GenerAzioni Festival returns, events and workshops for the involvement of young people in public life.
On October 12th and 13th, 2023, as part of the MUSA project, the University of Milano-Bicocca promotes the GenerAzioni Festival dedicated to the participation of young people in public life.
In its third edition, this year, the Festival becomes a stage for the initiatives of the MUSA ecosystem (Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action) dedicated to promoting urban regeneration for sustainable cities and combating inequalities for an inclusive society, through innovation and social engagement. Once again, young people will be at the forefront, with guided visits to the Bicocca telescope to admire the sun and stars, discovering biodiversity in the Campus nursery, and engaging in discussions with politicians, researchers, and professionals.
The event will open on October 12th at 9:15 am with greetings from the Magnifica Rector of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Giovanna Iannantuoni. Vittorio Biondi, the General Director of MUSA, will also speak.
Two days filled with appointments, performances, meetings, and workshops, as well as consultations, roundtable discussions, and working sessions with young people from the local, national, and European landscape who, in various ways, promote advocacy and representation actions to bring the voices of young people into decision-making spaces. Education, Sustainability, and Social Justice; Advocacy, Active Participation, Representation were the themes proposed in the first two editions of the Festival, with hundreds of events distributed throughout the territory, thousands of registered participants, 6 University departments, and 40 organizations involved.
In this edition, the mornings of October 12th and 13th will be led by B-YOUth Forum, a participatory research laboratory open to young people aged 16 to 25 who, with an interdisciplinary approach, use scientific research to facilitate young people’s engagement in ongoing transitions in society and their territories. There will be numerous initiatives dedicated to high school students in the area, giving them the opportunity to conduct research on social sustainability themes. In particular, among various topics, they will work on active citizenship education through the exploration of public space, accessibility and inclusivity in urban spaces, freedom of expression and its limits, and non-violence education.
Classes will have the opportunity to engage with politicians, researchers, and professionals, conduct public consultations, and practice dialogue with decision-makers in the area. Some of the proposed activities will be in collaboration with various local and international organizations, such as the European Youth Forum (an international network representing over a hundred youth organizations), the National Youth Council, the Feltrinelli Foundation, Parco Nord, as well as in collaboration with research groups affiliated with MUSA. The morning of October 13th will be concluded by the work of B-YOUth Forum and Tiziana Elli, the Councillor for Gender Equality, Sports, Popular Neighborhoods, Institutional Communication, Youth Policies, CAM, and CAG of the Municipality 9 of Milano.
In the afternoons of October 12th and 13th, the events will be open to the public as an opportunity to meet MUSA on its working themes: active and sustainable mobility, digital education, inclusive practices, active citizenship, urban biodiversity, and public space. Among the initiatives carried out by MUSA that will enliven the two days, ‘Stories from the Bicocca neighborhood’ (meeting point: Agorà Building, Corridor U6-Agorà Aula Magna), which will catapult participants into the collective narrative of urban sustainability in the Bicocca neighborhood through an exploration of the territory. ‘Models and Perspectives on Minors’ Participation’ (U6 Building-Agorà-Aula 4) will be the seminar dedicated to models of minors’ participation in decision-making processes, with a particular focus on young people’s empowerment and well-being.
Furthermore, ‘Discovering Urban Biodiversity’ (Bicocca Nursery) will focus on open discussion about the biodiversity that populates cities. From the birth of ecosystems to the choice of trees in urban environments, the initiative will provide concrete examples, with an eye on future challenges and the search for possible solutions. From biodiversity to inclusion, ‘Making culture, making community. Practices of inclusion and active citizenship in the Metropolitan City of Milan’ (U36 Building-Torre dell’Acqua) will highlight the inclusion and active citizenship practices promoted by migrant women in the Metropolitan City of Milano, with a particular focus on the involvement of young second-generation women who are creating inclusive spaces in their residential neighborhoods through cultural and service activities.
Young people will also explore the cosmos with the Bicocca Telescope (U9 Building-Koinè South Terrace), offering guided visits to the Bicocca Telescope, providing the opportunity to observe the sun during the day and the starry sky in the evening.
There will also be ‘Community Pacts for Digital Education’ (U6 Building-Agorà-Aula Magna), an event that will offer a perspective on the over 50 paths started in Italy within the ‘Digital Pacts’ project. On this occasion, the principles of the “Community Digital Education Manifesto” will be presented, and experiences and local initiatives in the field of digital education will be highlighted.
Finally, with the traveling initiative ‘Moving in Bicocca. Walking, living, and crossing the spaces and places of the neighborhood’ (meeting point: U36 Building-Torre dell’Acqua), there will be a presentation of research activities and initial results on the analysis of accessibility and active, sustainable, safe, and inclusive mobility in the Bicocca neighborhood.
To conclude the first day, from 6:00 pm on October 12th, the GenerAzioni Festival, in collaboration with BIM – Bicocca Incontra Milano, will host Rap Generazioni, a live hip-hop, rap, and urban showcase featuring artists from RIL Factory, the artistic and social factory in Milan that uses music to promote the protagonism, expression, and active citizenship of young people through artistic expression. The concert will take place in the BiM square (entrance from Via Polvani and Via Temolo). The DJ set at the beginning and end of the event will be curated by Carlo Palmiero aka Clinico Boombox, founder of RIL Factory.
