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Participation

How no longer the individual but the communities of people who identify around common needs and opportunities build together places and narratives capable of hosting and engaging everyone. People for the people.

This section is dedicated to active participation in the management or enhancement of cultural heritage and activities.

museums

Accessibility in museums: an investment that creates the future

Effetti sul piano della sostenibilità economica e sociale

The text reflects on the numerous impacts related to considering accessibility as a strategic principle to redefine the public role of museums. Accessibility policies build proximity, capable of creating trusting relationships and fostering new forms of participation. In this sense, the opening to the sensory-perceptual dimension in the visit paths enriches the museum narrative, welcoming new audiences; as well as the use of technologies as enablers of meaning. All these accessible interventions produce measurable returns, also in terms of economic sustainability: a mature managerial reading of the phenomenon shows how these interventions generate value in the medium-long term. Accessibility also produces effects on the level of social sustainability, expanding cultural citizenship, reducing inequalities, and generating relational well-being. Accessibility is therefore a fundamental lever for the future of museums and, above all, an investment that produces the future.

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GLAM

Cultural participation? It is (still) a privilege

Examples of intercultural and community practices that reduce barriers

The text analyzes the social and cultural barriers that in Italy limit access to cultural life, considered a citizenship right and a form of community relationship. Beyond physical, economic, or territorial obstacles, symbolic and ritual signals especially weigh, making culture perceived as an elitist space, excluding those who do not master its codes. The dominant cultural imagery, not very representative of the diversity present in the country, marginalizes stories and memories of underrepresented groups, particularly people with migratory backgrounds. The text presents examples of intercultural and community practices that reduce these barriers by making museums and libraries shared and participatory places. For these changes to become structural, long-term policies based on participatory governance, linguistic plurality, and redistribution of cultural power are needed. The final challenge is to redefine the 'we' of Italian culture, recognizing diversity as a resource and condition for a broader cultural democracy.

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Glossary

The words of participation and co-design in cultural places (and beyond).

C

Community

Every museum must consider the various communities, understood as relational systems, and represent them. Museums can also promote a sense of mutual connection, permeability between different groups, and in turn create plural communities. As an institution, the museum must also ensure that every visitor feels comfortable and recognized as part of the museum community. 

[Gruppo di Lavoro Accessibilità, ICOM Italia, 10 parole, 2024, edited by Irene Balzani, Sofia Bilotta, Rosa Di Lecce, Irene Innocente, Federica Pascotto]

Community

Community word
C

Co-design

Nothing about us without us is the motto that corresponds to the principle that every person has the right to have control and responsibility over their choices. In museums, this translates into the constant need to listen to and involve multiple audience segments: various professional figures, people with disabilities or those living particular conditions, but also different ages, cultures, origins, and gender identities.
Co-design means creating together with audiences, using the senses, other languages and forms of expression, and then evaluating the effectiveness and value of the proposals, in a constant and reciprocal exchange. 

[Gruppo di Lavoro Accessibilità, ICOM Italia, 10 parole, 2024, edited by Irene Balzani, Sofia Bilotta, Rosa Di Lecce, Irene Innocente, Federica Pascotto]

Co-design

Prato, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. Project room
P

Participation

The Faro Convention (2005) encourages «everyone to participate in the process of identifying, studying, interpreting, protecting, conserving and presenting cultural heritage». 
Participation means giving each person an active role, and the museum is called upon to listen, stimulating and nurturing the creative and expressive potential of communities, the territory, and every single visitor. 
The participatory approach is a principle that transforms the museum into a place of active citizenship where people are invited to contribute to new collective processes and meanings. 

[Gruppo di Lavoro Accessibilità, ICOM Italia, 10 parole, 2024, edited by Irene Balzani, Sofia Bilotta, Rosa Di Lecce, Irene Innocente, Federica Pascotto]

Participation

Participation word
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