ALPHABETICA General Assembly Has Opened in Turin with a Strong Focus on Research and Collaboration

Today, the ALPHABETICA project has officially opened its two-day General Assembly in Turin, in a meeting organised and hosted by the University of Turin at the Campus Luigi Einaudi. Partners have gathered both in person and online, and the atmosphere has been warm, focused, and highly collaborative from the very start.

The day began with a welcome and introduction to the agenda by Roberta Ricucci (University of Turin) and the coordinator Rachele Antonini (University of Bologna). Project coordination and management updates were then presented by the Project Manager, Federico Di Persio (University of Bologna).

The morning continued with a strong focus on research activities. Members of the NOVA University Lisbon presented the study carried out to establish a common conceptual, theoretical and methodological basis for the research project. This was followed by the working group in charge of  exploring the value of arts and art in education. Rachele Antonini and Valentina Cappi (University of Bologna) shared updates on survey implementation and qualitative data.

Next, Adam Bulandra and Jakub Kosciolek (Interkulturalni PL, Poland), have focused on national reports and focus groups. A key highlight of the morning was presented by Sarah Crafter (The Open University) and Guida de Abreu (Oxford Brookes University), who shared early insights from pilot activities and outlined the next steps in research data collection.

Before the afternoon sessions, Rachele Antonini (University of Bologna), has reflected on the project’s theory of change and lessons learned so far, reinforcing the commitment to strong and coherent research standards.

In the afternoon, attention turned to outreach and engagement by Manex Urruzola Arrate (Elhuyar), who introduced the strategy for sharing project results with wider audiences. This was followed by an extensive session under led by Giulia Mezzetti (University of Turin) and Elena Tornariti (Synthesis). They presented the draft deliverable D5.1 Methodological Guidelines for conducting Living Labs and facilitated a practical training session on how to implement Living Labs as participatory spaces connecting research, communities, and policy.

Throughout the day, exchanges between sessions strengthened collaboration among partners and contributed to a dynamic and constructive working environment. The first day of the General Assembly has laid a solid foundation for the next stages of ALPHABETICA’s work.