Restitution workshop in Turin
Maria Vasile and Cristina Grasseni have presented the results of Maria’s ethnography in Turin.
On November 21, 2022 at the Aurora neighbourhood community centre Cecchi Point, in Turin, Cristina Grasseni and Maria Vasile presented the Food Citizens? field results to invited research participants and stakeholders.
Cristina presented the framework of the project as well as the interactive documentary (i-doc). Maria’s presentation was entitled “Urban, welfare and labour transformations in Turin. An analysis building on the study of Collective Food Procurement”. The talk focused on some of the key themes that crisscrossed the ethnography in Turin such as the topic of urban renewal and the dichotomic narrative around urban decorum and urban decay. Maria also introduced part of her analysis on how spatial, citizenship and welfare transformation happen together, critically discussing, among others, volunteerism, community-based welfare and green gentrification.
The presentation was followed by a brainstorming session about inclusion and exclusion in access to food, especially from the point of view of involvement of the third sector (NGOs and volunteers’ associations) in urban renewal projects. Academics, solidarity economy activists, students, NGO project managers, freelance consultants, journalists, social and environmental NGO representatives participated in the round table and discussed the ‘funding treadmill’ which often distracts from rooting empowering and participative dynamics in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
