The new Evaluation Report on the “Cultural Participation Across Generations” study, promoted by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, explores how people of different age groups and from migrant backgrounds experience, interpret and engage with culture.
The research gives a detailed picture of participation practices, motivations and barriers, highlighting generational differences and specific factors linked to people’s experiences and living environment. It reveals an increasingly diverse understanding of culture, in which more established forms of cultural engagement are complemented by experiences centred on social interaction, personal expression, contemporary forms of expression and digital participation.
The study, available in the Evaluation Library section of the Foundation’s website, was conducted by the Evaluation Office within the Learning Department of the Turin-based philanthropic foundation, which coordinated the research process, data analysis and interpretation. The questionnaire was designed and developed by CRAFT, PIAM ets, ideazione. and MeltingPro, while data collection was carried out by Ipsos.
The study involved a representative sample of 1,000 residents under 34 and over 65 in Piedmont and Liguria, supplemented by an in-depth study of 200 people from a migrant background living in Piedmont.
One of the most striking findings is the different meaning attributed to culture by the three different audience groups. For over-65s, culture remains closely associated with knowledge, personal development and engagement with established cultural forms, such as museum, reading and heritage. Among young people aged 19 to 34, participation encompasses a wider range of forms and experiences, including digital content, live music and cinema, as well as opportunities where cultural engagement intersects with social interaction and identity formation.
For people from migrant backgrounds too, cultural participation takes a variety of forms, with particular importance attached to collective and tradition-based activities. Folk traditions, cooking, dancing and singing are among the most common areas of engagement, alongside a desire for cultural exchange and dialogue.
The research also provides a more precise understanding of the conditions that can facilitate or hinder participation. Difficulties relating to distance and transport represent a significant barrier, cited by 47% of the Italian population and 52% of over-65s. Among young people aged 19 to 24, lack of company is particularly significant, cited by 36% of respondents. Cost and the compatibility of opening hours with people’s schedules represent further barriers across groups, cited by 35% and 36% of respondents respectively.
Taken together, these findings provide useful insights into how cultural participation can be broadened and made more accessible. Reaching different audiences depends not only on the variety of the cultural offer, but also on attention to the practical conditions that make participation possible: financial and logistical accessibility, languages and formats capable of engaging with different experiences, and opportunities for meeting and social interaction.
From this perspective, the research contributes to guiding the Foundation’s work on audience development, providing evidence to support cultural institutions and organisations in creating more inclusive experiences that can engage with the diversity of the communities and people who live in them.
The “Cultural Participation Across Generations” Evaluation Report is available in the Evaluation Library of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html css=””]JTVCU2V6aW9uZV9Eb2N1bWVudGklNUQ=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]