Inclusion Call - Music and Urban Art towards the European Capital of Culture 2025

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Youth information Centre/Eurodesk of the Municipality of Gorizia

Organisation:

Youth information Centre/Eurodesk of the Municipality of Gorizia

Country:

Italy

About organisation:

The Youth information Centre/Eurodesk of the Municipality of Gorizia aims to meet the needs of young people by adopting active policies focused on up-to-date and independent information, skills enhancement through activities oriented towards social inclusion and the dissemination of opportunities within the European Union targeted at youth. It also includes a youth aggregation center, where youth can use free of charge meeting rooms to design and plan their projects, and where they can benefit from workshops and seminars. The local EDK center collaborates with the Municipal Youth Policies Service in the implementation of projects and activities aimed at promoting youth well-being and support (guidance, inclusiveness, job and leisure), promoting mobility projects offered by the Eurodesk. The context is the one of a cross-border city, even more stimulating and lively thanks to the nomination of the city of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia as European Capital of Culture 2025.

Title of the project

Inclusion Call - Music and Urban Art towards the European Capital of Culture 2025

Start date:

8/9/2021

End date:

30/9/2022

Objectives:

The project co-financed by the Department for Youth Policies and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers saw the involvement of the local associations “Macross” and “Examina” and “IAL FVG”; it aimed to promote local actions encouraging the active participation of youth people. We achieved the general objectives: to boost their participation redesigning our city through participatory paths. The result has been the improvement of the social and urban context of the city of Gorizia (joining Nova Gorica as European Capital of Culture 2025) using art language and creativity, and involving the local young population in the creation of music and visual art works to make the city more welcoming in this new cross-border context. In order to offer greater opportunities to local kids, especially NEETs, the project also envisaged the creation of a music hall, currently under construction, providing young people the opportunity to use all the musical instruments to nurture their passion for music. In the project, 132 hours of training workshops were dedicated to Street Art and participatory planning, Photography and urban exploration, Videomaking and Digital Arts and Audio Technologies. Activities of great impact took place with the creation of murals aimed at the redevelopment of urban areas by young writers by using ecological paints. This project was presented under the tender "Fermenti in Comune".

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

The project was carried out with local youngsters in a post-pandemic situation. Covid has negatively impacted young people in particular, forcing them to give up their projects and dreams for a long period of time. This project provided them with the opportunity to start over and express themselves through art. Furthermore, it has favoured a recovery of social life and the sharing of ideas in a context completely respectful of the environment, and qualitatively improving the aesthetic impact of the city in which they live. The street-art work "Step by step" was painted, expressing graphically the experiences, doubts and difficulties of students. The graffiti represents a girl who runs up a ladder of books, in analogy with the personal journey of each young person. It is no coincidence that the community specific work was created on the wall of a training institution, partner in the project. The young people involved have also created a mapping of the spaces that can be dedicated to writing. The final event included live music where young artists met to create together a live painting on an old wall, granted by the local Church. The young people also created a manifesto summarising the principles and general rules of behaviour for the best use of a free expression common space.The liveliness created is in sync with the cultural turmoil around the candidacy of Nova Gorica and Gorizia as European Capital of Culture 2025:past and future are mixing and helping the cultural strategy.

How the project was inclusive:

The project, which encompassed the European values of inclusion and equality, had a special focus on the environment. It also aimed at promoting the opportunities provided by the European Eurodesk network: specifically, during the final event, the Eurodesk network and the opportunities it offers both locally and internationally were presented, also through social channels.Moreover, the project boosted many synergies between key players in the area, and the networking activity led to new projects, further promoting the artistic-cultural connection with Nova Gorica.

Green aspect:

A large painting was carried out on the facade of a training institution, created by Mattia Dall'Orto, a local but internationally renowned artist, with the use of ecological paints and an innovative air purification technology to reduce air pollutants with high reflective power. The work was created using a new generation product: purifying photocatalytic mineral paint. Photocatalytic painting allows to neutralise the polluting agents present in the air and transform them into other neutral and harmless substances. By painting the walls with these products, it is thus possible to purify the environment. This type of product is also called self-cleaning and anti-mould photocatalytic paint because, in addition to eliminating smog, it helps counteract deposits of dirt, mould and bacteria, keeping the appearance of the paint unchanged over time.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

The project, which encompassed the European values of inclusion and equality, had a special focus on the environment. It also aimed at promoting the opportunities provided by the European Eurodesk network: specifically, during the final event, the Eurodesk network and the opportunities it offers both locally and internationally were presented, also through social channels.Moreover, the project boosted many synergies between key players in the area, and the networking activity led to new projects, further promoting the artistic-cultural connection with Nova Gorica.

Impact:

The project had a positive impact on the urban social context, particularly involving young people aged 16-25 at risk of dropping out of school, who were supported in the different project phases by students, emerging artists and young creatives from a peer-to-peer perspective. Furthermore, the project led to an urban redevelopment, making important changes to the urban design of the city, for the benefit of the whole community and not just the young participants. The creation of artistic images visible to all citizens made possible for the whole community to experience and see the city of Gorizia with the eyes of art, favouring an approach to "street painting" as a modern and contemporary art form.