Stimulating Circular Urban Regeneration through Cultural and Sustainable Communities: The Proposal for a Green Blue Youth Vision 2030

Abstract

In the European context, culture has a key role in sustainable development strategies. Within the framework of the UNESCO Culture 2030 Agenda, new cultural approaches support sustainable policies by affecting individual and collective behavior towards interpreting sustainability as a ‘common good’. This paper aims to define innovative sustainability strategies from the perspectives of younger generations, in order to understand the transformative potential of new cultural approaches to sustainability and common goods in achieving the Agenda 2030 goals. The ‘Green Blue Youth Vision 2030’ approach analyses the different multidimensional components of possible innovative cultural alternatives by emphasizing the potential of the proposals from young people. The initial results consist of defining “Green Blue Youth Vision 2030” proposals collected during the co-design roundtables, and analyzing key results from a survey on the direct and potential beneficiaries of the Green Blue Days project in Southern Italy. In conclusion, the research allows for preliminary reflections on the definition, by the new generations, of a new way of understanding sustainability as a common good, oriented towards overcoming cultural, economic, environmental, and social conflicts to stimulate circular urban regeneration in Southern Italy.