Rebuilding trust and investing in culture and the future, Mattarella’s words on the fiftieth anniversary of Fai
Rebuilding trust. And to restore hope, especially to the young people, many, too many of whom leave Italy in search of better working and living conditions. In times of crisis, such as the one we are currently going through, it is necessary to have a clear awareness of the tensions, fractures and risks of deterioration of political, economic and social conditions. But also trying to catch a glimpse and build projects of recovery, of redemption. Beyond the common sense that tells us that the darkest point of the night is precisely the eve of the dawn, the most luminous pages of our literature contribute to setting a limit to despair. Like the one that concludes “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino: “The hell of living people is not something to come; if there is one, it is here already, it’s the hell we live in every day, which we form staying together. There are two ways not to suffer from it. The first comes easy to many: accept hell and become part of it, to the point you don’t see it any more. The second is risky and requires continuous attention and learning: to look for and recognise who and what, in the middle of hell, is not hell, and to make it last, and give it space.”
Calvino’s lesson is an integral part of a responsible approach to intellectual work and, therefore, to political commitment. And it is worth remembering this in the face of the many signs of crisis that crowd our troubled times. Looking for traces of it in the very fabric of the public discourse we live with, we tell, we plan a more satisfying condition in our being cives, responsible citizens of a community.
A good example of this are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who recently spoke at the Quirinale ceremony to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Fai, the fund that meritoriously protects and enhances Italy’s environmental assets, including the countryside, monuments and historical testimonies of an extraordinary civilisation. This is in line with the latest version of Article 9 of the Constitution, which, in the amendment of February 2022, added “the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, also in the interest of future generations” to “the development of culture”, “scientific and technical research” and the protection of “the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation”.
President Mattarella believes that culture has the responsibility to “build common and shared identities, respecting the identity of each person” and defines a civilisation “that generates social capital, encounters, peace and development”. This Italy is in fact “an evocative mosaic”, the result of “many stories and events”, “patiently assembled” for the benefit of new generations. It is up to them to “find nourishment in the history from which they come” and from there to “raise the horizon of our gaze”. In other words, “the fate of man and the fate of the environment have never been so closely linked”.
The environment, culture, history and sustainable development are essential cornerstones of more balanced economic and social growth (as we have also discussed in the blogs over the last two weeks). And if, at a time of radical upheaval in geopolitical balances and profound market disturbances due to the serious trade wars underway, the reasons and methods of competition and the reconstruction of value chains need to be redefined, Italy itself, in the context of Europe, cannot fail to capitalise on the cultural, economic and civil characteristics that characterise its history and its future.
This is why President Mattarella reminds us that “it is not a question of embalming places, but of making resources available to the community that are in danger of being lost if they are no longer valued”.
In fact, they are places full of beauty and culture. And the 72 properties entrusted to the Fai (56 of which are open to the public), protected and enhanced thanks to the commitment of 300,000 members and 16,000 volunteers, are a sample of that extraordinary Italian wealth that is worth not only as a stimulus for cultivated, slow, conscious and responsible tourism, but above all as cultural heritage and social capital to be used as a lever for sustainable development.
In his meeting with the delegates of the Fai (led by President Marco Magnifico and former President Andrea Carandini), President Mattarella rightly recalled the words of Benedetto Croce, who in 1922 promoted the first law on landscape and was convinced that “the spirit of a community is linked to the territories and the landscape, whose degradation risks weakening and eradicating its own historical and cultural reasons”. A risk that unfortunately still exists, even in the face of serious protection regulations.
Cultural and moral values, and values of economic significance. Italian culture, in which the best Made in Italy has its vital roots, is in fact a rich fabric interwoven with a sense of beauty and scientific and technological knowledge, literary, artistic and philosophical wisdom and mathematical spirit, original creativity and the ability to produce “beautiful things that the world likes”.
The best Made in Italy companies are aware of this. They have made ESG values an integral part of the way they produce, operate, market, grow and compete. And they know that their history is a distinguishing factor in a competition where unfair competition and imitation have a negative impact. And that the link with the regions is a factor of identity, of quality and sustainability, of passing on knowledge and creating new knowledge. The experiences of the more than 160 museums and historical company archives registered with Museimpresa (the association set up by Assolombarda and Confindustria more than twenty years ago) are clear evidence of this. And the long-standing collaboration between Fai, the world of supporting companies (Pirelli is one of them) and the Museimpresa itself is proof of a shared commitment with strong economic and cultural values.
How to move forward and build on this? If this is our legacy of sustainable development, we need strong public investment in culture, scientific research, schools and long-term training, trying to reach European standards quickly. Strong tax incentives for private companies that invest in this field would also be useful (an extension of the art bonus would be highly appropriate, finally listening to those who have been asking for it for some time, such as Museimpresa).
Our future, in fact, has an ancient heart (to paraphrase the title of a book by Carlo Levi). And it is essential to face the challenges of a contemporary world that is full of complexity and controversy, but also of extraordinary opportunities. In terms of complexity, the Italian cultural and social experience itself has always been extraordinarily dense. And this “mosaic of different stories” that President Mattarella recalled today is an element that can be used. To rebuild trust and provide incentives for young people to invest, work, research and develop their creativity and initiative.
Traces of history, paths to the future.
(photo Getty Images)
Rebuilding trust. And to restore hope, especially to the young people, many, too many of whom leave Italy in search of better working and living conditions. In times of crisis, such as the one we are currently going through, it is necessary to have a clear awareness of the tensions, fractures and risks of deterioration of political, economic and social conditions. But also trying to catch a glimpse and build projects of recovery, of redemption. Beyond the common sense that tells us that the darkest point of the night is precisely the eve of the dawn, the most luminous pages of our literature contribute to setting a limit to despair. Like the one that concludes “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino: “The hell of living people is not something to come; if there is one, it is here already, it’s the hell we live in every day, which we form staying together. There are two ways not to suffer from it. The first comes easy to many: accept hell and become part of it, to the point you don’t see it any more. The second is risky and requires continuous attention and learning: to look for and recognise who and what, in the middle of hell, is not hell, and to make it last, and give it space.”
Calvino’s lesson is an integral part of a responsible approach to intellectual work and, therefore, to political commitment. And it is worth remembering this in the face of the many signs of crisis that crowd our troubled times. Looking for traces of it in the very fabric of the public discourse we live with, we tell, we plan a more satisfying condition in our being cives, responsible citizens of a community.
A good example of this are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who recently spoke at the Quirinale ceremony to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Fai, the fund that meritoriously protects and enhances Italy’s environmental assets, including the countryside, monuments and historical testimonies of an extraordinary civilisation. This is in line with the latest version of Article 9 of the Constitution, which, in the amendment of February 2022, added “the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, also in the interest of future generations” to “the development of culture”, “scientific and technical research” and the protection of “the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation”.
President Mattarella believes that culture has the responsibility to “build common and shared identities, respecting the identity of each person” and defines a civilisation “that generates social capital, encounters, peace and development”. This Italy is in fact “an evocative mosaic”, the result of “many stories and events”, “patiently assembled” for the benefit of new generations. It is up to them to “find nourishment in the history from which they come” and from there to “raise the horizon of our gaze”. In other words, “the fate of man and the fate of the environment have never been so closely linked”.
The environment, culture, history and sustainable development are essential cornerstones of more balanced economic and social growth (as we have also discussed in the blogs over the last two weeks). And if, at a time of radical upheaval in geopolitical balances and profound market disturbances due to the serious trade wars underway, the reasons and methods of competition and the reconstruction of value chains need to be redefined, Italy itself, in the context of Europe, cannot fail to capitalise on the cultural, economic and civil characteristics that characterise its history and its future.
This is why President Mattarella reminds us that “it is not a question of embalming places, but of making resources available to the community that are in danger of being lost if they are no longer valued”.
In fact, they are places full of beauty and culture. And the 72 properties entrusted to the Fai (56 of which are open to the public), protected and enhanced thanks to the commitment of 300,000 members and 16,000 volunteers, are a sample of that extraordinary Italian wealth that is worth not only as a stimulus for cultivated, slow, conscious and responsible tourism, but above all as cultural heritage and social capital to be used as a lever for sustainable development.
In his meeting with the delegates of the Fai (led by President Marco Magnifico and former President Andrea Carandini), President Mattarella rightly recalled the words of Benedetto Croce, who in 1922 promoted the first law on landscape and was convinced that “the spirit of a community is linked to the territories and the landscape, whose degradation risks weakening and eradicating its own historical and cultural reasons”. A risk that unfortunately still exists, even in the face of serious protection regulations.
Cultural and moral values, and values of economic significance. Italian culture, in which the best Made in Italy has its vital roots, is in fact a rich fabric interwoven with a sense of beauty and scientific and technological knowledge, literary, artistic and philosophical wisdom and mathematical spirit, original creativity and the ability to produce “beautiful things that the world likes”.
The best Made in Italy companies are aware of this. They have made ESG values an integral part of the way they produce, operate, market, grow and compete. And they know that their history is a distinguishing factor in a competition where unfair competition and imitation have a negative impact. And that the link with the regions is a factor of identity, of quality and sustainability, of passing on knowledge and creating new knowledge. The experiences of the more than 160 museums and historical company archives registered with Museimpresa (the association set up by Assolombarda and Confindustria more than twenty years ago) are clear evidence of this. And the long-standing collaboration between Fai, the world of supporting companies (Pirelli is one of them) and the Museimpresa itself is proof of a shared commitment with strong economic and cultural values.
How to move forward and build on this? If this is our legacy of sustainable development, we need strong public investment in culture, scientific research, schools and long-term training, trying to reach European standards quickly. Strong tax incentives for private companies that invest in this field would also be useful (an extension of the art bonus would be highly appropriate, finally listening to those who have been asking for it for some time, such as Museimpresa).
Our future, in fact, has an ancient heart (to paraphrase the title of a book by Carlo Levi). And it is essential to face the challenges of a contemporary world that is full of complexity and controversy, but also of extraordinary opportunities. In terms of complexity, the Italian cultural and social experience itself has always been extraordinarily dense. And this “mosaic of different stories” that President Mattarella recalled today is an element that can be used. To rebuild trust and provide incentives for young people to invest, work, research and develop their creativity and initiative.
Traces of history, paths to the future.
(photo Getty Images)