise?
Culture represents one of the main keys to reading the relationship
between universities and cities: it is the engine of participation,
confrontation, and growth in urban communities, especially in the
southern regions, where, according to the April 2022 Fair and Sustainable
Welfare data, there is a particularly sharp decline in cultural
consumption, well below the European average. This is a worrying
picture that threatens to undermine the understanding of society's
complex problems and the democratic frameworks.
A great master of archaeology and ancient art history, Ranuccio Bianchi
Bandinelli, who always combined his university teaching with civic
engagement, argued in the 1970s that «l’essere tagliati fuori, esclusi dalla
possibilità di comprendere certi valori culturali è, per la classe operaia, una
ingiustizia e una sofferenza non minore di quella dovuta alla diseguaglianza
economica e sociale». The insistence on education and culture as a tool for
emancipation and freedom had, on the other hand, been a leitmotiv in the
battles of the great trade unionist Giuseppe Di Vittorio, but the issue
remains highly topical today.
The university cannot but be in the forefront: it is the main social lift (long
since stopped), through education and research, but also through
widespread cultural promotion that goes beyond the boundaries of the
academic community.
Culture is an essential right, as emphasized by the Council of Europe
Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro), ratified
by the Italian Parliament in 2020, according to which communities and
cultural resources are linked by dynamic, plural and complex
relationships: cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is the main
"resource for sustainable development and quality of life, in a constantly
evolving society."
In this sense, the University can assume the role of an essential urban
actor: open to listening, sensitive to the needs of the citizenry, it must


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                                                URBANA Vol. 1, N. 1, 2024   88



foster integration, social turnover, and open, inclusive and democratic
dialogue.
The first need felt was related to the acquisition of information in all
Apulian universities: a survey on the places and events of cultural
production and fruition, on the collaborations established with local
administrations, associations, and the world of cultural enterprises. The
results are of considerable interest and provide a basis for developing and
evaluating proposals to be put in place.
During the discussion, numerous and varied initiatives were presented to
enhance university cultural resources in favor of city communities, from
university film clubs to projects focused on the relationships between
culture and food, many of these directly promoted by and with student
associations. The emerging picture is vibrant and multifaceted, but it is
also marked by a certain fragmented nature, a still poor coordination at
the level of the individual university, the city and local area (including the
areas of travel of the many commuters) and the region, that prevents it
from becoming a system. What is needed, therefore, would be steering
committees, composed of faculty, students and technical-administrative
staff, open externally to stakeholders that would encourage the
construction of integrated networks with the different components
between universities, businesses and associations in the area. To trigger
encounter and dialogue in this regard, joint initiatives, such as the
Beautiful Minds Festival, a proposal developed from student suggestions,
would be desirable. Ultimately, cultural professions should be more
recognized and guaranteed, affirming the centrality of work and quality
employment in this field as well: culture can and should also be
enterprise, as so many encouraging experiences already show, such as,
for example, the Cineclub run by the students of the University of Salento.
Opportunities for real collaboration between the Universities and the
many energies present in local society should be multiplied: an example
of this is the cycle "I giovedì della Camerata Musicale di Bari,"
conversations and concerts that the University of Bari will host in the
summer months in the courtyards of the Ateneo building, so as to offer
citizens who remain in town and tourists the chance to spend a few
pleasant evening hours with speakers who will cover multiple topics and
various musical genres. Above all, universities should give voice to the
desire for experimentation and free creativity, supporting original and
"less academically stuffed" projects (as someone pointed out during the
debate).
