Sharing CAMINA results to ARCHETHICS URBACT Network of cities: the innovative Inclusive approach for cultural production

The online meeting held on 8 May 2024 was a Thematic workshop on gender, diversity, ethics and communication organised by the Network ARCHETHICS funded by the URBACT programme. 

ARCHETHICS, Dissonant European Heritage as Lab of Democracy, has been focusing on the importance of linking heritage with a story-making process able to embrace public “official” history, micro-stories and individual memories. This approach allows to explore the emotional connection with Cultural Heritage and include in the debate all the people that have experiences to tell. It opens the possibility to consider diverse angles of view including gendered stories, ethics and empathy dimension and through a critical interpretation of the past come into the present to co-design future opportunities for cultural heritage sites. 

Two UIA projects were selected as good practices to be showcased to URBACT cities: CAMINA, implemented by the Municipality of Almeria (ES) and ForwArt, implemented by the Municipality of Tilburg (NL). CAMINA focused on the Innovative approach to create a collaborative and inclusive City Narrative as a starting point for the Cultural Laboratories (called Civic Curators) that engaged a huge number of local organisations, individuals, artists and experts. ForwArt shared a gendered perspective approach to foster talent development and social transformation of a deprived neighbourhood in Tilburg.

What is relevant about CAMINA is the sound participative approach to consider all voices important, taking care of including the marginalised ones. CAMINA has had the ambition to reconnect the city of Almeria with three neighbourhoods (Almedina, La Chanca-Pescaderia and the Centre), that represent the splendour past of the ancient city and that nowadays have lost the central position in the city life.The presence of migrant and low income communities in these neighbourhoods have pushed Almeria’s citizens to other urban areas, generating a ghetto where even the local population do not access. Through the CAMINA initiative, the city of Almeria has triggered a change: bringing again the local population in these neighbourhoods through an innovative inclusive cultural process.

Pablo Macia Bou CEO of Khora Urban Thinkers, delivery partner, presented the process developed by CAMINA to co-create the Narrative of Almeria, called Novel Collective Narrative of Almería’s Cultural Landscape, which has been the foundation element of the whole process.

CAMINA was conceived to reconnect the deprived heritage sites with the rest of the city, recognising the value of a common understanding of the past and the present by co-writing a Novel Collaborative City Narrative as a starting point for co-creating an inclusive and just future for the local population.

The statement was: “All stories are on the same boat”, the experts’ histories and life stories dress with the same importance for inclusiveness and solidarity. It was launched the “Story Bank”, an open call for all the citizens to contribute at the collaborative narrative sharing their own history of life linked to target heritage. The concept of Story Bank has been compared to the “Noah's Ark”, where the cultured stories and the story of life have an equal importance.

Cristina Martín Heras, Eptisa delivery partner, explained the concept and development of the innovative action for culture promoted by CAMINA called “Civic Curators”. The “civic curators” are “social laboratories for culture” that involved cultural users, local associations and citizens to co-design the novel Cultural Programme of Almeria through participatory planning workshops and collaborative culture initiatives. To select the members of the civic curators, the Municipality of Almeria launched a call for participants. Twelve local organisations were selected and grouped in six civic curators.

The civic curators co-designed cultural activities, that were realised in the three target neighbourhoods. The Novel Collective Narrative of Almería’s Cultural Landscape, developed by CAMINA in the first project stage, guided the work of the civic curators, as a visioning scenario of Almeria Citizens.

Thousands of people participated in dance, music and theatre performances, urban walks, talks, exhibitions, artistic and photography workshops. School students were involved in video-making activities and laboratory experiences. Many people had the opportunity to visit the neighbourhoods of La Chanca-Pescaderia,  Almedina  and the centre of Almeria, learning about the potential of these places and the importance of their heritage. Through the cultural activities spread around the three neighbourhoods, CAMINA achieved to attract people in places considered marginalised and deprived, places where people do not use to go due to fear or simple misinformation. CAMINA has triggered a process of de-stigmatisation of the targeted neighbourhoods, fostering the social inclusion of the people living there.

The huge participation in the CAMINA cultural events demonstrated the power of cultural participation and the important role of culture as a sound tool for inclusion and social cohesion.