PALIMPSEST closing event: a celebration of three years of creative research

Three years of artistic research, cross-border collaboration, and creative experimentation came to a celebratory close at Politecnico di Milano, as the full PALIMPSEST consortium gathered for its final event. The day marked the culmination of a shared journey exploring the role of artistic and creative practices in environmental and territorial transformation.

The closing event was an intense and engaging day, welcoming distinguished guests who shared their perspectives and experiences across three roundtables.

The morning session opened with institutional greetings from Carolina Pacchi, Head of DAStU at Politecnico di Milano, and Laura Kasnauskaite, PALIMPSEST Project Officer, followed by a moderated session by Annalena Amthor, presenting the project’s key perspectives, practices, and lessons learnt. Speakers reflected on the research and innovation work carried out under the New European Bauhaus initiative: Grazia Concilio traced the overall project trajectory, Irene Bianchi explored the role of culture, creativity, and care through the concept of PALIMPSEST, and Sendy Ghirardi presented the architecture and tools developed to assess the co-creation process.

The spotlight then turned to the three cities at the heart of PALIMPSEST‘s fieldwork: Milan (Italy), Łódź (Poland), and Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), presented by Nicola Morelli. Daniela Masotti, Michał Piernikowski, and Francisco Pazos each shared their local experiences and legacies, bringing the local contexts to life and grounding the project’s research. This round closed off with the final words of Sanna Lehtinen (member of the PALIMPSEST Advisory Board), who gave an overview of the main principles that guided the PALIMPESET process and legacy.

The late morning hosted a policy roundtable, From Research to Transformative Action, bringing PALIMPSEST into dialogue with two sister European projects, HERITACT and UNLOCKTHECITY! with their representatives Andrea Balestrini (Studio LAND) and Gabriele Pasqui (POLIMI). Moderated by Irene Bianchi, the session began with Valeria Fedeli (CRAFT), who emphasised the importance of policies for fragile territories, and continued with a discussion on policy guidelines and recommendations for the cultural and creative industries. The conversation underlined a clear takeaway: the work done across these projects holds genuine potential to shape future policy directions at both local and European level. From the PALIMPSEST consortium Dario Kian (ERSAF, public body), Stefano Beghi (KARAKORUM, cultural actor) and Luca Leonardi (ANCI Toscana, policy-making institution) offered complementary perspectives. Closing the session, Pierluigi Sacco (UNICH – Chieti-Pescara) and Maria Tartari (IULM), both experts in cultural economics, highlighted key issues and opened important questions on the role of creativity and culture in shaping urban transformation and their social value.

The afternoon closed on a particularly celebratory note with the launch of the book Landscapes in Trouble, Landscapes in Action: Theories and Practices Between Space, Art and Ecology, a publication that aims to give lasting form to the ideas, practices, and reflections developed throughout PALIMPSEST at the intersection of space, art, and ecology. In conversation with the book’s editors, Irene Bianchi and Francesca Berni, together with Antonio Longo, Chiara Geroldi, Sanna Lehtinen and Pierluigi Sacco, the session unfolded into a rich and engaging discussion. Our sincere thanks go to all the guests for their valuable contributions. You can find out more about the book here!

Overall, it was a day of reflection and celebration, bringing the PALIMPSEST team together one last time to recognise what has been built and to look ahead at the legacy it leaves behind. It was a moment to pause, to share, and to acknowledge a journey shaped by collective effort and shared vision.

A heartfelt thank you goes to the New European Bauhaus initiative and to all partners and participants involved in this three-years process who, with generosity, commitment, and creativity, made PALIMPSEST possible. This journey has been truly collective, woven together through the dedication, knowledge, and care of everyone involved.