SPHERE

"Space, place and the historical and contemporary articulations of regional, national and European identities through work and community in areas undergoing economic restructuring and regeneration"

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'SPHERE explores themes of identity and belonging: how do such alignments and affiliations survive (or not) the socio-economic changes that accompany restructuring and the broader political and demographic remodelling of Europe’s cultural landscapes? Its multidisciplinary analysis will deepen insight into the ways life experiences are interwoven with a range of cultural practices to construct new identities; it will also address the sources and implementation of regeneration policies for notions of community. SPHERE starts from six distinctive regional identities historically rooted in specific occupational contexts around strong communities in Europe’s largest economies: France, Germany, Poland, Spain, UK and Turkey. All have undergone profound socio-economic transformations with associated challenges to cultural identities and practices. The project focuses on changes to historic regional and cultural identities where regional regeneration projects have attempted to introduce new industries or services or jobs and to create new cultural and economic landscapes. To assess the impact of Europe on the complex evolutions of community, regional and national identities, some of the regions chosen accessed or use EU regeneration funding, while others relied largely either on regional or national state subsidies or on market processes. This research will trace the transition from older to newer industries and put a strong focus on the impact this has had on cultural identities linked to work, class and gender, as well as the effects of EU or other regeneration processes on understandings of place and on people’s sense of belonging. It will probe the conditions under which new occupational, community, national and/or European identities emerge. By drawing on both the humanities and social science, it goes further and asks questions about the complex interconnections of history, place, culture and identity within households, the community and its collective organisations.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

With increasing personal and professional migration taking place across Europe, feelings of belonging and reformation of personal identity come to the fore as issues warranting research.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The 'Space, place and the historical and contemporary articulations of regional, national and European identities in areas undergoing economic restructuring and regeneration' (Sphere) project set out to explore themes of identity and belonging and examine how these are reshaped in the context of socioeconomic change and new cultural landscapes. A multidisciplinary approach intended to further understanding of how life experiences and cultural practices affect emerging identities.

.Taking into account six of Europe's largest economies, the EU-funded research project put the spotlight on sources and implementation of regeneration policies for perceptions of community. Considering socioeconomic transformations and accompanying challenges to cultural identities and practices, project partners looked at historic regional and cultural identities. The aim was to assess the impact of regeneration activities alongside the introduction of new industries, services and jobs in creating new economic and cultural landscapes.

In tracing this evolution, researchers were particularly interested in seeing studying how the shift influenced cultural identities as related to work, class and gender. Sphere partners also endeavoured to determine the effects of EU or other regeneration processes in forming peoples' understandings of place and peoples' sense of belonging.

A series of international steering committee meetings were held, and a Livelink facility ensured that partners could communicate and share information. This also enabled a total of 19 online meetings held throughout the course of the project.

A website served as the project's main dissemination medium, in addition to the partners' national websites. In efforts to establish good relations with regional and national audiences, partners worked closely with regional advisory groups, and fieldwork was presented at various meetings. The team issued various reports and also secured a book contract to share project outcomes with a wider audience.

A synthesis report notes that processes of de-industrialisation and regeneration within the European context had a profound impact on restructuring. Sphere members also reported that notions of place and conceptions of gender are closely related to changing or enduring political and cultural alignments, while 'race' or ethnicity are heavily tied to with culture shifts and identity formation.

In seeking to determine the cultural and identity-related impact of regeneration policies in de-industrialised regions, Sphere findings stand to provide valuable insight to policymakers across Europe. This is also important when considering whether new identities have emerged and if new notions of being and belonging are being articulated through an emerging sense of 'Europeanness'.