In my speech at the Biennale della Prossimità in Turin, dedicated to Practices of Deep Democracy, I began with a provocation: digital is often an unwelcome guest in discussions about proximity. It pervades our lives and relationships, yet we tend to leave it on the sidelines of our reasoning or consider it only when we need to choose a tool.
Yet digital influences who we meet, how we inform ourselves, which experiences become visible, and who can participate.
If we want to build ecosystems of proximity, capable of fostering trust, reciprocity, and collaboration over time, we must also nurture this dimension.
Hybrid proximity
This is where hybrid proximity takes shape: relationships that span physical places and digital environments, connecting encounters, knowledge, and the possibility of acting together. The Biennale’s decision to adopt the ProssiMatch and FirstLife platforms also opens a reflection on how to sustain these connections beyond the event itself.
The quality of this proximity depends on our choices: engaging those who remain invisible, fostering exchange between generations, recognizing differences in gender, language, abilities, and resources. And addressing the risks of exclusion, manipulation, and polarization.
Digital technology can help us connect experiences that today feel isolated, making the collective strength of those working on care and the common good more recognizable.
This reflection becomes even more urgent with artificial intelligence, which is entering the ways we produce knowledge, interpret needs, and make decisions.
What “we” do we want to build in proximity ecosystems, as digital technology increasingly becomes artificial intelligence? And how do we make room for those who are not yet part of it?
This is not a niche topic, but one that permeates our daily lives.
