CutiCunta
Salmastra
Italy
After observing a growing disengagement in citizenship in youth and rarity of accurate information, we started CutiCunta, a regular assembly format each time focussed on a social issue important in our city. Starting from the lack of precise information and the feeling of polarisation in our society the format is intended to inform ourselves both with specialists and citizens. Previous assemblies tackled water scarcity in Sicily, drinking water in Catania, citizenship and labour regulations referendums. We want to raise social awareness, share fact-checked information and learn collectively.
CutiCunta started from the assessment that in a region prone to seasonal droughts, most of the population was lacking basic information on how waters are managed. The lack of information about local management turned out to be general, especially in young adults bringing to a lack of agency and active citizenship that we would like to counter.
We devised a format that would involve people to learn together by at the same time inviting regular citizens and experts to share understanding and discuss precise issues without falling into ideological biases that inevitably lead to polarisation. Our proposal would like to counterbalance it by anchoring the discussion to a circumscribed issue and to recurring to checked data and collective cross examination. Before each assembly we gather information and invite specialists and then we share this data and let the assembly discuss it. There are always 2 ppl from our team facilitating and moderating the discussions. Until now we held 4 assemblies gathering ~100 ppl. We aim to augment the frequency, garner more participation, provide more precise data and add a digital open source archive to the assemblies.