by Manuela Andaloro with Dario De Lisi, original article by Manuela Andaloro published on Corriere dell’Italianita’.
On February 9, 2021, the European Parliament has definitively approved the “Recovery and Resilience Facility” to help EU countries face the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the key instrument of NextGenerationEU to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis.
This recovery and resilience device aims to mitigate the economic and social impact of the pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient, and prepared for the challenges and opportunities offered by green and digital transitions.
Each Member State shall demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility in efficiently using the funds, which are essential to steer the future of its nations towards greater economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
Among its various indications, the NextGenerationEU specifies that social entities and the civil society must be involved in the approval and management of the PNRR (Italian recovery and resilience plan).
By means of different platforms, the “Open Government” series – promoted by consultant and writer Manuela Andaloro – combines the voices of government leaders and civil society supporters to promote opinions, feedback, and contributions in the name of a transparent, participatory, inclusive, and responsible governance: the essential foundation for a strong re-start.
This week’s voice is that of Dario De Lisi, CSO, and lecturer at the IULM Communication School.
Manuela. Dario, the current crisis has brought each of us to face – from a social and psychological perspective – dimensions and situations we were not prepared for. The lack of certainty and instability continue to have a considerable impact on the international social fabric. From your point of view and considering the continuing crisis, what is your professional and personal experience, and what are your suggestions?
Dario. A certainty that, whether we like it or not, we need to deal with in this tragic moment is, quite literally, the suspension of time, mobility, and human contact beyond the strictly private context. An unprecedented situation that has led us to interiorize human, interpersonal, and social relationships. Silence and solitude have become empty spaces filled by fear and uncertainty. Fear of one’s inner self, with anxiety, preoccupations, and more rational fears arising from choices to make related to one’s job and the still-unknown challenges to face.
A silence worsened by unpreparedness before the deprivation of entertainment and leisure spaces.
A tragic error, resulting from a previously formed philosophy where the Arts, Culture, and entertainment – a word that nowadays brings to mind something short-lived and unnecessary – are the victims of a deep underestimation of their role and the relevance in our society.
Manuela. Has COVID thus become the litmus test of our attitude towards Culture?
Dario. We are constantly searching for answers. We are insatiable when it comes to titles, but increasingly struggle to find their meaning. We have become experts in classifying everything in convenient files: simplification reigns supreme over content. Summary paraphrasing is the answer to our ignorance. It shelters us from the unknown and from the effort that the concept of understanding something implies. This is what has occurred in the past few years to our perception of Culture, events, and everything that was easily taken for granted. COVID has lifted the rug and revealed that which was clear, unfortunately, only to few. A society that doesn’t understand culture is unprepared to deal with change. Our society is changing quicker than ever before.
Manuela. Experts often mention AQ, Adaptability Quotient, that our generations and society seem to be on one hand open and ready for – when it comes to the introduction of new technology in our lives – but on the other hand particularly resistant to – for instance when it comes to the so-called re-skilling and up-skilling. Are we thus a lazy and unprepared society that doesn’t know introspection?
Dario. That which we perceive of a show, an exhibition, or a concert is limited to a mere experience of pleasure. A single moment in which to enjoy a strong, involving emotional experience. Period. A way to create memories, once upon a time in our minds, nowadays increasingly more on Instagram. This is something we can give up in times of crisis like these. This would be mostly true if its meaning were limited to the above.
In reality, that moment or that apparently ephemeral experience has an irreplaceable impact on people’s ability to take on challenges, communicate, discuss, acquire a critical sense, know themselves, and manage their feelings or even their impulses. Moments and places that create identity: they are useful and necessary to build self-consciousness in a process of interpersonal sharing and debate. Isn’t this the very definition of a Society or rather a social ecosystem?
How can we possibly believe we will come out of a crisis as the one COVID has caused without needing a CULTURE-Vaccine and an EXPERIENCE-Vaccine?
Manuela. Research conducted by Ernst & Young on behalf of the European Group of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) reveals how art has been literally devastated by the pandemic, with entertainment and music suffering losses up to 90% and 76%, respectively. In general, in 2020 the culture and creativity business has lost about 31% of its income, recording a net loss of 199 billion euros compared to 2019. Entertainment and music have definitely been the sectors hit hardest, but even the visual arts, architecture, advertising, publishing, press, and audiovisual sectors have plunged by 20-40% compared to 2019. The only sector to hold its own – probably due to the forced stay at home – was videogames (+9%). What is your interpretation of such data?
Dario. Impressive numbers that need to be given tangible, structural answers, long-awaited and yet to be seen. Numbers that conceal the total zeroing of one of the most important tools society has to evolve and improve.
Culture and events are like a thin, but always present line that permeates our society. A line that transcends time and is the endorser of new codes and technology. It travels across places, modifying them and making them increasingly accessible (see the Fuorisalone concurrent to the Milan Furniture Fair, as well as other exhibitions); it travels across people, evolving and modifying their perspectives, and it helps create a necessary value infrastructure to decrypt that which surrounds us, rather than being simple slaves or passive spectators.
The numbers describe the dramatic magnitude of that which we have always underestimated, identifying just how much this philosophy nurtures, guides, and steers business choices and models. Entire cities have changed as a consequence of the ecosystem that events have built around them. Entire generations have grown thanks to this great and complex Art environment.
Now more than ever, in a scenario where technology has literally invaded our everyday lives, often becoming the ends and not the means, we need models to comprehend opportunities and threats. Culture becomes the bulwark and the guiding star for our evolution. It makes development decipherable, sustainable, and democratic. Without it, it’s like returning to the jungle, at the mercy of the strongest. This is how things were pre-COVID, and it would have stayed that way, with the tacit consent of institutions and the even graver silence of its very actors.
Manuela. We have a unique opportunity for a strong re-start. Will the NextGenerationEU plan help remedy the deficiencies and mistakes of the pre-COVID era in this context? How do you believe a new basis deeply rooted in the value of expertise and transparency can be created?
Dario. By acknowledging that we live in a vulnerable world, dominated by atypical and often temporary forms of occupation mostly made of microbusinesses, non-profit organizations, and professional artists with a lack of methodology and very little training. People believe that creating events and arts is something you have inside, or that we are all Michelangelo. The market, new technology, and the industry’s numbers in Italy, Europe, and the World require, instead, an extremely high level of professional training, and in our country, we have only started to respond to this need in the past few years. It is only the beginning, but taking this path is necessary if we want this intricate supply chain involving hundreds of thousands of workers to grow and be recognized as a credible interlocutor before institutions and – above all – the civil society. Perhaps the tragic COVID crisis has made the very actors in the sector the first to come to terms with this enormous gap. Today the world of culture and creativity requires – even more than before – substantial public investment to face the ongoing crisis, but likewise, this world has the responsibility to bear the burden of our society’s future and help rewrite its paradigms. The future lies in skills, many of which are new and yet to be discovered, both in terms of their acknowledgment and as regards their interconnective value. The new digital native generations – perhaps more aware of the value of that which they’ve been deprived of and the repercussions on their future – are a priceless resource to drag this industry towards new horizons and new development models.
Manuela Andaloro with Dario De Lisi
(info@smartbizhub.com)
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Dario de Lisi
In 2003, he co-founded Centoeventi Srl, a business consolidated nationwide and specialized in innovative engagement formats and activities in the world of integrated communication.
10 years of Business Development have made it gain international experience in the communication industry by developing formats, strategic plans, and ambassador networks for multinationals such as PERNOD RICARD, JTI, BACARDI-MARTINI Group, FIAT, RED BULL, PANDORA, INBEV ITALIA, and CAMPARI. A strong attitude towards team management, problem-solving, and “THINKING DIFFERENT” has led him to be selected first as the NEW BUSINESS DIRECTOR at M.IN.I. Ltda., the Brazilian branch of Centoeventi, and then – upon returning to Italy – as the CSO at SG Company S.p.A. and Publishing Director of FOCUS ON, a b2b magazine dedicated to the communication world. The need to analyze and predict changes that our society and the communication world will be called to face post-COVID have pushed him to embark on a path of research and analysis, which he makes available as consultant and advisor. At the same time, he has always retained his position as lecturer at the IULM Communication School.