offers services and learning programs free of charge or at low costs for everyone interested – particularly disadvantaged communities

Adaptive reuse practices can be places of cooperation that connect their new uses with the needs of the community, particularly in low income and marginalized areas (Ostanel 2017). As such, they can improve access, offer better services, and be more responsive to local needs, working with local community groups and other stakeholders (e.g. offering cultural services, welfare, refugee protection, health services, housing etc.). In some cases this includes providing support for educational and cognitive values by promoting learning programs (see e.g. https://teh.net/).

These can then contribute to the development of skills, awareness, and knowledge to foster further training or education and/ or provide support through educational courses and workplace skills (CHCfE 2015). The creation, definition and sharing of both activities should not occur merely for the community but with the community (Jenkins 2009) by securing inclusivity, accessibility, impartiality and usability of the governance of the assets (Iaione 2015)

Key references

• CHCfE Consortium. 2015. Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe. Krakow: International Cultural Centre.

• Iaione, Christian. 2015. Governing the Urban Commons. Italian Journal of Public Law vol. 1, pp. 170-221.

• Jenkins, Henry. 2009. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

• Ostanel, Elena. 2017. Spazi fuori dal comune: rigenerare, includere, innovare. Milan: Franco Angeli