Regenerating community places through collective action: the role of the University in community planning

Abstract

Recent experiments in collective management of a territory, generated by innovative processes of social learning are the precondition for building an organised community and the formulation of alternative models of territorial development. The focus of this article is the empowerment process of a group of citizens engaged in promoting a local project with the University. The aim is to propose a reflection on the role of the actors involved and of the University as an engaged university and on the capacity of an organised community to create strong and weak connections inside planning processes.