Università Iuav di Venezia continues the series “10 x 100 – The Iuav Centenary Lectures”, the programme of events that will accompany the University’s celebrations over the coming months.

The new lecture will be held on Monday 19 October at 5 p.m. in the Aula Magna at Tolentini. The protagonist will be Fabrizio Barca, with a lectio magistralis entitled “Democracy and complexity: for policies sensitive to people in places”, with contributions from Elena Ostanel and Anna Marson. Discussants: Laura Fregolent, Francesca Gelli, Viviana Ferrario, Carla Tedesco, Matteo Basso.

Can policies be sensitive to people in places? This is not only a matter of “left-behind territories”: it is a question on which the future of democracy depends, in a context of authoritarian drift and populism and of decision-making concentrated in the hands of a few powers. For decisions to be guided by a lively, heartfelt, open and informed public debate, a radical change is needed: a policy approach capable of listening to people in places, cultivating visions that combine local aspirations, values and knowledge with global perspectives – the only way to mend social bonds and trust in institutions.

Fabrizio Barca, economist and politician, coordinates the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità (Inequality and Diversity Forum). He was a research director at the Bank of Italy and Head of the Department for Development Policies at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. As chair of the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee, he developed the “place-based approach”, an experience that led him to serve as Minister for Territorial Cohesion (2011–13), promoting the National Strategy for Inner Areas. He has proposed the party reform “Luoghi ideali” (Ideal places) and is the author of numerous essays, including Cambiare rotta (Changing course, Laterza, 2019) and Un futuro più giusto (A fairer future, edited with Patrizia Luongo, Il Mulino, 2020).

For the University, the Centenary is not only a moment of critical re-reading of its own history, but above all an opportunity to look ahead, strengthen its cultural and educational role and engage with the contemporary challenges of design, the city and society, redefining its vision and its impact on the future.

The lectures take place on the first Monday of each month and are curated by Alberto Bassi, Francesco Musco, Raffaella Fagnoni, Valerio Paolo Mosco, Francesco Zucconi and Elena Ostanel.
The series aims to place the University’s cultural legacy at the centre, questioning its historical and current role in the field of design, architecture and related disciplines, and to relaunch its contribution to the contemporary debate, between critical memory and future prospects.

The next event is scheduled for Monday 2 November at 5 p.m., with a lecture by Gillian Crampton Smith and a contribution by Michele Zannoni.