"To enjoy and contribute to the liveliness of my city", "out of love for Pesaro", "because I am passionate about theatre", "to witness, from the inside, the evolution that will take place in the coming months", "to be of help", "to do my part during a unique and exceptional period that will not happen again". There are many, personal and diverse motivations that in recent days have prompted dozens of Pesaro residents to take part in the first 'co-creation' meeting of volunteers for Pesaro, Italian Capital of Culture 2024.

Daniele Vimini, deputy mayor councillor for Beauty, in opening the proceedings, emphasised: 'We have the opportunity to build together a widespread network of volunteers that, if well organised, will become a very valuable social and cultural asset for the entire territory, regardless of, and especially after, 2024. The success (and the size of the success) of the volunteer project will mark a large part of the capital's success'.

Vimini added: "The important history of the city's volunteers, of which we are proud, is made up of many associations and organisations. Realities to which we do not want to drain figures but skills, skills that we want to bring together in the Charter of Values and in the basic narrative of the Pesaro 2024 'Nature of Culture''.

Coordinator of the project will be Marco Perugini, President of the City Council, who said, "Grateful and excited for the task I have been assigned, which I will try to honour by enhancing Pesaro's solidarity and networking roots. 

It will be nice to put them in synergy with the new ones that the Capital's adventure will attract," underlined Perugini, coordinator of the volunteers together with the association Volontari Open Culture 2019 ODV born for Matera's Capital year and present yesterday at the appointment in the Sala della Repubblica with a delegation "captained" by president Ferdinando Trotta, who also led the activities carried out during the afternoon's working tables.

The coordinator's time objectives were clear: "To build, together, a new model of cultural volunteering, which will not replace any professional figure and will be identified by a 'uniform' designed by the candidates themselves. To have visibility before and during Pesaro 2024 will distinguish the presence of a true community in support of the Capital. We are eager to start: between now and October we want to build the first core team and, in December, organise the first initiative designed to attract more volunteers”, Perugini added.

The first phase includes 'the collection of candidates' personal data, which Pesaro 2024 will do through the dedicated form, which will be followed by a reply from the staff validating the request. Then we will start to build together the statute of the volunteers and everything that will be nice to do for this unique occasion for the territory'.

The 2019 Open Culture Volunteers took the opportunity to recount their experience and acting as facilitators at the working tables further increased the enthusiasm of the next Pesaro 2024 Volunteers.

The meeting is part of the exchanges planned in the Networking Plan 2023 started by the association Volontari Open Culture 2019 and the Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019 with the aim of promoting Cultural Volunteering as a good practice and to bring the experience of Matera as a reference within the Italian and European Capitals of Culture.

This is of course only a first meeting to which others will follow, always in collaboration with the Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019.

The role of the Open Culture 2019 Volunteers becomes a stimulus and an example in trying to create a new city community of Cultural Volunteering that can then continue to exist even after the Capital year.

Trotta Ferdinando, President of the Open Culture 2019 Volunteers said "Privileged and honoured to witness the birth of a movement of citizen Volunteers who put themselves on the line for the love of their territory, to be able to be as an association an example of good practice is for us an honour and a responsibility, each person present on this day represents the intangible heritage on which to build something new that will last over time.

The conclusion of the working tables was a goodbye to present the result of the working tables and to continue outlining, the figure of the Volunteer, together with the citizens who will become such.