DumBO
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
Art exhibitions, music and theathral shows, festivals, sport events and more. All in one place.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
DumBO is a temporary space of urban regeneration in the close outskirt of Bologna, within a walking distance from the historic center, the train and bus station.
Almost 40.000 square meters belonging to FS Sistemi Urbani (Gruppo FS Italiane) previously used as railway yard and compound until 2010 and then dismissed, has been assigned in the form of a temporary rent to Open Event Srl, composed of Open Group and Eventeria, is in charge of the management of the entire area.
Warehouses and open spaces can be are destined to cultural, artistic, social, labour and sport activities, always maintaining a close connection with the territory.
DumBO is a place where institutions, cultural associations, companies/enterprises and citizens can collaborate, the main stakeholders involved are Città Metropolitana di Bologna, Università di Bologna, Arcidiocesi di Bologna, Quartiere Porto-Saragozza, aside from local organizations and third sector entities.
A new platform available to embrace and create new ideas and new artistic and creative expressions, and a project that unifies social inclusion, entertainment, culture in all its forms, experimentation and sustainability, where new forms of collaborations are experienced every day.
Key objectives for sustainability
Within Our DumBO District we welcome BackBo: a circular economy hub focused on sustainable development, the aim is to facilitate the transition towards a zero-waste Bologna and their focus is on how to overcome the throwaway culture, through best practices (specific training, providing nondisposable glasses to the DumBO events) and workshops.
Our district also hosts the Bologna RideMovi's hub, RideMovi is the leading player in the industry of European shared micromobility, their vehicles (bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters) can be seen all over the city and since they moved in our space, we have created biking paths and bicycle parking areas, and more importantly we have seen a reduction of traffic congestion and emission, both from the DumBO workers and the outside users of our spaces that we encourage to use these vehicles.
Furthermore, the theme of sustainability is not only present in the activities within DumBO, but also in the choice of the events we host: like Vinokilo, the largest vintage shop event in Europe or the Recooper conference, a meeting about the good practices of sustainability, such as the collection of circular and sustainable materials, and the subsequent distribution and sale aimed at their recovery.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
We strongly believe that things don't always need a purpose. Most of the best feelings in life come from intangible things.
That's why aesthetics is something you can find literally everywhere at DumBO. Whether it is with the Eden Park sport activities (skateboard, parkour, bmx, climbing, aerial fabrics), the art exhibitions and the various dance workshops we host with external collaborators (Red Carpet, BOOming, Festival Danza Urbana), the music shows and festival we welcome in our spaces (Joint, RoBot, Flexing, Private Eye), the theathral shows (Festival 20 30), and last but not least, the street art murals you can find in almost every space of DumBO (Urbana | Underground Art Project).
Key objectives for inclusion
DumBO particularly cares about social and economic inclusion: for the vast majority of the events taking place in our areas we decided to apply a free admission policy, with a previous online registration as the only requirement;
Regarding social inclusion we have organized creative art workshops and sport activities for kids and people with disabilities (Joint Festival, URBANA | Underground Art Project), sustainability workshop for senior citizens (Recooper), and tailoring workshops for foreigners and asylum seekers (Vicini Lontani) with the aim of bringing people with different backgrounds together, making them collaborate and learn from each other.
Results in relation to category
DumBO it’s not just a container, we have managed to reactivate degraded and disused spaces (often re-using recycled materials coming from the same areas), with a close synergy with local public institutions, the entrepreneurial, cooperative and creative environment of the city, who became partners and economic engines.
Born to be a district dedicated to art, inclusion, culture, social innovation, creative jobs, sustainability, start-up incubator and sports, DumBO had to proceed with the regeneration in terms of redevelopment of buildings and open spaces. We have effectively responded to the widespread demand for spaces, ideas and best practices and contributed to making up for the chronic lack of suitable places to host temporary events to stimulate sociability.
We have hosted, in collaboration with various companies and associations, several festivals and cultural events, just to name a few:
- Robot Festival: an immersive digital experience through music and art
- Joint: Street art, sport and food festival
- DumBO Summertime: our summer music festival
- Festival 20 30: avant-garde theathral exhibitions
- Vinokilo: the largest vintage shop event in Europe
- Recooper conference: a meeting about the good practices of sustainability
- Urbana | Underground Art Project: street art festival
- Bologna Jazz Festival: jazz music festival
- Romeo Castellucci's "La Vita nuova"
How Citizens benefit
As a great laboratory of urban, social, cultural, economic, business innovation, we became an accelerator of opportunities for the activities of the district and for the city, and a new neighborhood available for free to the citizens, a disused piece of the city given back to the community.
We also have created subsidiarity with a wide range of stakeholders and created an evolved co-working space in which cultural and creative companies, citizens, associations and artists coexist and collaborate. The objectives achieved were combined and sustained within the expected economic and financial balances, even in the presence of the well-known pandemic events.
Innovative character
We have generated inclusive and empowering spaces for the community, bringing its skills and resources. We are a space where different entities collaborate, and doing so new ways of making culture are experimented. DumBO is a place where innovation is not only digital, but also social and civic. We work to affirm a new role for culture and the places we live in, to innovate cultural, artistic, educational and welfare practices.
We do not only rent single spaces but we carefully choose our partners and create fertile ground for all the subjects to cooperate and work together.
