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Social, cultural and economic development, social and environmental justice, and inequality reduction: APEnet outlines public engagement goals and strategies

The Association of 57 Universities and Research Institutions met at the University of Trieste to set priorities for public and social engagement in academia and science: “It is crucial to enhance public engagement activities in researchers' careers.”

Trieste, Nov. 18, 2024 - Generating social, cultural and economic development, including by combating inequalities and enhancing cultural heritage. This is the goal reaffirmed by APEnet, the Association in which 57 Italian universities and research institutions participate to promote and develop public engagement and the social impact of actions resulting from research activities, during the event “Destination Public Engagement #6,” hosted this year by the University of Trieste.
The meeting, which was attended by 130 representatives of member institutions, offered a wide-ranging discussion on strategies by which the scientific and university communities can contribute to the country's inclusive development.

Giulia Carluccio, President of APEnet and Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Turin, emphasized how Destination Public Engagement “represents a path that sees universities and research institutions increasingly committed to sustainable and inclusive development of the country through listening, knowledge enhancement and collaboration with communities.”

Caterina Falbo, University of Trieste's Third Mission Delegate, brought the example of the University of Trieste, which has long been engaged in promoting public engagement activities that strengthen dialogue with the local area and promote community well-being.

“In St. John's Park, which was the site of the Basaglian revolution,” Falbo explains, ”we promote collaborations with a number of social cooperatives to promote the labor inclusion of people in the area of fragility and carry out scientific and cultural outreach initiatives. UniTS also works in synergy with other organizations and institutions to strengthen research on the topic of energy transition and green hydrogen production.”

During the two-day event, guests outlined proposals, highlighted opportunities and suggested possible paths for the growth and recognition of Public Engagement, between public and social engagement and knowledge enhancement.
Recognition of Public Engagement activities in careers emerged as one of the key tools for enhancing the engagement of faculty, researchers, technical-administrative staff and students in projects with high social impact. The objective is therefore also strategic in discussions with the Ministry and the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research ANVUR.

ANVUR Director Daniele Livon, who spoke at the event, described the relationship between the Agency and APEnet as one of fruitful collaboration and dialogue, especially in moments of knowledge enhancement evaluation, in which public engagement has proven to play a key role.

There was no shortage of reflections on the importance of the Faro Convention as an instrument of cultural democracy, thanks also to the participation of Francesc Pla Castelltort (Culture and Cultural Heritage Unit of the Council of Europe), and on the role of Museums, which in the interventions of Irene Baldriga (Sapienza University of Rome) and Paola Rodari (SISSA MediaLab) were described as mediators and places of shared cultural narratives, spaces of authentic confrontation between society and science, and safe spaces to address complex issues.
 
In conclusion, Pier Andrea Serra, vice-president of the Association and Pro-rector of the University of Sassari, presented data from the APEnet Barometer, which monitors the state of the art of public engagement in Italian universities and research institutions.
 

Streaming recordings:
Thursday, Nov. 14 - from 3 p.m. to the end of the event at the following link
Friday, November 15 - from 9:30 a.m. to the end of the event at the following link

The first event of the educational project Mare Sopra, which took place at the Teatro Miela on May 9th, garnered significant interest from the audience. The initiative, conceived by Stefano Furlani, associate professor of geomorphology at the University of Trieste, aims to raise awareness about the issue of rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The day began with the screening of the documentary 2100. There’s no time to waste, which, through the contributions of scientists and experts, examines the effects of climate change on environments and natural resources in 26 emerged and submerged sites along the Sicilian coast, attempting to imagine the situation in 2100, the year that science uses to simulate future environmental scenarios based on the data collected so far. The film, already awarded at various festivals, was produced in 2021 by Fabrizio Antonioli, associated with the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the CNR (CNR-IGAG), and Thalassia Giaccone, from the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station.

Following the screening was a roundtable discussion on the theme Impact of Rising Sea Levels on the Coasts of Friuli Venezia Giulia, moderated by Franco Foresta Martin, former scientific and environmental editor of Corriere della Sera and Rai consultant (Quark and Geo&Geo). The discussion involved some of the leading experts in climate change and marine biology: Fabrizio Antonioli, coastal geomorphologist from CNR-IGAG, specialized in the study of sea level variations; glaciologist Renato R. Colucci from CNR-ISP; physicist Fabio Raicich from CNR-ISMAR; marine microbiologist Francesca Malfatti (UniTS); climate physicist and Nobel Prize winner Filippo Giorgi (ICTP); Giorgio Fontolan, lecturer in Sedimentology and Coastal Dynamics at UniTS; and paleontology lecturer Carlo Corradini (UniTS).

Mare Sopra is a project coordinated by the University of Trieste, funded by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and developed in collaboration with the Miramare Marine Protected Area, the Municipality of Muggia, the Marevivo Association - FVG Delegation, the Marco Polo Comprehensive Institute of Grado, and the Galileo Galilei Scientific High School of Trieste.

The University of Trieste in 2024 has started to organise a series of in-depth meetings on Public and Social Engagement - Third Mission aimed at teaching and research staff, technical-administrative staff, PhD and PhD students, students of the University of Trieste, as well as external researchers and other organisations that have collaborated with the University of Trieste in the same field over time. 

Below are the programmes, recordings, images and slides of all the events already held and archived on OpenstarTs, the University of Trieste's open access digital archive.

A path-narrative between languages and places, between two cities and multiple cultures, between East and West. This is how Velonotte ai confini was described, a cultural bike ride between Gorizia and Nova Gorica led by Sergey Nikitin-Rimsky, art historian and urban educator, inventor and founder of the International Velonotte Project. The initiative took place on May 11th 2024 and was organized by the T.E.T.R.I.S.S. Cultural Square Project, a project of the Department of Legal, Language, Interpretation and Translation Sciences IUSLIT of the University of Trieste, under the scientific responsibility of Professor Margherita De Michiel.
The velotour started from the central station of Gorizia, where e-bikes from the cross-border circuit between the two cities were distributed, continuing on a route through some of the most significant places in the city of Gorizia. The journey ended with a guided tour by historian Blaž Kosovel at the Town Hall of Nova Gorica and its Green Hall (Zelena Dvorana), where the spectacular frescoes by painter Slavko Pengov are located, depicting some of the most important events in the history of the Slovenian Littoral. The velotour concluded in front of the "ruski bloki", condominiums and examples of brutalist architecture found in all former socialist countries.
Velonotte ai confini included various moments of sharing and dissemination of gadgets and cultural products designed by the TETRISS Cultural Square, in a bilingual Italian and Slovenian format. Among these was a limited edition of the "Cultural @Cards dedicated to the Cosmos", created in collaboration with the renowned company Modiano.