Mantova Lab

Description

"The «businesses for the commons» project is based on a logic of social inclusion, reached by an institutional strategy focused on the creation of a network of partnerships between administrators, citizens and businesses. An innovative paradigm which finds its reference in the Italian constitution where, at the fourth comma of article 118, horizontal subsidiarity is expressed; according to such possibility citizens have available precious means to care about overall interest through improving and defending commons. In this framework the culture, a fundamental equally material and immaterial common, is considered as the core for the establishment of a social partnership which make the cultural heritage a driving force in the development, both economic and social, of the Italian city of Mantua. The final objective is to revitalize the cultural heritage of the territory of Mantua by improving social innovation and creativity, and establishing a governance lab which aims to sustain experimentations of shared ideas for the renovation of cultural commons. Through the “businesses for the commons” Lab, will be tested in practice the activities of shared care of the cultural heritage. Project activities require testing of living lab and fab lab, creation of an incubator for cultural enterprises and cooperative placemaking’s experimentation.

Culture and citizenship are engines for economic and social development .There are many examples that demonstrate the success of cooperation among public administrations and citizens: Chocolate factory is the name of a cultural district in a run-down area of London, one of the most active cultural space of Europe. The space Grisù is the first creative factory in Emilia Romagna that now houses the headquarters of many cultural enterprises. The Cantieri di Torino OGR born in the ancient city’s industrial area, that has been upgraded and donated to the community in order to achieve cultural and artistic projects. Some projects are born from patronage : the gift economy of private entities that subsequently open to the public and public administration. An example is the Farm Cultural Park of Favara (Sicily), who was born in a middle degraded and at risk delinquency. Favara has become one of the most important area for contemporary art in the world. These assets recovered have become theaters and meeting places of the projects and initiatives from the artistic talent related to the international art community .Businesses have a key role in this process of artistic development, in particular about creation of creative. Businesses are the leverage to create new relationships, collaborations and partnerships. The cultural incubator is the meeting place for small businesses and nascent cultural expertise of large corporations, which to provide assistance advice and contacts through their services, especially for newcomers, with the goal of creating a multidimensional system.

The living lab approach is based on involving directly the protagonists of the project with a view to co- working. The living lab’s goal is the development of innovative solutions for the management of cultural heritage, supported by the use ICT. The digitalization of cultural heritage is crucial for the development of cultural economy. The fab labs are the incubators of the third industrial revolution, training for social innovation. According to the project, businesses play an essential role (also considering corporate social responsibility influence) in the shared management of cultural commons, functioning as an intersection point among public administration, non-profit sector and citizens, following the idea of sharing resources and competences of each one to reach a common aim. The first step of the project Mantova Lab was the creation of a competition of ideas “Culture as a commons”, which awarded some projects designed by young people under the age of 29 years, on the enhancement of cultural heritage. The co-design lab “Businesses for the commons” is promoted by the “table of cooperation and civil economy” – established by the Chamber of Commerce of Mantova – and realized in collaboration with Labsus-Laboratory for the subsidiarity, with the aim of promoting the cooperation and collaboration among civil society, co-operative enterprises and institutions in the care and regeneration of the common cultural heritage of Mantua. The first round of the laboratory held on 19 and 20 June, with Prof. Gregorio Arena and Prof. Christian Iaione. On 9 and 10 July, the participant of the lab have worked with Daniela Selloni focusing on the Interactive storyboard, prototype, and the co-design of services. On 16 and 17 July the Lab is going to host Anna Serravalli for a co-working dedicated to participatory design for the commons." (http://www.labgov.it/projects/mantovalab/)