An interdisciplinary debate on project perspectives
Table 4 Short description of the cultural initiatives
From: Signals of sustainability transition: Sensing enabling factors through cultural initiatives
City and main social impact domain | Initiative | Short description |
|---|---|---|
Cluj-Napoca (RO) Health and well-being | Unspeakable | Publicly funded workshop carried out by Cluj Cultural Centre in collaboration with composer D.P. Cohen and Notes & Ties organisation. The project offers young people the opportunity to express themselves through music. The project is inspired by UK research showing that artistic expression can support well-being and be part of treatment for mild to moderate mental illness |
TABLO | European Project seeking to develop an e-learning training course to integrate art therapy into the daily routines of healthcare personnel working with long-term patients. The package applies to people with various conditions and across many different cultural settings, it promotes art in therapeutic environments and supports a holistic approach to well-being | |
Inner space | Project exploring the contribution of art and cultural participation to the well-being of the city’s inhabitants. It develops a Culture and Well-being Think Tank, hosts an annual international forum, and pilots design and artistic interventions. The project seeks to support the inclusion of psychological well-being as a strategic factor for the sustainable development of Cluj-Napoca, making it a reference point on the topic | |
Valencia (ES) Health and well-being | Caixa dels Records—Memorias de una vida | Project by the Ethnographic Museum of Valencia (ETNO) under the umbrella of the “Museums-Museus Inclusius programme”, promoted by the Municipal Council. Through reminiscence group therapy, the project seeks to support people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in their initial stage and elderly with cognitive deficits associated with normal ageing |
Museus per la Salut—Records de Festa al Museu Faller de València | This project, addressed to early-stage Alzheimer patients, uses cultural resources as inputs to stimulate their long-term memory through reminiscence therapy. To do so, it favours access to culture for the target group, usually excluded from mainstream cultural offers | |
Ocio Inclusivo y Sensibilización | Non-profit Project seeking to help people with autism improve their personal development through music and other arts. It is run by a team of professionals specialised in Music Therapy and Music Education, and it targets people with functional intellectual diversity. This inclusive leisure project promotes initiatives to support the social integration of people with autism and their relatives | |
Athens (EL) Citizens’ participation and empowerment | Culture in the Neighbourhood | Initiative promoted by the Athens Municipality and its cultural network (Athens Culture Net). It consists of interactive events organised in several cultural venues and open public spaces seeking to activate local cultural spaces and resources and to enhance cultural participation of residents and visitors (children, young, seniors, professionals) in their neighbourhoods |
Athens Garden Festival | Festival organised since 2012 by Athens Art Network, in collaboration with Athens Municipality and with local culture, youth, and sports organisations It hosts urban acoustic, visual and music performances in parks and gardens (most of the time at Athens National Gardens) and at the same time promotes sustainability educational activities | |
Athens Escape Route | Digital treasure hunt guiding players in a virtual exploration of Athens and its culture. By solving puzzles, questions and knowledge quizzes, the gamers get in contact with Athens cultural organisations, neighbourhoods, history, architecture, street art, hidden secrets and unknown attractions | |
Barcelona (ES) Citizens’ participation and empowerment | Apropa Cultura | Network of cultural programmes seeking to support access to culture for people at risk of social exclusion or with disabilities. Over 60 theatres, concert halls, festivals and museums across Catalonia and the Balearic Islands adhere to the initiative |
En Palabras—Relatos migrantes | Barcelona-based creative writing collective made up of people from Latin America interested in researching, writing and sharing stories about the life experience of migration. It proposes creative and literary exploration workshops guided by professional poets and writers, in which migrants and refugees share their experiences and try to build communitarian documentation and new narratives on Latin American migrations in Spain | |
Xamfrà | Socio-educational Centre using the arts to guarantee the right of access to cultural and artistic practice for all citizens. It follows the objectives of the Fundació L’ARC Musica, which revolve around principles of equality/equity, recognition of diversity, positive interaction, diverse participation and feelings of belonging | |
Milan (IT) Urban regeneration | IL PERTINI | Cultural centre and a public library based in Cinisello Balsamo (Milan). This public-led project, which involved private and third sector stakeholders, redesigned the public library and the surrounding area, imagining the library as a multi-functional space to host workshops and cultural initiatives |
CASCINA MARTESANA | Multifunctional cultural space based in a former industrial brownfield. The project promotes cultural initiatives, including concerts, performances, exhibitions, and events tackling wellness and body care, environmental sustainability, social cohesion. Its purpose is to enhance the social engagement of citizens in a broader process of cultural and urban regeneration | |
Caravansaray Selinunte San Siro | NGO-led artistic and social project, supported by the Municipality of Milan. Five authors living in the peripheral neighbourhood of San Siro have created a series of dialogues with the residents, collecting stories, life experiences and short narrative ideas. These materials were used to write a theatre pièce, brought back to the neighbourhood through short theatrical incursions | |
Issy-Les-Moulineaux (FR) Urban regeneration | Le Temps des Cerises | Project developed in the framework of the first SMART neighbourhood in France. Located in an ancient military fort, transformed into a multifunctional cultural space, it hosts artistic and digital activities and meetings for all audiences. The building, open to everyone, is managed by CLAVIM, an association of the City of Issy-les-Moulineaux, specialized in culture and youth |
Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer | Cultural space promoting place-specific cultural initiatives targeting different social groups. The Pavillon des Conti hosts the Gallery of the History of Issy-les-Moulineaux, which illustrates the city’s evolution from a social, urban and industrial perspective | |
Espace Andrée Chedid | Open to all family configurations, the Espace combines a parent–child place, a day-care centre, a parent-baby unit, reception and listening places for teenagers, structures dedicated to child-parent-grandchildren relationships. It proposes activities in the fields of digital technology, culture, prevention and health. It pays particular attention to social support to families and vulnerable social groups |