Towards a new resilience culture. Relational design and workshops of social innovation for fragile areas in central-southern Italy

Throughout Italy, there are marginalized settlements often experiencing depopulation phenomena. These places are mostly located in mountainous or island areas, far from large urban cities and their infrastructural roads and, despite a consistent population decline, are still home to a fourth of the Italian population. These data are sufficient to make these peripheral areas the centre of a great national issue, to which a new concept of design of relations, systems, processes and products can stop a negative social and economic trend. This essay aims to highlight strategic scenarios and examples of good practices of relational design on this subject, that were already implemented or that are being implemented, particularly focusing on central-southern Italy.