Abstract
The main objective of the WALC project is the analysis from an interdisciplinary perspective (critical-literary, geographical, sociological, etc.) of walking in urban spaces as an intangible cultural heritage of contemporary urban mobility in European cities. The social and humanistic perspective proposed by this project suggests the importance of walking as a cultural practice that has to be re-evaluated especially in light of the aim to rethink cities and urban mobilities in the post-pandemic time and of the current social changes and climatic crisis that ask to rethink the transport means and practices by which we move in space. In European cities, walking in urban space is an often neglected but widely accessible everyday activity: allowing one to reflect on the conformation of the city, perceive and embody the map of the city, and identify new routes for experiencing and exploring everyday environments. Far from being a mere self-reflecting, individual practice, walking represents a common tool for empowering citizens, allowing them understand the value of urban narratives traced by walking paths as intangible heritage that could be enhanced by new types of open-air, mobile, and public museum activities; to re-imagine interactions between places and stakeholders; to promote dialogues between transgenerational non specialistic-audiences and academic, cultural, and institutional actors (i.e. universities, museums, local administrations and institutions). The geographical distribution of the RUs in three urban contexts, Bologna, Padova and Milano, represents an opportunity to test this approach in different cities; furthermore, the disciplinary specificities of the three RUs’ coordinators allows to read walking landscapes through a complex, transdisciplinary lens, bringing experts from literary criticism, geography, and sociology into conversation. The outputs of the project will be both scientific publications and policy proposals for cultural institutions, in order to bring urban cultures to the centre of the international socio-political debate. The WALC team firmly believes that a humanistic approach is fundamental to face the challenges of Europe’s present and future, in particular to achieve some of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015: Goal 4 Quality Education; Goal 5 Gender Equality; Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 17 Partnership for the Goals.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Filippo Milani
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Italianistica
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 227.307,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 81.266,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
30/11/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
