Geotema 56_14 – Roll-with-Participation. Il caso di ProMondello a Palermo

This contribution is based on an ongoing experience in Palermo: a participatory process (ProMondello) aimed at producing a master plan. The specificity of ProMondello stems from the fact that the promoters of the process are neither social communities nor local administrations, which so far have only arranged highly questionable and easily exploitable processes. ProMondello is organised by a private stakeholder, the Italo-Belgian Real Estate Company, which has been managing a beach concession for about a century. The case raises several questions: can we have true participation along with such obvious economic interests? What can ensure that citizens’ opinions are not instrumentally used? The answers must take into account the use of established qualitative methods and the creation of a ‘guarantor’, but also the much broader framework of neo-liberal governance.

Keywords: participatory action research, qualitative methods, neoliberalism, Mondello, Palermo.