The project, financed by the European URBACT III Programme, is called Find Your Greatness (FYG), and the challenge addressed by the network is how to communicate the potential of the city in terms of attractiveness for citizens, stakeholders, tourists and investors.
Perugia, thanks to the communication expert Marco Tortoioli and the students of the Brand Design master course of the Fine Arts Academy, seems to have found its “greatness”: the city is renowned worldwide for many reasons (Art, Culture, Food, Chocolate, Jazz among others), but is there any chance people would really come over just to see 3000 years old stones of Etruscan walls?
Perugia, with its 7 km, is the city with the longest and better persevered Etruscan walls among the many Italian Etruscan cities. However, what makes this city truly unique is that this heritage is felt as a connection monument instead of just an ancient defense symbol.
In the many centuries of history, the walls have been the setting for many historical events and prominent personalities: just think of Gerardo Dottori, a futurist painter, Aldo Capitini, an intellectual and pacifist personality, Sandro Penna, a famous poet of the twentieth century, etc. These characters, just to name a few, with their personal histories and life experiences, have witnessed worldwide a kind of cultural and artistic independence and made Perugia known as the capital of peace and freedom.
The story of the city is also full of moments when people had to fight to remain free from any domain. Think of the Salt War of 1540, started from an insurrection by Perugian citizens against the Vatican State during the pontificate of Pope Paul III. Perugia had been a free commune until 1370, when it was de jure incorporated into the Papal States, but the elite of the city wanted to maintain its privileges, including the freedom from paying any taxes on salt, then an important product for preserving food. Legend has it that as part of the popular protest against this papal tax, Perugians stopped putting salt in their bread (unsalted bread is the norm to this day).
The goal that the Municipality of Perugia set today through “Find Your Greatness” project is to promote this unexpected reputation of the city worldwide, and make the “Etruscan Spirit” the guiding lighthouse for all the people who want to be free to express their selves.
In the next weeks the communication campaign created by the Academy Of Fine Arts will be launched, and a series of events and meetings will be organized, which will last until the end of summer. All these initiatives are finalized to attract tourists and investors to the city, and elaborate a final brand that will be recognized worldwide.
„Find your Greatness” is an URBACT project that reflects the most challenges addressed by AIM together with 7 EU local communities: Braganca (Portugal), Voru (Estonia), Wroclaw (Poland), Candelaria (Canary Islands), Perugia (Italia), Limerick (Ireland), Budafok (Hungary). „Find your Greatness” aims to enhance city brands built on the cities’ potential and to successfully create Europe`s first strategic brand building program for smart cities.