Context elements

Since last March, society has suddenly found itself in a new context marked by prolonged social distancing. This condition has put a double emphasis on those places that act as civic and cultural principals spread throughout the territory, both those present and active for years and those born in recent times. We are talking about New Cultural Centers, Independent Cultural Centers and Civic Aggregation Centers. All of these realities will assume a primary role in the process of re-initiating relationships of proximity, but they are still paying a very high price and are under stress both in financial terms (today) and in terms of organizational model (tomorrow) because in all likelihood they will have to reinvent the dynamics of operation and economic sustainability.

These spaces represent the response to collective needs not always considered and often absent from policies; those who manage them and the communities that form around these realities activate citizens and contribute to welfare and well-being, helping to counter growing inequalities and cooperate in mending social cohesion.

For this reason, in April 2020 the Culture Objective of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation proposed “Rincontriamoci”, an emergency call for proposals to support all those centers created by the autonomous initiative of individuals or associations that play a role of territorial protection, present in the cities, provinces and inland areas of the Northwest. A total of 1.5 million euros was thus allocated to 147 centers in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta.

The analysis conducted on the data collected, developed thanks to the contribution of the cheFare Association, reveals a panorama with great potential, not without new lifeblood in terms of innovation, with a recognizable civic, social and cultural role, characterized by different models of microeconomics and sometimes of non-profit enterprise. A sector, however, not yet well defined and not treated in a systemic way by specific policies, despite the fact that these spaces generate social value with a strong impact. Managers make significant investments in activities of public utility, often in favor of real estate assets owned by local or state administrations, but with the closure dictated by the regulations to contain the epidemic, the damage is falling on individuals and communities.

For these reasons, the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation has decided to continue supporting this sector by inaugurating a three-year program that places these structures at the center of the Participation Mission of the Culture Objective.

Aims and objectives

The call is aimed at SPACES (i.e., permanently organized physical places), open to citizens with a constant frequency, managed or co-managed by entities eligible for grants from the Compagnia (see paragraph “Eligible entities”) that function as cultural and civic centers dedicated to a specific area or community and therefore characterized by a strong relationship with those who frequent them; spaces of cultural and social inclusion, multifunctional, possibly open to spontaneous and informal use by the inhabitants of the area, managed according to criteria of economic sustainability and interested in strengthening it.

With the call SPACE the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation wants to financially support the spaces and contribute to the strengthening of management models and skills of the managers and co-managers of the principals also through training and consulting.

The call aims to identify:

1. the spaces that already represent an innovative and functioning model of the sector;
2. spaces that show potential and on which an investment can generate a sustainable social impact over time.