A look on Bologna: a didactic experience to discover our heritage for the construction of an active citizenship

Abstract

The main topic of the history didactics project hereby presented was the history of Bologna’s canals, an essential component of its urban and territorial heritage. The objective of this project was to initiate students to a research that would allow them to recognize and explore the legacy of the city’s hydraulic network, in order to make them aware of the value of creations that provided the local community with essential resources for its prosperity. In this way, students gained awareness and responsibility toward this element of the urban heritage, and they then concretely contributed to its protection and valorization. One can say, then, that starting from the knowledge of the heritage, students have reached awareness and responsibility for it, formulating new suggestions for its safeguard, to finding new ways to add value and transmit that same knowledge they gained to the entire community.