Volterra22: a case of regeneration
Creators: name: Fresa, Antonella
name: Debernardi, Elisa
name: Pietro, Masi
name: Fiorentini, Giulia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: The paper aims to tell the story of the co-creation path that saw the city to participate in the competition for the Italian capital of culture and to receive the recognition of First Tuscan City of Culture. It will illustrates the evolutionary and transformative nature of the action carried out by the Tuscan city.
The term "regeneration" refers to the potential for innovation that the strategic planning of cultural policies can have on a territory and not only in the cultural sphere. Starting from culture, we have observed how "regeneration" can contribute towards innovating policies in other areas, such as social and economic. Of course, this is a complex process that requires continuous adjustments, to take into account the responses of citizens and of those who enjoy the culture of Volterra. For this reason it is important to investigate, through practices of engagement, what the connection is that can be established between the values of culture and the impact that the expression of these values has on the territory. Also, we have observed how the relationship between values and impact is sometimes difficult to communicate, to demonstrate and to make evident to the recipients of policies that are implemented by the Administration.
The study presented in the paper is part of the project UNCHARTED Understanding, Capturing and Fostering the Societal Value of Culture, funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme. The contribution that culture address some of the crucial problems in Europe is evident, as cultural participation increases well-being and stimulates learning. At an individual level, culture makes people more sociable and responsible, promoting tolerance and citizen participation. At a collective level, it generates identity and a sense of belonging, promoting inclusion and social cohesion. This makes cultural participation a powerful resource for fighting the main threats that undermine peaceful coexistence in Europe.
Through the UNCHARTED project's research, the emergence and conformation of the values of culture have been identified, contextualized, measured and analysed, from an interdisciplinary, collaborative and pluralistic perspective. New tools and guidelines have been used in a wide range of case studies, to understand and calibrate the plurality of values, and to provide indications to policy makers, cultural managers and stakeholders on how to re-orientate their cultural polices and policy actions, in the acknowledgment of the plurality that characterises the values they refer to. Based on the research, a number of recommendations have been produced and shared at conferences and published on scientific journals, as well as on the project's website (https://uncharted-culture.eu/). Findings have also been communicated through the project's blog (hosted by the digitalmeetsculture.net online magazine).
The knowledge gathered from the research has been the subject of three axis of experiments and demonstrations. Axis 1 addressed the question of how cultural values impact on cultural strategic planning. Axis 2 studied the impact of cultural values on urban regeneration programmes. Axis 3 investigated various forms of cultural information systems analysing the construction of indicators based on the data they produce. Each Axis has then been articulated into a main case and two further control cases. Where evidence emerged through fieldwork for the main case, it was then compared with the desk research conducted for the control cases.
This paper tells the story of the work that has been conducted in Axis 1 'Cultural strategic planning' with a specific focus on its main case study about the city of Volterra and its Volterra22 programme.