Italian Capital of Culture 2026, the ten finalists meet in L'Aquila

It ends at L'Aquila the third edition of City Construction Site, the path that the Ministry of Culture – Service VI of the former General Secretariat – and the Foundation School of Cultural Heritage and Activities dedicate to the cities finalists for the title of Italian capital of culture, to consolidate their design capabilities and give a future to the proposals that have been conceived for the candidacy.

From the 13 to 15 2024 November the representatives of Alba, Agnone, Gaeta, Latina, Lucera, Maratea, Rimini, Treviso and the Union of Municipalities of the Valdichiana Senese, finalists for the 2026 edition of the Italian Capital of Culture, meet with the winner L'Aquila for a collective reflection on strategies and practices for the cultural development of the territory.

"The Italian Capital of Culture project does not end with the assignment of the title to a single city. Cantiere Città represents a fundamental step in the path of the finalists and the winner herself towards the creation of lasting cultural projects, capable of having a positive impact on communities and territories. This program, desired by the Ministry of Culture and implemented with the Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali, offers cities the opportunity to consolidate their skills and develop planning tools, promoting culture as a lever for growth and social cohesion", states Mario Turetta, Head of the Department for Cultural Activities (DiAC) of the MiC.

"For the third year, with Cantiere Città the Foundation is alongside city administrations to enhance the work done in the design of the candidacy dossiers: the visions, the creative energies, the relationships and the reflections of the actors of the territory, with the aim of giving strength to the projects and strategies of the dossiers and supporting the development of the territories with a cultural base. The experience confirms the innovative function of Cantiere Città, its usefulness and its strategic value as a training laboratory that supports cities in the idea of ​​putting culture at the center of their vision of growth and development", states Onofrio Cutaia, Extraordinary Commissioner of the School Foundation for Cultural Heritage and Activities.

At the last meeting of Cantiere Città there are Francesca Saconne (Manager of Service VI – Events, exhibitions and demonstrations of the former General Secretariat of the MiC and responsible for the “Italian Capital of Culture” procedure) and Francesca Neri (Head of the Innovation and Complex Projects Area of ​​the Foundation School of Cultural Heritage and Activities).

The third edition of Cantiere Città involved representatives of ten cities in over 80 hours of training, divided into 2 in-person masterclasses and 9 online insights for a capacity building action on the themes of designing a culturally based city development plan. Each city was then dedicated a specific support path in 3 workshops, with the aim of realizing one of the ideas in the candidacy dossier for Italian Capital of Culture.

During the three days in L'Aquila, city representatives will discuss urban regeneration, sustainability strategies for cultural projects and public-private partnerships. The program also includes two workshops on the design of cultural festivals and fundraising tools, and a workshop on designing digital services for cultural venues.

"We are deeply honored to host in our city the representatives of the finalist cities of the Italian Capital of Culture for 2026 as part of Cantiere Città, the path of sharing, training and comparison for which I thank the illustrious promoters. I firmly believe in the richness of comparison and sharing of energies aimed at the growth and development of the territories. L'Aquila today fully embodies the process of regeneration based on culture as an essential value to innovate, reconnect and relaunch a large territory like ours. The proclamation of the capital of Abruzzo as the Italian Capital of Culture for 2026 represents a very important opportunity for the relaunch and redemption of the internal areas of the central Apennines", the comment of the mayor of L'Aquila, Pierluigi Biondi.

A special focus is then dedicated to the strategies for engaging young people in the cultural life of the city and to the next stages of Construction Site City Junior Edition, the initiative launched this year with the Municipalities involved in Cantiere Città with the aim of encouraging the active participation of young people in the city's cultural planning.

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