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 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 Amtor, 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 themes of culture, creativity, and care, and Laura Kasnauskaite offered the perspective of PALIMPSEST’s Project Officer. Sendy Ghirardi rounded off the session with a presentation on the co-creation measurement process.

The spotlight then turned to the three cities at the heart of PALIMPSEST’s fieldwork presented by Nicola Morelli: Milan (Italy), Łódź (Poland), and Jerez de la Frontera (Spain). 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.

The late morning hosted a policy roundtable, From Research to Transformative Action, bringing PALIMPSEST into dialogue with two sister European projects, HERITACT and UNLOCKTHECITY!. Moderated by Irene Bianchi, the session addressed 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.

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 gove lasting form to the ideas, practices, and reflections developed throughout PALIMPSEST at the intersection of space, art, and ecology. You can find out more about the book here!

Overall, it was a day of genuine reflection and celebration, bringing together the exceptional PALIMPSEST team one last time to acknowledge what was built, and to look ahead at what legacy is left behind. A heartfelt thank you to the New European Bauhaus and to every partner and participant who contributed their knowledge, commitment, and creativity to PALIMPSEST. This shared journey could not have been possible without the knowledge, commitment, and collaboration given by all!