The current concept of ‘wellness’ seems to privilege certain aspects, mainly related to physical activity and diet, which are certainly important, but not exhaustive of the definition of health, as desired by the WHO. In particular, there is a lack of emphasis on the cognitive dimension of well-being, which is inseparably linked to the emotional and affective component of the human being. This is in spite of the fact that the term ‘knowledge’ constantly recurs in the planning and vision documents of politics, bodies, agencies, and companies.
The challenge is therefore to transform the slogan ‘knowledge-based growth’ into a series of human-centredinitiatives, with which to protect and enhance the cognitive capacity of each individual citizen, at all stages of life (prenatal and neonatal, child, adolescent, adult, elderly) and activities (citizen, student, worker, patient, etc.) and obviously including both able-bodied and disabled individuals.

Fondazione IRET ETS and Tecnopolo di Bologna-Ozzano, making use of the expertise they have acquired and the activities they have already started up, are promoting ‘Recognise your brain – from deficit to benefit’, a wide-ranging project with the aim of making a concrete contribution to the issues outlined above.
A basic characteristic of this initiative will be its transversality, i.e. the effort to unite different disciplinary areas and operational contexts, involving all key stakeholders in the dialogue.
The initiatives will be grouped according to three distinct, strongly interconnected areas of activity

  • scientific and research
  • social engagement
  • (in)educational and cultural.

Within these thematic strands, a number of initiatives already undertaken by IRET and the Technopole (the ‘Neuroscience for kids’ format, for example) will first of all be included, and links will be forged with other organizations and their initiatives, so as to create an articulated but coherent picture of what is being done today and the areas of innovation in prospect.

The project aims to promote an ecosystem centred on the topic of cognitive well-being, which can then expand beyond the regional sphere.

#Technoconnections