Hear from our change makers who are…

Feudo San Pietro is a historic hamlet in Milazzo, Sicily, with roots in the 14th century. The palace and church need restoration, and the Feudo is already bringing people together through craft and education. Creando si Impara, a local cultural association, runs creative workshops for children and adults with local artisans, artists and teachers. The Feudo is also home to Creative Italy’s Academy in Milazzo, which brings people from Italy and abroad to learn traditional crafts directly from artisans.

For Change Maker Laura, the restoration is part of a wider project to create a lasting place for learning, give local artisans opportunities to teach and share their skills, and help keep those skills alive. Through the Change Maker Programme, she hopes to explore ways to support that work and share what the Feudo learns with people working to revive other historic places.

The approach to conferences is evolving. Attendees can access knowledge in many ways so the traditional approach of enabling knowledge transfer through speakers and educational experience is not the reason to attend a conference, as it once was. Research from attendees is increasingly showing a desire to use conferences as a way to make new, useful connections. This Change Maker is keen to trial methodologies on trust building within communities to get new ideas for the future of conferences.

Strategies for social cohesion in cities are increasingly considered by architects and city planners. How and where we build infrastructure also offers ways to address the mental and physical health of city residents. This Change Maker doesn’t usually think about events as a solution to addressing social challenges and is ready to join pilots in the programme to explore how events could be delivered in a way that addresses loneliness and isolation.