Politics of Hope for the Enjoyment of the Sea
Napoli | 6-7 November 2025
Event of the AESOP Thematic Group ‘Public Spaces and Urban Cultures’
As a “collectively mobilized resource” hope holds together utopian aspiration and practical negotiation, seeking alternatives to technocratic control in shaping urban life. The Politics of Hope (Appadurai, 2007) points toward real processes of social transformation through what the Thematic Group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures describes as “collective endeavours influencing the material, imagined, and sensed dynamics that shape urban realities”. A deeper awareness of rights, a broader access to knowledge and a proactive involvement in decision making are some of the ingredients to allow people to practice their imaginations for urban future and realize their agency in the social-urban transformation (Schatzki et al., 2001). These elements also underpin the protagonism of the Neapolitan Committee Mare Libero Pulito e Gratuito [Free Sea] and the Neapolitan Urban Commons Network within the city’s multiple contested urban scenarios.
The event is jointly organized by the Institute for Research on Innovation and Services for Development (Cnr Iriss) and the AESOP Thematic Group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures, within the Erasmus+ project PS-U-GO Education in Living Labs: Participatory Skills for sustainable Urban Governance (www.psugo.eu/).
6 November 15:00
Maschio Angioino - Castel Nuovo, Event Room
V. Vittorio Emanuele III
Introduction
Stefania Ragozino | Cnr Iriss
Collectively Mapping the enjoyability of Neapolitan Coast*
Stefano Cuntò | University of Naples
PS-U-GO ULL Naples: a short documentary
Lorenzo Lodato | Lido Pola Urban Commons
KEYNOTE LECTURE
Why does water matter to the everyday cultures and practices of city dwellers?
Sophie Watson | Open University London
ROUNDTABLE
Co-Producing Hope through the Enjoyment of Waters
Gabriella Esposito De Vita | Cnr Iriss
Paolo Landri | Cnr Iriss
Lorenzo Lodato | Lido Pola Urban Commons
Valentina Rossi | Cnr Iriss
Maura Striano | Naples City Council
Anna Terracciano | University of Naples
Raffaele Vaccaro | Nisida Environment
Sophie Watson | Open University London, UK
Moderation Tihomir Viderman | BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg - AESOP TG PSUC
7 November 10:00-12:00
Mergellina Metro Station
Neapolitan Coast Mobile Workshop
Committee Mare Libero Napoli
