In Italy’s cradle of the Renaissance, a community arts centre is fostering urban regeneration, economic growth and tackling inequality; all at near zero-cost to the government. Could LUMEN be the solution for a struggling UK arts scene?
Over the last decade countless headlines have reported the decline of community and arts spaces across Britain. Only last year, over thirty grassroots music venues were forced to shut their doors, and an additional 20% of the industry’s workforce were laid off. For Youth Clubs, the picture’s only bleaker, with the trade union Unison reporting over 1200 closures between 2010 and 2023.
Whilst consecutive UK governments have come under pressure to make deeper cuts as they face constant external shocks, an Italian arts and community hub has been rewriting the script since 2021.
In Florence LUMEN, or the ‘Urban Laboratory Mensola’ is a project that combines a home for local charities, businesses and education centres alongside a platform for the creative arts. In the day, its many reclaimed and regenerated spaces house over 250 third sector organisations, facilitating a range of community building activities.
The likes of social gardening, environmental education, practical skill-building, carpentry, legal courses and more, all lighting up Lumen’s calendar. Whilst, at night, countless music and arts performances platform talent from the local grassroots to global stars, pushing the legacy of the space forward.
But what’s the access cost to a space like this you might be wondering. Well, just €5 a year, and not per person but per family, ensuring as many as possible can access the facility. As a result, the space has become thriving with cross-cultural dialogue, enabling people to voice their needs, wants and opinions on an equal footing.
At LUMEN, the united community now talk and innovate together, tackling the contemporary social, political and environmental challenges they all faced, whilst eliciting new artistic inspiration and production.
An impact made sustainable by the job-opportunities they offer directly from the educational courses at the facility. From allowing those learning construction skills to directly engage with the re-construction of the land, to enabling those who have learnt about the arts help to organise and platform upcoming events.
However, Italy’s no stranger to creating spaces like this through alternative arts communities. Whilst the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 crippled the UK free rave scene, in Italy similar movements established ‘Centri Sociali’ across the country, community centres offering low-cost access to the arts, activism and social services in disused urban areas.
It’s a model and legacy LUMEN has built off, turning a nineties blue-print into an established and legitimised modern non-profit. A shift made possible through a unique combination of national and local legislation as well as an invested trust in the power of community charities.
So how did they make it work?
First was Article 20 of the Regulations on the Real Estate of the City of Florence (2017). This laid out the free concession of government owned real estate to third sector organisations for exceptional cases of collective interest projects. Essentially, removing the financial barrier and stress charities and communities face when securing and maintaining a space for their work.
Second was a change in national policy. Article 55 of the Third Sector Code institutionalised the possibility of non-profits ‘co-designing’ facilities alongside government actors. A direct alternative to a competition based ‘bidding system’ that forced charities and third sector communities to pit themselves against each other when procuring contracts.
All of a sudden this paved the way for Florence’s 250+ third sector organisations to go from a fragmented network, to a united eco-system. An eco-system where cross-fertilisation of ideas, pooling of resources, and collaborative working could blossom into wider collective change.
A legal back-drop that allowed the initial non-profit LUMEN, Icche’ ci vah ci vole, (a Tuscan proverb for Whatever it takes, is needed), to begin their project. First, a disused piece of urban land was chosen: Mensola Park. A space offering nearly 8000 square metres of land, including greenhouses, and a bare-bones hall, it was located far out of the historic centre of Florence. A conscious choice to give back to a neighbourhood and community overlooked by the city’s global fame.
The project got under way quickly, seeming to present near zero costs to the local government, whilst offering a plethora of positive impacts, but to ensure its sustainability a set of failsafes were needed. So LUMEN set out a clear, collaborative plan.
Each year the facility pledged to reinvest at least 51% of its turnover back into cultural production, self-managing all extraordinary and ordinary maintenance costs. But also importantly, the lease agreement ensures that after its 30 year length, the facility is passed back to the government.
It’s an emphasis on sustainability that LUMEN has taken in its stride, adopting a ‘permaculture’ structure, focusing on using renewable resources, methods and habits. As well as ensuring volunteers have the chance to progress into careers at the facility itself, across construction, the arts and community outreach.
An impact you just can’t ignore
So, a self-funded, environmentally sustainable and urban re-generation catalysing asset, community managed and eventually given back to the government at near no cost. What is not to like? But don’t just take my word for it, all you have to do is see the thriving community in action itself.
From the ‘Copula Mundiali’ (unification of the world) festival where you can find public forums, world-class music and educational courses, to simply seeing the daily impact LUMEN has empowering young people of all backgrounds, bridging the future of the community.
It’s no wonder academics including Agnese Pacinico (University of Padova and Rome) have already reported on how LUMEN is changing the game, directly contributing towards the UN’s sustainable development goals. Health and wellbeing, inclusive and equitable education, reducing inequality, creating sustainable decent work and economic growth. It can all be linked back to LUMEN.
So why are we waiting? In a country seemingly more-divided than ever, with the arts struggling and countless areas feeling increasingly left-behind, is this not the solution we need. Bringing life back into our urban areas and bridging our communities, showing how the arts can make a difference from the biggest stages to everyday lives.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/189420050@N03/52497104385/ (Irene Steeves).