FORMA URBIS: luoghi e pratiche di assistenza ed educazione nello spazio urbano. Il caso di Macerata (secoli XV-XX)

BACKGROUND The urban shape of a city represents an extraordinary lab for study and research, which can be approached from different points of view. Scientific literature focused mainly on analysis of various kind: historical, political, artistic, architectural, urban, sociological etc., though it has largely neglected the shape that both individual citizens and the community in its entirety have given to the urban setting through processes of care and education, especially those parts of the community in developmental age or in a situation of need. Many are, and many have to be discovered yet, the welfare and education institutions which, throughout the centuries, have had a central role in shaping the urban/social fabric of the city, especially between the XVI and the XX century. We want to focus on welfare institutions such as orphanages, girls’ schools, hospices and pia loca; to education institutions such as boarding schools, academies, Universities, nursery schools, special education institutes, arts and crafts schools; to associations with different educational purposes, such as brotherhoods, mutual aid societies, cultural and political associations; to institutions concerned with preservation and valorisation of the territory such as museums, libraries and archives.This is an extremely varied and dynamic landscape, which deserves to be brought back to the memory not only of scholars and experts, but of the entire community, as it represents a large and fundamental part of the cultural heritage the human capital of every society is based on. OBJECTIVES The Forma Urbis project intends to investigate the history of welfare and education throughout the modern and the contemporary eras, adopting the town of Macerata as a case study, with the purpose of: - verifying in a micro-environment the numerous historical variations present in this field of study - developing a model for multidisciplinary analysis applicable to the study of other cities more or less complex - planning and testing targeted forms of communication and education with a varied audience. EXPECTED RISULTS Census and Filing of education and welfare institutions in Macerata (centuries XVI-XX) Digitalisation of selected sources Forma Urbis web site Database of the institutions set up on the WEB-GIS platform Hypertexts and Virtual exhibition free available from the project’s website Series of Workshops linking the worlds of culture, education and enterprise Final conference of the project Exhibition of the project in town centre Thematic guided tours addressed to different audiences Forma Urbis book. METHODS The project’s work plan includes 7 Work packages, one of them focusing on management and quality assurance, one on dissemination and 5 on implementation, for a total of 36 months of work. The project’s activities will be carried out with a multidisciplinary approach, which will facilitate the exchange between the research methodologies of different fields of study: history of education, history of welfare, modern and contemporary history, art and architecture history, pedagogy of cultural heritage and Information Science applied to cultural heritage. IMPACT From a scientific standpoint, the aim is to overcome the sectorial and sometimes localised approach of previously conducted research, so to carry out a type of research that is consistent and multidisciplinary. From a socio-economic point of view the aim is to participate in the promotion of knowledge and awareness about the values of the heritage investigated through the project, among citizens, schools, local institutions, cultural and religious institutions of this area. On a technological level the aim is to work on an accurate selection of information and communication tools that would be the most appropriate to transmit the contents of the project, addressing a public not restricted to professionals of the field.