The Trentino School of Management, a higher education school established by the Autonomous Province of Trento, the Trentino-Alto Adige Region and the University of Trento, is carrying out an “action research” called “Mountains of Culture” with the aim of investigating the needsthe expectations and cultural plans of young people (in the 18-34 age group) who live in the autonomous province of Trento.
The idea of ”Mountains of culture” was born from the results of recent surveys carried out on young people which show how culture can be an important factor of active and conscious “remaining” in mountain areasas well as an element of attractiveness of internal areas for new inhabitants and visitors. Young people, in fact, according to researchers, highlight the relevance of widespread cultural infrastructure for a quality of local life that is not based only on work and welfare servicesbut which develops within a context of meaningful interpersonal relationships, built around events and networks (music, debates, book presentations, artistic workshops, residential training moments, group walks, museum events), which develop at various geographical scales, offering opportunities not only for leisure but also of personal growth, learning, sharing knowledge, starting from a conscious use of the mountain heritage.
To bring out the cultural needs of young people from Trentino, the Trentino School of Management has started a process of social investigation of a performative nature, with the aim of both collecting data on the topic analyzed and soliciting shared reflections and, possibly, contributing to the in the field of concrete initiatives in a participatory way. The action research will be divided into 3 main phases which will develop during 2024: an initial quantitative investigation, followed by a qualitative one and finally the creation of a workshop on two case studies.
The first step, that of quantitative research, is taking place through the administration of a structured questionnaire, aimed at collecting perceptions, opinions and concrete proposals from young people (in the 18-34 age group) who live in the provincial territory, with the exception of Trento and Rovereto. The questionnaire will probe aspects such as the interest of young people in local cultural or artistic proposals; opportunities for cultural and creative production; the possibilities for participation to build cultural proposals from the bottom up; the presence of job opportunities related to cultural and artistic management; the relational dimension of culture; the contribution of widespread culture to the motivation of young people to stay in the mountains rather than go and live in other places.
Since this phase is ongoing, you can fill out the questionnaire, which can be found here.
Subsequently, the qualitative investigation will be carried out through semi-structured interviews with qualified witnesses on the topics covered by the research. In this case, the goal is to frame the theme of culture as a factor of persistence and attractiveness in mountain areas of the province.
Finally, the project will materialize in a workshop on two case studies of cultural regeneration promoted by youth groups in the provincial territory. TO starting from the discussion of the data collected through the online questionnaire and the interviews, the specificities of the cases investigated will emerge, their strengths and critical points, their development potential and the elements of replicability in other mountain contexts of the Province, in relation to policies and interventions on a larger scale, which could be designed and implemented to encourage this type of widespread cultural experiences, in response to the needs expressed by the Trentino youth world.
