EDUCARE AL TERRITORIO ATTRAVERSO I FIUMI. IL PROGETTO DI PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT “FLOWING WITH THE RIVERS”

Territorial education through the rivers. The “Flowing with the rivers” public engage-ment project. – The contribution reflects on how the value of water resources in the ecological transition can be shared and strengthened through geo-graphical education. In particular, the Public Engagement project “Flow-ing with the rivers”, financed with 48,500 euros by the University of Turin, whose objective was the development of an educational model to sustain-ably reconstruct the relationships between human communities and terri-tory around water as a resource and fundamental element in all relation-ships between natural and human systems. The project activities devel-oped between 2021 and 2023, concentrating the action on the territory between Turin and Savigliano, in particular between the Po, Tanaro and Maira rivers, and involved universities, associations, schools with teachers, students and parents, citizens, media and local administrations. The in-volvement of local communities was considered a basis of geographical education, starting from the idea that through awareness of the ecological, cultural and economic value of rivers it is possible to arrive at a plan for life, care and sustainable development that produces a social and cultural change in the valorization and management of water resources. The inter-disciplinary working group, scientifically directed by Cristiano Giorda, in-volved fifteen researchers from six different departments and scientific areas. The main methodology followed was that of territorial education through outdoor education and place and art based learning activities, ca-pable of territorialising the scientific and artistic dimensions with skills linked to territorial values, landscape, sustainable development -bile and active citizenship.