Culture as an infrastructure for local development, urban regeneration, and social inclusion. This is the guiding principle of the third edition of the "Cultural Ecosystems in Southern Italy" call for proposals, promoted by the CDP Foundation, a non-profit organization of the CDP Group, with Intesa Sanpaolo's participation through the Impact Department of the Territorial Bank Division.
The 2025 edition of the call, launched in October last year, makes one million euros available to support initiatives Capable of transforming public cultural heritage into a growth driver for local communities. This approach considers the valorization of assets not only for conservation purposes, but also as a lever to activate economic and social networks, strengthen communities, and combat the phenomena of marginalization and depopulation affecting various areas of Southern Italy.
Il model promoted by the CDP Foundation It aims to build true territorial ecosystems, in which public administrations, cultural institutions, the third sector, and local communities collaborate around a historical, artistic, or landscape asset. The goal is to create an impact that goes beyond a single restoration project, generating cultural activities, training, inclusion, and new development opportunities.
The perimeter expands to Abruzzo and Molise
The third edition also introduces an expansion of the territorial audience. In addition to Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia, the call is also open for the first time to the municipalities of Abruzzo and Molise, regions included in the Special Economic Zone for Southern Italy, the ZES Unica.
The measure is intended for Municipalities with a population between 5.000 and 100.000 inhabitantsThe resources finance projects aimed at promoting and revitalizing public buildings of significant local interest through cultural, artistic, social, and naturalistic activities.
The logic is that of an investment with multiple benefitsRestoring a property means creating a gathering place, but also activating skills, services, and opportunities for communities. Particular attention is paid to inclusion and the social and occupational integration of vulnerable people.
Three projects, three valorization models
Three initiatives have been selected for the new edition, located in Basilicata, Puglia, and AbruzzoProjects with different heritages and vocations, but united by the desire to transform local assets and traditions into assets for territorial development.
In Basilicata, “Officine Monastiche”, promoted by the 131st Symphony Orchestra of Basilicata, intervenes on the material and immaterial heritage of theUnion of Municipalities of Val Camastra-BasentoThe project's centerpiece will be the Grancia Certosina di San Demetrio, an ancient monastic complex destined to become a multifunctional cultural hub.
The project aims to build a stable ecosystem through artistic production, training, and community engagement, while simultaneously reviving musical traditions and local knowledge. The historical heritage is thus used as a platform to develop new activities and strengthen the local social capital.
From the industrial heritage, new opportunities for Salento
In Puglia, the project "Discovering the Southern Emporium", promoted by 34° Fuso APS, focuses on the archaeological-industrial heritage of the Salento region. The initiative involves the Terra d'Otranto Archaeological-Industrial Museum in Maglie and builds an intermunicipal network with Cutrofiano, Cursi, and Zollino.
The promotion focuses on the area's productive history, from entrepreneurial activities to artisanal production and agricultural production, which have contributed to the area's economic and social identity. The intermunicipal dimension is one of the initiative's most significant elements: heritage is in fact considered as a shared resource, capable of connecting multiple centers and promoting greater integration of cultural and territorial activities.
In Atri, the museum becomes a social infrastructure
The third project, “RIABITA – Regenerating Atri Together: Intangible Assets for a More Attractive Territory”, is promoted by Formatalenti Società Cooperativa Sociale and concerns the Municipal Ethnographic Museum of Atri, in the province of Teramo.
The aim is to reactivate the structure by transforming it into a permanent outpost aimed at young people, schools and communitiesThe program will include training and orientation, coworking, intergenerational workshops, and creative residencies.
Even in this case the strategy is not limited to recovery of a public spaceThe museum is conceived as a social infrastructure capable of generating relationships, skills, and opportunities for participation, with particular attention to the new generations.
Sixteen ecosystems already activated and over 20 thousand beneficiaries
The new edition is part of a path that, in the previous rounds, has already led to theactivation of sixteen cultural ecosystemsTen of these will conclude their activities by 2026 and, overall, the initiatives have already reached over 20 beneficiaries among the public and local communities.
Projects completed in previous years demonstrate the variety of possible interventions. In Sicily, “Matre Terra” has developed the first Land Art trail in the Etna Park, with eco-friendly works selected through an international contest. In Campania, the Immaginaria Onlus social cooperative is working to enhance Palazzo D'Avalos in Procida, a historic Bourbon residence later converted into a penitentiary.
Among the initiatives of the second edition there is also “LE.GA.MI.” by Libera Terra Mediterraneo, aimed at the restoration and enhancement of an eighteenth-century farmhouse confiscated from organized crime near Palermo. In Calabria, "Ria-animare Pentedattilo" aims to regenerate the ancient Greek village through community involvement and inclusion and job placement programs.
Culture as a lever for territorial investment
The experience of the tender highlights a transformation in the way of conceiving cultural heritageHistoric assets are no longer considered solely as elements to be preserved, but as potential hubs around which to build economic, social, and educational activities.
From this perspective, collaboration between public and private entities takes on a central role. The administrations make the assets available and territorial expertise, while foundations, social enterprises, cultural institutions, and the Third Sector contribute to the planning and management of activities.
The expected result is a multiplier effect of the investment Initial: the redevelopment of a property can generate new visitor flows, training opportunities, cultural activities, job opportunities and greater attractiveness for the area.
A strategy against depopulation
For the internal areas and for the small and medium-sized municipalities of Southern Italy, the valorisation of the heritage can also represent a response to population loss and the progressive reduction of services.
The challenge, however, is not just making historic buildings and sites accessible again. The sustainability of these interventions depends on the ability to keep them active over time. building a network of subjects and activities around the assets capable of producing value even after the financing has concluded.
It is precisely on this element that the cultural ecosystems model focuses: create conditions so that investment in culture can translate into a permanent process of local development.
From heritage to value creation
The three projects selected for the third edition represent, in this sense, three declinations of the same strategy. In Basilicata music and a monastic complex become the starting point for a new cultural hub; in Puglia the memory of productive activities is used to build a territorial network; in Abruzzo an ethnographic museum is rethought as a space for education, innovation, and participation.
It is an approach that attributes to culture a role that is increasingly closer to that of an economic and social infrastructureInvesting in heritage thus becomes an investment in people, skills, and the ability of regions to generate new opportunities.
For Southern Italy, where the challenge of growth is intertwined with that of territorial cohesion, the key point is therefore to transform existing cultural wealth into lasting economic and social value. And this is precisely the challenge underlying cultural ecosystems: making heritage not just a testimony to the past, but one of the tools through which to build the future of the territories.
