Public History and Audience Engagement: Urban Space as Community Heritage

Abstract

The paper presents the topics of Public History and Audience Engagement, narrowing the focus from the theoretical and methodological issues, to several case-studies, developed within the urban scope of Turin (Italy): the study starts reviewing the international strategic policies, and proceeds throughout the local practices. Therefore, Atelier Héritage, permanent educational workshop, devoted to the cultural heritage and located in the district of Barriera di Milano (Turin), has been described as the last dowel of deeper analysis: it includes both the referees to the UN agencies resolutions on sustainable urban development and cultural accessibility, and the European long-term strategies. Turin is a particular breeding ground for multifarious practices, actively involving the citizens into cultural processes: these experiences make them aware and capable of designing new shapes of participation. Into the present study, there are also other cases, specifically focused on the historical knowledge, and equally meaningful. Thus, Atelier Héritage must be properly identified into Turin, capital of the Public History and of the Audience Engagement: indeed, this lab aims to provide children, living in the condition of marginalization, the tools to understand the urban space as a community heritage.