Learning From The Present
BLU Breeding and Learning Unit
Italy
Learning from the Present is an annual program prototyping a new contemporary cultural center in Genoa. By activating diverse urban spaces, it acts as an open-air laboratory designed to bridge the city’s cultural and social gaps. Through events and workshops in Nervi, the project investigates local needs through a Mediterranean lens, fostering non-extractive practices. By involving thinkers and activists to create bonds in underutilized areas, the program transforms urban fragments into a collective vision, creating meaningful impact for the planet and its people.
The festival originates in a city stretching over 40 kilometers, where cultural life is often confined to the historic center, leaving vast residential and former industrial areas on the margins of participation. This creates a shortage of cultural spaces and weakens social ties, impacting public space quality and the sense of belonging. Responding as a decentralized program, the project features monthly workshops, talks, symposia, and site-specific actions. By moving culture beyond institutions and into schools, sports clubs, and informal spaces, it fosters horizontal dialogue. International artists, designers, and philosophers collaborate with local communities on craftsmanship, agriculture, and urban regeneration. The 2026 edition focuses on three pillars: Sea Design, Public Spaces, and Participation. The coastal city is explored as a fragile, political, and shared environment. The sea becomes a lens to interrogate architecture, environmental risk, and accessibility. By bridging urban gaps, the festival continues its mission: creating culture, building the city, and fostering collective action.