Reshaping Europe through the lens of cultural participation

Post-Covid emergency management has two complementary sides: the creation of safety nets to prevent the de facto disintegration of the Cultural and Creative Sector and the strategies for its relaunch, considered as a keystone to reshape Europe. This plot, sometimes hidden or elusive, needs new methods of civic participation to empower people in their role as citizens in the field of cultural policies through the digitization of processes. In the light of the Next Generation Eu program, the civic tech represents a strategy and an innovative toolkit capable of creating an ecosystem of culture based on effective public and private partnership (PPP) in which citizens can take initiatives in engaging with the community they live in: e.g., using community platforms. This method introduces an innovative scenario in which the practical definition of «participation» derives from the quality of processes and the mediation among citizens, territory, and institutions. In seeking to gain insights into bottom-up co-creation processes, this article investigates public participation, dealing with the best practice of Real Sito of Carditello (in Caserta province).