Love Difference Projects - Identity at the Centre

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Identity at the Centre
A process of public participation
for the improvement of the historic centre of Montevarchi

project by artway of thinking and Love Difference

Saturday 29th January 2011: event for the conclusion of the project >>>

The project "Identità al Centro" ("Identity at the Centre" - www.identitalcentro.info), a process of public participation, that has as its objective the improvement of the historic center of Montevarchi (Province of Arezzo, Tuscany), began to develop during the months of October and November 2010.
It 's a project promoted by the City of Montevarchi, Department of Culture, co-funded by the Regional Office for the Participation of the Region of Tuscany and coordinated by the cultural association artway of thinking, in collaboration with Love Difference.

This is the context in which the project is being developed: over the years there has been a steady abandonment of the historic centre by the bourgeoisie and middle classes; while maintaining the ownership, the owners did not intervene in many cases for its upkeep.
In later years-a process that continues even today- disadvantaged classes have settled in the old town.
Consequently, there is a widespread perception of a decline in urban quality. This "cultural decay" is reflected in the protection and value of public and private goods. This creates a loss of identity and function.
Indeed, despite its uniqueness, today the historic centre of Montevarchi has lost its appeal, being less recognized as a place of identity and meeting among the citizens.
The project "Identity at the Centre" aims to identify together methods and tools for the re-development of the Old Town. The approach is to use a process of participation for individual citizens to rediscover a sense of belonging and community, where participants get a "voice" that talks with the municipal administration in the improvement of the quality of everyday life. The citizens' involvement is the primary objective of the project. In this sense, individual expressiveness is strongly emphasized, because different points of view make up the cultural richness of a community.
The curators of the project decided to use a simple communication and a cooperative and friendly approach. At the beginning of the process there has been a selection of people who live, reside and work in the historic centre, representatives of groups and associations. All selected individuals have been contacted directly by the local government to ask them to take part in the project.
Among the forms of citizens' involvement: "perceptual walks", led by snark space making, in which the territory is explored according to different points of view, by asking the participants to observe, describe and collect information; the activation of a theater workshop open to all citizens where, with the help of experts, participants will translate, with new forms of expression, the issues in analysis, issues that will be presented in a final public performance.
After these activities of data collection, specific focus groups will follow different themes, and will create visions and best practices shared by citizens that will be used by the local government to implement the changes to the new urban plan.

Love Difference, that is also coordinating a workshop on the gaze, is organizing a series of dinners in the homes of the inhabitants of the centre- "Andar per case" ("A visit to homes") project - aimed at bringing out different points of view about the redevelopment of private and public space in the centre of Montevarchi.
The taste, enhancing the experience of the Love Difference Pastries , becomes tool of sharing and dialogue between different points of view and different communities that inhabit those spaces.

Love Difference, together with two groups of Montevarchi (Giovani Partecip-Azioni and Macma), is moving through the streets of the Centre of Montevarchi since a few weeks, going from house to house through a chain of dinners and exchanges.
The citizens of Old Town who take part in the project may decide to host a meeting at their home, an occasion to tell what is the centre of their lives, starting from the most intimate place of each person, his home, his private space, the family. Through these informal meetings, people have the opportunity to talk about their needs in the private space and then shift attention to public space.
What do the citizens want for the centre and how?
So the evening become an exchange of ideas even within the family, stories of past times, dreams and wishes for the future.
These dinners are becoming a treasure that grows every day.
An act of generosity and mutual acceptance.
The homes and the people welcome with familiarity and simplicity, together with curiosity everybody enjoy the foods coming from other houses, prepared by other hands, thinking about who would have eaten. The dishes are Albanian, Dominican, Italian, Senegalese, Romanian... this is the taste of the other, of the the difference, a simple way to get in touch with the many cultures living in Montevarchi.
The dialogue about living the Old Town is at the heart of this process, a dialogue between inside and outside (the house and square), public and private, new services and activities, public administration and citizens. And dinner after dinner, meeting after meeting, a chain is getting built, a chain made up of gifts among the people and desires that will join.
At the end of these series of dinners, the project will continue with two group meetings in which people who have participated will choose together among all the ideas and proposals emerged in this first month of work, which initiatives bring to the attention of the local Administration to improve the historic centre of Montevarchi.