The ongoing transformations of the academic context spur universities to open to the world: culture and society keep being the pillars of a public debate that brings citizens and institutions together to communicate innovative research and training tools, to offer a continuous space of open exchange and experiment knowledge spread best practices.
The initiatives of Public Engagement include all activities contributing to fostering dialogue inside and outside the University through the sharing of the benefits that derive from social change projects and initiatives aimed at preserving the historical, cultural and environmental heritage, from the dissemination of research outcomes, from collaborations with various bodies and companies and from the active listening to the requests of the community and the territory.
Since 2017 the University of Bergamo has been financing Public Engagement projects with internal calls aimed at promoting the activity of Centers and Departments and to enhance the role of the University as motor of a knowledge-based economy and of social, economic and technological innovation.
The ability to respond to the demand coming from an increasingly layered and multicultural society results in objectives of growth and enhancement of the institutional policies addressed to the citizenry. Through Public Engagement actions universities aim at establishing new partnerships, promoting inclusion processes and increasing their own intellectual capital.
Furthermore, the University makes available the skills and resources gained by listening to the requests coming from the community and territory to pave the way to professional integration opportunities.
Starting in 2018 the University of Bergamo has joined the APEnet (Rete italiana degli Atenei ed Enti di Ricerca per il Public Engagement) Steering Committee to share, promote and enhance Public Engagement culture and initiatives on the national territory.
*Postponed evnets in reason of COVID-19
Starting from moments of guided reflection, interactive play and virtual reality experiences, the project Come diventare Dementia Friendly? - presented in the setting of the Giardini Indro Montanelli in Milan on 27th and 28th September 2019, on the occasion of the festival Meet Me Tonight - Faccia a faccia con la ricerca linked to the European Researchers' Night - aims to stimulate the understanding of limits, language and everyday life of people with dementia in different urban settings.
Born from an experiment started in 2016 by the research group Dementia Friendly Italia within the Department of Human and Social Sciences, coordinated by prof.ssa Francesca Morganti, the initiative aims to raise awareness among the general public and, thanks to the use of technologies and the study of emotional perspectives, shows the difficulties encountered by people with dementia, allowing them to take their point of view to encourage a responsible and inclusive approach aimed at guaranteeing them a better quality of life.