For Inclusive Place Naming: An International Conference at the University of Insubria on Gender Equality in Street Names

Two days of international discussion dedicated to the relationship between memory, public space and gender equality. On 22 June in Varese and 23 June in Como, the University of Insubria will host the international scientific conference “For Inclusive Place Naming. International Dialogues on the Results of the Research Project ‘Female Street Naming in the Provinces of Insubria’”.

The conference is part of a research project involving three University departments: the Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (Dista), the Department of Human Sciences and Innovation for the Territory (Disuit), and the Department of Law, Economics and Cultures (Didec), in collaboration with the University of Eastern Piedmont and the Università della Svizzera italiana.

Supported by the Regio Insubrica Working Community, the initiative represents the culmination of a research project examining the presence of women in street naming across the Insubrian area, which includes the provinces of Como and Varese and the Canton of Ticino. The project has received support from several institutions committed to promoting equal opportunities, including the Provinces of Como and Varese and the Canton of Ticino.

In recent years, place naming and, more specifically, street naming have become the focus of significant scientific research. These studies show that street names are not merely tools for urban orientation but powerful instruments through which communities construct, transmit and select their collective memory.

“Street names have become the object of new scientific research that has clarified both their fundamental socio-cultural value, in terms of public pedagogy, and their strategic geopolitical significance in shaping collective memories,” explain project coordinators Giuseppe Muti and Valeria Pecorelli.

The research highlights how the plaques encountered every day in cities help determine who deserves to be remembered and which stories become part of a community’s shared heritage.

“Urban space and the streets that characterize it are a genuine arena of memory where different narratives of society meet and clash,” note Muti and Pecorelli. “Choices are made about which memories should be publicly commemorated and which should instead be marginalized or removed.”

It is from this perspective that the study on female street naming in the provinces of Insubria was developed. By combining traditional methods of territorial and historical analysis with advanced Artificial Intelligence tools, the research team was able to map and quantify the presence of women in local public memory.

The findings reveal a marked imbalance between male and female figures in the naming of urban spaces.

“The predominance of male street names is not merely a legacy of the past but an ongoing phenomenon reflecting social and power relations that remain unequal yet deeply rooted,” observes Valeria Pecorelli. “Women remain largely absent from city maps, from the collective memories associated with them, and therefore from visions of a more equitable and inclusive future.”

The conference aims to foster multidisciplinary and cross-border dialogue on these issues by bringing together scholars, public administrators, institutions, associations and citizens. During the two-day event, the research findings will be presented and examples, best practices and possible strategies for making public-space representation more inclusive will be discussed.

The conference sessions will run from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on both days.

On 22 June, at the Granero Porati Auditorium in Varese, the programme will open with contributions from Paola Biavaschi, University Delegate for Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities, and Frédéric Giraut, holder of the UNESCO Chair “Inclusive Place Naming – Naming the World”. The research team—Giuseppe Muti, Valeria Pecorelli and Mattia Gatti (University of Insubria), Carla Ferrario (University of Eastern Piedmont), Emma Albertari (Sapienza University of Rome) and Francesco Rizzi (Università della Svizzera italiana)—will then present the project’s results.

In the afternoon, a round table entitled “Female Street Names in Insubria: History, Memory, Landscape” will bring together historian Fabio Cani, Varese Councillor for Culture Enzo La Forgia, Professor Antonio Orecchia of the University of Insubria, and historian Yvonne Pesenti, who will present the unique experience of the Archive of Ticino Women. A further session will be devoted to case studies and research methodologies, with contributions from the University of Salerno, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat).

The second day, 23 June, at the Sant’Abbondio Cloister Auditorium in Como, will have a strong international focus. Following a dialogue between UNESCO Chairs featuring Barbara Pozzo, holder of the UNESCO Chair “Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in the Multicultural Society” at the University of Insubria, and Frédéric Giraut, researcher Alexandra Mallah of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris will deliver a keynote lecture on invisibility in geographical and social space.

Significant attention will also be given to the experiences of institutions and civil society. Representatives of the Provinces of Como and Varese, the Canton of Ticino and the municipalities involved in the research will participate, alongside associations promoting gender equality and rights, including Toponomastica femminile, Non una di meno Verbania, Arcigay Como and Associazione 21 marzo – Collettivo studenti Uninsubria.

Special focus will be placed on municipalities in the Insubrian area that have implemented successful inclusive naming policies. Their experiences will be shared by Licia Viganò, mayor of Orsenigo from 2002 to 2012 and a true pioneer in this field; Cristiano Citterio, mayor of Vedano Olona from 2014 to 2024; and Maria Croci, current deputy mayor of Malnate.

The research was coordinated by an interdisciplinary team comprising Giuseppe Muti (Dista), Valeria Pecorelli (Disuit), Valentina Albanese (Didec), Carla Ferrario (University of Eastern Piedmont), Emma Albertari (Sapienza University of Rome) and Francesco Rizzi (Academy of Architecture, Università della Svizzera italiana). Ignazio Gallo (Dista) also serves on the scientific committee.

“Through the study of street names, the project offers an original perspective on the cultural and social transformations of the Insubrian territory,” conclude Giuseppe Muti and Valeria Pecorelli. “The two-day conference seeks to contribute to a shared reflection on the role of public memory in building more inclusive communities, capable of recognising and valuing the plurality of individuals who have contributed to the history and development of these territories.”