Second Italian URBACT Good Practices Festival: back in Bari

Social innovation and management of commons, urban health, sport and healthy ageing, impact of tourism in cities, urban regeneration, sustainable food, social media and digital literacy: these are the main topics of the URBACT Networks and good practices presented in Bari at the occasion of the second edition of the Festival of Good Practices URBACT, taking place in Bari on 28 and 29 September 2018.

Making the urban topics interesting to the general public with urban talks involving elected representatives, innovators and experts is the main challenge of the Festival which gathered more than 1000 participants during its first edition, held in Bari in September 2017.

Milan, Genoa , Naples, Turin, Rieti, Ravenna, San Donà di Piave, Adelfia and Rosignano Marittimo are some of the cities presenting the experiences carried out in Action Planning, Implementation and Transfer Networks, and offering fresh ideas and vision thanks to the exchange with European cities on shared interest topics.

The experiences of collaboration between citizens, stakeholders and local authorities promoted in the framework of the URBACT Networks will be showcased in events all over the city. Talks will be organized in different locations such as the Teatro Margherita (officially reopened in the days of the Festival after being closed for decades) and Officina degli Esordi, a collaborative space in the hearth of Bari, open to makers and innovators of the city.

The events organized in Bari will delve into the main issues of the urban agenda, presenting URBACT networks and good practices as a starting point for a wider conversation on topics spanning from social innovation to urban regeneration, and quality of life, as well as on the future of the cohesion policy, which is the main topic of the opening session attended by the European Commissioner to Regional and Urban Policy: Corina Cretu.

Among the experiences and projects presented, the Festival will feature the actions of Naples and Genoa, part of the 2nd Chance URBACT network, that have developed innovative solutions for the regeneration of abandoned structures in city centers. Other examples are the actions carried out by Palermo and Genoa, within the Interactive Cities framework, experimenting with new ways to use social media and digital tools for urban growth.
Bari will present its action in the Com.Unities.Lab Transfer Network, which will encourage the re-use of the model of social innovation and contrast to poverty adopted by the city of Lisbon in neighborhoods and areas of priority intervention.

Conceived as the main opportunity for meeting and exchanging for the Italian URBACT Community, the Festival will be an occasion to share the results of the URBACT Networks and the topics that emerged at the URBACT City Festival held in Lisbon few weeks ago with a wider public. It will also promote public events as urban fests, concerts, dj sets and show cooking as ways to attract the attention of residents, experts and people interested in urban topics in a more creative way.

More details on the agenda and the locations of the Festival of Good Practices are available on the website and on the Eventbrite page of the event.