Paolo Verzone © Ksat Station, Svalbard Norway, 2021
The Department is composed of academic representatives and follows an interdisciplinary approach, where international and regional institutions along with intergovernmental organizations are involved in the protection of cultural heritage and in the promotion of key cultural values, as enshrined in all programs and projects within the framework of the development cooperation worldwide. Indeed, as stated in a recent official programming document of the Italian Development Cooperation: “Culture plays an important role in promoting social cohesion, freedom of expression, identity building, civic empowerment, and intercultural dialogue. It strengthens communities and contributes to resilient, peaceful and stable societies. It fosters economic development, local production and job creation”.
Paolo Verzone © Giza, Cairo, Egypt. Wood Lab, Conservation Center at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) Egypt, June 2021
The Department intends to promote in-depth research, collaborating with both institutional and non-institutional actors, as well as working with the academic and private sector. This multi-level collaboration is aimed at delving into the challenges of development cooperation with a cultural imprint both at the bilateral and multilateral level, through the main international and European intergovernmental systems working in this area.
Due to differentiated operational modalities of the development cooperation carried out by several actors according to a multi-stakeholder approach, the safeguarding of material cultural heritage - including in emergencies, crisis and conflict situations - and intangible heritage, encompassing ethnic and religious minorities, cultural and creative industries, handicrafts, responsible and sustainable tourism, is at the core of every activity proposed and realized by the Department, and is to be considered as a key-tool for the socio-economic promotion of territories and for the protection and enhancement of environmental and cultural heritage.
The Department will propose training and high specialization courses - also in the format of international season schools - on operational features of the development cooperation in the cultural sector, and will promote outreach activities for the widest involvement of all public and private stakeholders for the exchange of knowledge, experiences and good practices.
