Parma, the Pilotta opens to troubled youth with free tours and workshops

Starting Feb. 6, 2025, the Pilotta Monumental Complex in Parma will inaugurate a social inclusion initiative aimed at elementary and middle school students facing school difficulties. Thanks to the collaboration with theLiberaMente-APSAssociation, theFriends of the Pilotta Association and the Family Center of the City of Parma, the project includes free visits and workshops to offer young people an opportunity for cultural growth and integration. The initiative, which will take place in the different institutes of the Pilotta - National Gallery, Archaeological Museum, Teatro Farnese, Bodoni Museum and Palatina Library - will allow students to experience the city’s cultural heritage in a context of welcome and active participation. Activities will be led by the operators of the Friends of the Pilotta Association and will also include socializing moments in the Cavallerizza Garden.

The project is particularly aimed at young people who come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and for whom access to places of culture is not always taken for granted. The goal is not only to offer after-school cultural education, but to counter school dropout and strengthen a sense of belonging to the area, stimulating in young people a greater awareness of the city’s artistic and historical heritage. The initiative is part of the larger program of interventions Laboratorio Famiglia and Laboratorio Compiti, promoted by the City of Parma and managed by the LiberaMente-APS Association. The project aims to make the Pilotta an increasingly accessible place, fostering not only cultural growth but also social cohesion. In this space, the most fragile families will be able to find new opportunities for integration, forge intergenerational bonds and participate in intercultural exchange activities. In addition to providing concrete educational support, the initiative aims to transform the Monumental Complex into a reference point for the community, where culture becomes a tool for inclusion. The Pilotta, with its priceless artistic heritage, thus opens up to a broader social function, becoming a place for new generations to meet and share.

“We are proud to launch this social inclusion project,” says Stefano L’Occaso, director of the Pilotta Monumental Complex, “which testifies to the fundamental role of culture as a tool for growth and participation. Opening the doors of the Pilotta to young students in difficult school situations means offering them not only an educational experience, but also an opportunity for sharing and discovery in a welcoming and stimulating context. Thanks to the collaboration with the LiberaMente-APS Association, the Friends of the Pilotta Association and the Family Center of the City of Parma, we can strengthen the link between our cultural heritage and the community, making it increasingly accessible to all. We hope that this initiative will become a model of integration and inclusion, capable of inspiring new generations and bringing more and more people closer to the priceless value of our history and cultural institutions.”

“The Family Workshops and Homework Workshops projects,” says Ettore Brianti, Councillor for Social Policies of the City of Parma, “are projects promoted by the City’s Family Center that the LiberaMente APS Association, thanks to an agreement, has been coordinating and managing for several years, carrying out numerous activities for and with families in our city. These are projects with the goals of supporting parenting, community development and combating educational poverty.”

“The collaboration with the Monumental Complex of the Pilotta and the Friends of the Pilotta Association,” stresses Lara Lottici, President of the LiberaMente APS Association, “is part of the actions to combat educational poverty as it represents a way of inclusion, participation and integration. Since 2022 we have organized a first experimentation of free guided tours for children and volunteers of the project Laboratorio Compiti and, in June 2024, the presentation of the exhibition of the art group of the San Leonardo Family Workshop. Experiences, these, very positive that led to formalize a collaboration and schedule a series of meetings from January to June open to the network of children of the Homework Laboratory, and again the exhibition of an exhibition of the art group of St. Leonard.”

“These projects,” Councillor Brianti concludes, “have great social and cultural value, because we believe that in addition to educational support, it is important to offer children and families cultural and recreational opportunities that they could not otherwise have; bringing these families closer to art and music allows them to take advantage of places and spaces where beauty and culture can be breathed.”

“The association has always proposed itself as a hinge between the city and the CMP, a facilitator especially for those who feel far from cultural venues,” adds Ombretta Sarassi, president of the Friends of the Pilotta. “Welcoming and inclusion, our hallmark, is also aimed at children and young people who we would like to consider these places friendly and playful, representing the common roots of our society. We are excited to welcome them, and make them feel part of this beauty.”

The Farnese Theater. Photo by Giovanni Hänninen

Parma, the Pilotta opens to troubled youth with free tours and workshops

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