Bologna's FUORI! Project: Nightwalks for Teenagers Reclaim Public Space

The FUORI! project in Bologna, funded by FSE-PON METRO Bologna, combines cultural welfare and social innovation over a year (June 2022-June 2023) targeting age groups hardest hit by the pandemic. Curated by Silvia Bottiroli, the initiative focuses on the night as a dimension lost during lockdown, aiming to restore young people's agency in public space. The project launched with Nightwalks with Teenagers by Canadian collective Mammalian Diving Reflex in peripheral neighborhoods, alongside collaborations with CHEAP, a transfeminist festival. Bottiroli emphasized starting with a gesture recognizing the drama of deprivation, involving public poster campaigns and night walks. The project builds on two earlier Bologna initiatives: Così sarà! La città che vogliamo by ERT (ages 11-25) and Poetico Politico by Teatro dell'Argine (ages 14-20), which mapped teenagers' futures. FUORI! engages schools, the Fondazione per l'Innovazione Urbana, Baumhaus, and sociologist Stefano Laffi of CODICI for social observation. Nightwalks in June featured international and local artists, including Eva Geatti, using games like hide-and-seek and soccer to invert power dynamics between youth and adults. The project continues in October with three more stages across the metropolitan city.