FOLLOW THE LIGHT(HOUSE)

Project

269480

Status

Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

FOLLOW THE LIGHT(HOUSE)

Full concept/idea title

Description

The magical faristic heritage, abandoned, comes back to life: it will be the guide, the light, for citizens to a sustainable, inclusive and beautiful world. From the Tino Lighthouse, we promote a model of territorial valorization that starts from the local system and expands creating a network around the world, for an absolute global revolution: environmental, economic, cultural, social, personal. All through the approach of Systemic Design connecting: education, community and circular economy

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

The project moves in the context of renewed attention to the heritage of lighthouses and lanterns belonging to the State, which aims to enhance these important and fascinating structures, now limited to functional use of maritime signaling, but in a state of abandonment and closure. In particular, the work starts from the San Venerio Lighthouse in the Tino island, part of the UNESCO heritage. The goal is to transform the lighthouse into an open ecosystem of innovation that combines research, experimentation, tourism and entrepreneurship, with the principles of Systemic Design. The process thus acts in a twofold direction: enhancement of the heritage in which it is located, returning it to the community; and promotion of an absolute revolution (environmental, economic, cultural, social, personal), designating itself a node of a potentially global network.The project focus is to put in a system: education, community, and circular economy.The lighthouse will therefore become a research center, a laboratory for experimentation, where universities, schools, associations, external researchers and local people can interact through training courses, workshops and various activities. The themes will be dedicated to sustainability and to the creation of new projects feasible in the context of La Spezia and then scalable, with the aim of making the lighthouse and the island completely carbon neutral, becoming a direct demonstration of change.The community experience of the lighthouse is that one that anyone, locals and tourists, can live in this environment sharing vision, principles, guidelines, according to a sustainable lifestyle and thus transforming the lighthouse into a hub, a place of meeting, exchange, connections, where the exchange is the order of the day.The circular economy indicates the front in which sustainability is applied to the territory: the lighthouse thus becomes an incubator of ideas, projects, which aim to connect local companies through Systemic Design

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

Social sustainability: sustainability education; dissemination of knowledge about sustainability issues; sustainable and inclusive lifestyle (community);   Achieved through: the creation of a laboratory, research center for teaching and learning, open to practical experimentation and external communication and dissemination; the lighthouse and the island become spaces for positive exchanges and co-creation of community, which shares the same values and principles in line with systemic design;   Environmental sustainability: research and experimentation in the field of sustainability, in particular in the Mediterranean island/maritime context; energy and process self-sufficiency of the lighthouse structure, taking into account the island's biodiversity and integrating the structure into the surrounding nature and landscape;   Achieved through: the rehabilitation of the lighthouse and the island, combining style with a strong social purpose and sustainability, in accordance with the natural context of the island; the ancient structure of the lighthouse will be reused and adapted, where necessary, to become a welcoming place for students and guests; adaptations and modifications to the structure will be designed using local materials and know-how and choosing sustainable systems for the energy supply of the structure (solar panels, wind, hydro, tidal energy etc.). The goal is to make the small island of Tino self-sufficient.   Economic sustainability: realization of a territorial system based on circular economy; experimentation of new circular business models;   Achieved through: collaboration with innovative local companies and with guidelines in accordance with the themes of sustainability, as well as with entities such as the Protected Natural Park of Porto Venere, local associations and others; promotion of systemic, circular and participatory approaches in the local community;  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

The project aims to create a space in harmony with the aesthetics and quality of the surrounding environment: the suggestiveness of the lighthouse and the uncontaminated nature of the island, rich in flora and fauna, represent the ideal context to transport the community to a dimension of peace, of reconnection with themselves and with the surrounding nature, and that at the same time induces them to focus on their own objectives.   This is concretized by creating a simple place, in connection with the island, in line with the systemic principles and therefore guaranteeing the balance of the ecosystem in which it is established and exploiting the local resources (flowers, plants, wood, rock, water, wind), becoming the manifesto of a new way of living.  The scenario is perfect to receive external input, from local people and not, inclusive of all genders and ages, and open to experiences of exchange, dialogue, growth, energy flows, dynamism. The community that animates it will be stimulated by multidisciplinary activities, such as workshops on different topics and moments of confrontation based on the learning by doing approach, with the aim of transmitting systemic values through direct experience. All in a perspective of economic accessibility, in which entities, associations, and economic models from below, will be encouraged, with approaches of co-design and participation. In this idyllic place will be proposed activities of inner growth and well-being of body and mind and especially freedom of expression through the arts.  One of the long-term goals is to create a network of lighthouses or other centers like this that can become a system, in which each node of the network is in relation to others, for a continuous exchange and therefore growth.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

The project aims to return the cultural asset "lighthouse" to the community, moving away from the idea of "lighthouse" as a merely romantic and elitist place, open only to those who exercise the task of guardian.  At the same time, it opposes the consumerist approach of giving it to a private individual who could turn it into a highly expensive receptive place inaccessible by the majority of the community. On the contrary, the goal is to make participation, engagement and accessibility core values of the new lighthouse.  Becoming an ad hoc place for education, community creation, and shaping of new models of circular economy, the lighthouse turns out to be a vehicle for openness: towards multidisciplinarity, researchers, experts, professionals, designers, artists, students, curious, tourists, local and not. The culture, in particular the contribution of varied knowledge, becomes the vital energy of the growth process of the project. The realization of all this starts from the creation of the first examples of collaboration with companies, schools and local authorities, in order to show the potential to the rest of the community. Communication is one of the core values to be held firmly throughout the design process. This is both so that all stakeholders have clear objectives to move all in the same direction, and so that the public and end users are aware of the transformation taking place. Therefore, one of the objectives is to create a very strong advertising campaign that uses the various communication channels to reach the target audience in the most appropriate way.  

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

The project is innovative on several fronts: first of all, the concept of entrusting to the community an asset of cultural heritage as historically exclusive as that of a lighthouse.  A place so unique and reserved becomes with our project a crossroads of accessibility, inclusiveness, expression of culture, experimentation and innovation. The ancient figure of the lighthouse keeper is renewed, giving space to an entire community that takes care of this place, transforming it in a perspective of complete sustainability and giving life to a place where the most diverse solutions are designed and tested in order to face the current complex challenges. Innovative is the system that is created inside the lighthouse, a hub of education, community creation and new circular economies. In the same place research can find answers in the practice of experimentation, and experimentation can become reality with real application through collaborations with companies and local authorities. Innovative is also the approach with which every single element of the system is realized and managed. The approach is in fact that of Systemic Design, in which it is believed that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts", characterized by a shift of perspective from the parts to the whole and by an intrinsic multidisciplinarity. In practice, this is reflected for example in the approach to teaching, which wants to be an open process of continuous exchange, research and practice together, learning by doing, and interchanges with the outside world through courses taught by experts from different sectors. In addition, thinking about the final objective of the project, an island today reserved has the possibility to become the first node of a network of other centers like this one that by relating and collaborating can lead to a potentially global revolution, sharing guidelines, vision and goals towards the creation of a better world for all.  

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

Creation of a collaboration between the Polytechnic of Turin and the Italian Navy (which manages the lighthouse and the island on which it stands) making both promoters actors of the launching project; Agreements with institutions and companies in order to find sources of funding for the project and new partners to concretely collaborate with; Launch of the project on the occasion of September 13, during the celebration of San Venerio, patron saint of the Gulf of La Spezia and protector of Italian lighthouse keepers, with the possibility to make the project known to a wide audience; Creation of a collaboration between local companies, chosen as examples of good practice, and universities, towards the realization of the first workshops; Creation of a communication path carried out also through workshops or training periods with the aim of making local companies aware of the importance of a circular approach; Creation of a first didactic example with the Systemic Design course of the Politecnico and the local companies that will adhere; Integration of the project in the local context of valorization of the Tino Island, which aims to bring young people closer to the local tangible and intangible culture; Possibility to collaborate with the Bauhaus of the Seas system and create exchanges; Possibility to offer the structure as a place to study coastal contexts;  

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.