VALICO VIGILIO - Practices for a just transition
Yona Catrina Schreyer
So.No is a non-profit socio-cultural association in Bergamo. It grew around the activities from Maite (another association, active since 2013 in the field of social inclusion, and community-led welfare for all). So.No's work is dedicated to cultural, social, and creative communities and their practice, with the aim to spark activities and opportunities through detecting spaces of action. The guiding principle is to put in touch those who are not connected and create access to places and structures where systems fail – empowering people to organise themselves. The team is composed by Francesca Gotti, Yona Catrina Schreyer, Pietro Bailo and Caterina Corti.
Pietro is an activist, expert in community welfare and self-promoted initiatives; he has been managing Maite and curating its activities for over 10 years.
Caterina is a graphic and interaction designer, dedicated to project of social inclusion and awareness.
Francesca is an architect and researcher. She develops spatial interventions, visual narrations, and experimental pedagogies that reflect on autonomy, urban commons, and empowerment. She teaches in Milan and Mendrisio.
Yona Catrina is an architect by training. Through her current research and practice she explores social, cultural, and ethical ramifications between society and the urban built environment through the role of designers. She teaches in Milan and Vienna.
The recent years brought various societal fragilities to the fore. The aftermath of the pandemic, as well as the drastic effects of climate change and mass tourism evident in Bergamo, urge us to take action and transform our community and ecosystem into a more just, social, regenerative, and safe place, for and with, particularly, young adults. In this sense, “VALICO VIGILIO” wants to contribute to a healthy urban metabolism and situates itself right at the intersection between social and ecological urgencies, the rural/urban and local/global context, theory and praxis, education and action, design and build, art and technology. It proposes to unite those various aspects through a project of urban circularity for all living beings in the context of Bergamo.
The project foresees four phases: In an initial “ramp-up phase”, the project partners and coordinators gather for intensive learning experiences and knowledge exchange. Online meetings are followed by site visits to explore the individual practices and their philosophies, discussing the individual approaches further amid the specific case of Bergamo (October 2024). In February-March 2025, the alliance plans to build up the structure for an on-site educational design-build project around resource-friendly concepts of cohabitation and access to public common goods in the old town of Bergamo, namely in the former janitor’s house of the historic San Vigilio Castle. In a third phase, the aim is to open up the experience to international students and newly graduates, transferring knowledge and spreading practical approaches in the form of an open access SummerSchool (June 2025). The third phase marks the reflection on success and shortfallings (September) to see how initiative of that kind can become permanently embedded in the urban practices – crossing Valico (=mountain pass) Vigilio symbolizes how we can collectively overcome challenges towards a just urban transitions.