In response to needs that are evidencing themselves in various areas of the social fabric, Cittadellarte undertakes to work to produce important signs of responsible transformation of society.

The Cittadellarte program operates through a series of coordinated units called offices, each of which conducts research in a specific area of the social structure*.

UNIDEE, the University of Ideas is the main activity of the Education office, and operates in synergy with the other Cittadellarte offices.

UNIDEE is a centre for researching, producing and promoting creative ideas directed towards greater interaction between artistic, humanistic and scientific disciplines.

UNIDEE is based on the following declaration by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto: “Art is the most sensitive and comprehensive expression of thought, and the time has come for the artist to assume responsibility for establishing communication between every other human activity, from economics to politics, from science to religion, from education to behaviour, in brief all areas of the social fabric” (Progetto Arte manifesto, 1994).

UNIDEE places creativity at the centre of research directed towards the responsible transformation of society.

The underlying aim is to react to the profound contradictions stemming from the contrast between the exponential growth of the technological and economic-financial systems that we call “progress” and the “regress” produced by the tragic deterioration of the planet and the inhuman conditions of physical and moral poverty to which a large part of the world’s population is subjected. The time would seem to have come for the human race to act with maturity and to assume responsibility on a planetary scale.

UNIDEE seeks to bring available creative forces to bear on a central theme, that of a new conception of global civilization.

UNIDEE is directed in particular to people with project development skills who are capable of making innovative proposals in all areas of the social fabric. This regards all orders of realization – from the practical, everyday object to the large-scale physical habitat and mental habitus.

UNIDEE is a workshop in which humanistic, scientific and social disciples such as sociology, economics, philosophy, politics, physics and biology are integrated with the arts – music, visual arts, theatre, literature, dance, photography, architecture, fashion and design.

* Cittadellarte offices are: Art, Communication, Rights, Ecology, Economics, Education, Work, Nourishment, Politics, Production, Science, Spirituality