In the various panels that characterised the debate with experts and institutions, moderated by journalists Eliana Di Caro and Eva Bonitatibus, the main themes related to the development of the creative and cultural sector in Basilicata were addressed, starting from the results achieved in the long journey of Matera as European Capital of Culture 2019, to question the new actions to be put in place for the future.

The meeting was opened by the Mayor of Matera and President of the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, Domenico Bennardi, followed by the representatives of the institutions that make up the Foundation's Board of Directors: the President of the Province of Matera, Francesco Mancini, and Prof. Ferdinando Mirizzi, delegate of the Magnifico Rector of the University of Basilicata, Ignazio Marcello Mancini.

On the major directions of European and national cultural policies, Sylvain Pasqua, Senior Expert DG EAC - European Commission, and Francesca Neri, Head of Innovation and Complex Projects Area, Fondazione Scuola Beni Attività Culturali, spoke via web. The firt one took the opportunity of next year's anniversary of the Ecoc title, established in 1985, to talk about the importance of this programme for the socio-cultural development strategies of European cities. The second one illustrated the ‘Cantiere città’ programme, an enhancement pathway for the cities that are finalists for the title of Italian Capital of Culture, born and nourished precisely by the experience of Matera 2019, which has bequeathed a new way of understanding cultural heritage, characterised by the heritage/community binomial, and the theme of the right to cultural participation. After reading the message of greeting from the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, the President of the Basilicata Region, Vito Bardi, illustrated the present and future trajectories of regional cultural policies.

The balance of these ten years of Matera European Capital of Culture was outlined by the director of the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, Rita Orlando, followed by a focus on tourism, by the director of the Basilicata Tourist Board, Antonio Nicoletti, and on cinema by the president of the Lucana Film Commission, Margherita Romaniello. The stages of Matera's main challenges, such as its nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, the European Capital of Culture 2019 and the regional proposal for the establishment of the Culture ZES (Special Economic Zone), were illustrated respectively by the architect, urban planner and UNESCO consultant for endangered ecosystems, Pietro Laureano via web, by Rossella Tarantino,  member of the European Capitals of Culture selection panel for the European Commission, former director and manager of Development and Relations of the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, one of the first promoters of the Matera 2019 project, and by Raffaello De Ruggieri, contact person of Culture ZES for the Basilicata Region, former mayor of Matera during the 2019 experience.

In particular, Laurano recalled how Matera became a Unesco World Heritage Site as an example of urban ecosystem and sustainable city, recovering forgotten meanings and providing answers to problems that are highly topical today, and for this reason it represents a virtuous model to be presented to other realities in the world experiencing the same condition. Tarantino outlined the key points of Matera's candidacy as European Capital of Culture, the result of a collective intelligence that wanted to enhance the genius loci, redeeming itself from the sense of shame of its past history, using art and culture as activators of cultural citizenship, inhabiting unconventional places to broaden participation, working on themes such as co-creation, the protagonism of inland areas, the visitor considered a temporary citizen who enters into harmony with the place, the great investment made in communication, to put Matera on the map. De Ruggieri outlined the characteristics of the La Martella ‘Garden Factory’, ‘the most beautiful culture factory in Europe’, which will unite the Matera ‘brand’ with that of Adriano Olivetti.

On the topic of the economic and social impacts of culture and creativity, there was instead a keynote speech by PierLuigi Sacco, PhD, Professor of bio-behavioural economics at the University of Chieti-Pescara, rectoral delegate for internationalisation, who conducted, with his research team, an analysis of the growth triggered by the Matera 2019 pathway for some of the Basilicata creative realities that have co-produced Matera 2019 cultural programme, in terms of economy, reputation, employment, skills, partnerships activated, and access to national and international calls for tenders and funding. This growth was confirmed by the representative of this group of realities, the so-called ‘project leaders’, Vania Cauzillo of theatre company “L'Albero”, who stressed, however, that in order to put all this heritage to good use for the benefit of local administrations, the role of these realities needs to be recognised and legitimised by the administrations themselves, allowing for a structured and sustainable collaboration in the long term. Raffaele Vitulli, president of the Cluster Basilicata Creativa, which brings together the cultural and creative enterprises in the region, emphasised how much these enterprises are highly appreciated abroad and how important it is to put them in a position to be supportive for the local territory as well, leveraging internationalisation, working on the training of those who intend to build their career in the region, attracting talent from outside, building networks and partnerships, and developing infrastructure.

The last thematic focus was dedicated to the long wave of the European Capital of Culture, with the testimonies of some realities born right on the push of Matera 2019: Potenza Italian City of Youth 2024, Aliano City candidate for the Italian Capital of Culture 2027, the Open Culture 2019 Volunteers Association, born from the team of Matera 2019 volunteers, the Matera newspaper ECoCNews, the only space in Europe dedicated to European Capitals of Culture. The President of the Technical Committee for Potenza Italian City of Youth 2024, Antonio Candela, explained how Potenza's candidacy was born from working with over 500 young people of the city to identify problems and try to solve them together, creating concrete opportunities for them. The mayor of Aliano, Luigi De Lorenzo, testified how, in a village of 800 inhabitants, the rich cultural offer that has grown over the years, from the museum spaces of the Levi’s route to the ‘La luna e i calanchi’ festival, has been an enabler for the development of an inland area. Ferdinando Trotta, President of the Open Culture 2019 Volunteers Association, talked about the various collaborations activated at local, national and international level on the theme of cultural volunteering, also in terms of training new volunteers who choose to make their time available for the benefit of the community. Serafino Paternoster, founder of ECoCNews and former coordinator of the press office for Matera 2019, connected via web from Cluj-Napoca in Romania, where the 13th conference of Culture Next was taking place. The newspaper has become media partner of the network that links 34 cities representing 19 European countries. Together with him, speakers included Ştefan Teişanu, Secretary General of Culture Next, whose objectives he outlined, and Beatriz Garcia, Associate Director of the Centre for Cultural Value, who analysed the new challenges for cities wishing to become European Capitals of Culture, 40 years on from the institution of the title.

The debate's conclusions were entrusted to Carmelo Petraglia, associate professor of Political Economy at the University of Basilicata and scientific advisor to Svimez, who highlighted the need to make precise political choices to combat depopulation, transforming the city of Matera and the Basilicata region from attractive to appealing, working on inclusion and retaining talent. Operations on which the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation could certainly contribute.

Closing the day was a live video performance with generative artificial intelligence by digital artist, filmmaker, motion designer, and AI expert Valerio Calabrese, who intertwined the contributions of the panels with the answers provided by the AI software questioned on the culture of Matera and Basilicata.