"We have transformed a polluted site into an important innovation hub. The opportunities are there, just grab them" – Repubblica.it

OPEN Incet is the Open Innovation Center of the city of Turin, a platform for the intersection of demand and supply of innovation, a bridge linking ideas at an international level, born in the wake of an urban regeneration project supported by huge European funds and managed by a public-private partnership. To understand how innovation has and is still changing the social fabric of a neighborhood that was once a worker and now a multi-ethnic neighborhood like Barriera di Milano, we talked to Gianfranco Presutti, manager of the Innovation area, European Funds and Information System of the Municipality of Turin, which has personally followed the transformation of the innovation hub and therefore also of this part of the city.How come years ago the Municipality decided to invest in such a large place (10 thousand square meters) and in a neighborhood that was then peripheral?

"To understand the genesis of this project it is necessary to understand first of all in which field it is inserted: the city has a certain experience in the realization of complex programs financed by the EU, – I refer for example to Urban 2- and the claim was to operate on the "physical" part of the urban fabric, to work on the theme of economic support for economic activities and the improvement of social cohesion: these are the axes that, with different actions, we have been planning for a number of years. Barrier "we are in the third program of funds for which the City of Turin has worked for the 2007-2013 cycle".

What situation did you find yourself in front of?"The space was originally a former electric cable factory founded in 1888 and rather well known on the international telegraph and telephone market. It lived relatively recently, from the end of the century to the 60s, and then it was abandoned. It belonged to the Bruni Tedeschi family, which after using it he abandoned it. The significant industrial complex was given to the Province and finally from the Province to the city, free of charge ".

For free?

"Yes, because it was a highly polluted site, and so we kept everything until we found a financing opportunity. Thanks to the former FAS funds, destined for underused areas even without a precise idea of ​​future employment, with the 2007 – 2013 schedule we started the redevelopment project, initially we were not able to deal with the Edit part (part of the former incet which is the result of a private investment), we separated it from the rest, but it was recovered later ".

What were the steps?

"Once the funds were obtained, we set to work. As we discovered underground rooms containing polluting materials, windows with glass sealed with asbestos mastic: reclaiming this structure meant, for example, packing it with nylon, a very complex thing. expensive. Only asbestos remediation cost 1 million, as was the intervention in the underlying land, which was made safe, and like all former industrial situations, we had to take care of giving back to the city in shape a technically unusable and harmful urban piece is healthy.

What was your idea at the beginning?

"When we thought of the structure we had a rough design, not of detail, so much so that we did not immediately define everything. We asked citizens and collaborators: 'If you had a place like this, what would you do?' ".

And what answers did they get?

"The area needed major interventions due to its location – the Barrier of the city – where the families of workers from various factories resided, (so-called" Barriera workeria "): it was an area with complex situations to be solved by relying only on private individuals, impoverished from an urbanistic point of view, which over the years has seen property values ​​drop and a large presence of immigrants be concentrated.To give it back its splendor we started from the minute territorial arrangement, cycle paths, green areas, then we opened a shop in a local area. open committee, supporting the population, and launching a newspaper, "The courier of the barrier", which entered the houses of the district from 2011 to 2015 ".

How did you come to the subject of innovation?

"We immediately thought of sustainable solutions. There had to be a market. The announcement served this purpose, to create a balance between public mandate and collaboration with the private. The initial idea was that of the neighborhood house, and to the end result we are arrived because over the years we have begun to study the themes of social innovation, and to analyze them with someone able to bet on entrepreneurial activities and business creation and on issues that from the public point of view can be more innovative ".

Did you have reference models?

"In other European cities these realities were already there, we analyzed many experiences, and in the end we decided to build support activities and support already consolidated realities. Nobody had the certainty of anything, they are all activities that have no history. But the result proved us right ".

Has the social fabric of the neighborhood been positively influenced?

"Well we have not changed the destiny of the population but surely they have generated a certain number of jobs: among people who in one way or another have made that place their job we are in the order of hundreds, and obviously this generates induced to cascade. There is no simple reporting, but one can intuitively imagine that it is so. Anyone who lives around there, however, has undoubtedly lost, compared to yesterday, the feeling of being in an abandoned place. "

Future projects?

"The current European programming has focused a lot on digital but with the next calls I hope we will have the opportunity to intervene again with important territorial programs, which will have concrete effects visible even in different directions, aimed at integration, for example. It is increasingly difficult. count on own funds, so either we take these European trains or nothing, but on one occasion there are always opportunities: everything is in the ability of the cities to seize them.What is certain is that today there is more initiative than yesterday, yes a good capacity to carry out projects is capitalized. I am confident ".

The project is implemented with the contribution of the European Commission. The authors of the articles are the originators of the editorial contents. The Commission cannot be held responsible for any use made of the information and opinions reported.