Reactivating Participation, One Workshop at a Time: Reflections from Monfalcone

Collettivo Onda continued its journey to strengthen civic participation and community connection in Monfalcone through a new cycle of creative and civic workshops. Designed as part of our ongoing effort to reactivate local participation and nurture collective imagination, these sessions invited residents to meet, reflect, and co-create ideas for their city’s future.

From Slow Beginnings to Steady Steps

Over the past months, we have hosted three civic and creative workshops in Monfalcone. Each session was a step in rebuilding trust and community ties in a place that has long been underserved and disconnected from participatory life.

In contexts like this, reactivation takes time. People are not immediately accustomed to being invited in, to being listened to, or to being offered spaces for co-creation. The early stages of engagement often start quietly — and that’s perfectly natural. Yet, what we’ve seen is that small steps can lead to powerful ripples: at every lab, at least one new participant joined, showing a gradual and organic growth in local interest and involvement.

While the numbers may be modest, the impact is tangible. Participants consistently shared that the workshops offered something rare — a genuine sense of learning, belonging, and wellbeing, and a renewed feeling of connection to others and to their city. 

Rethinking What Participation Means

One of our most important realisations through this process has been the need to rethink what success looks like in community revitalisation. In places like Monfalcone, traditional participation metrics — the number of attendees or activities — don’t tell the full story.

Instead, progress reveals itself through:

• Trust-building and first encounters between community members.
  Quality of experience and feedback, rather than quantity.

• Continuity and small ripple effects that spread over time.

• Emotional safety and wellbeing, which form the foundation for deeper engagement.

These alternative indicators remind us that genuine participation is less about scale and more about substance — about creating spaces where people feel seen, safe, and connected.

What We’re Learning Along the Way

Our experience this season has reaffirmed several key lessons about community revitalisation. First, that transformation is a wave — it starts small, but gathers momentum as it moves. (That’s what inspired the name Onda, after all.)

We also learned that physical spaces matter: accessible, inclusive, and welcoming venues make participation possible. People need safe, facilitated spaces to express their views and share experiences — something increasingly rare in today’s fragmented social climate.

Above all, this work requires a human-centered approach. Participation strategies must adapt to local realities — to people’s rhythms, trust levels, and needs — rather than trying to fit them into predefined targets or timelines.

Looking Ahead

As we close this chapter of the autumn workshops, our direction is clear. We will continue to nurture the continuity and visibility of these civic and creative spaces, while refining our indicators to better reflect qualitative and relational progress. At the same time, we will keep adapting our methods to the local culture and pace of Monfalcone, ensuring that every step forward remains rooted in the people who make this community what it is.

Building participation is a patient and deeply human process — one that moves in waves, slowly but steadily, toward collective transformation. With every encounter, every conversation, and every new connection, Collettivo Onda’s wave keeps growing — bringing Monfalcone’s civic spirit closer to the surface once again.