INTRA is the project through which the Luigi Einaudi Foundation addresses the challenges posed by deindustrialization in Piedmont, using an interdisciplinary, international, and trans-scalar approach. The project connects past and present: it traces the transition from the Fordist model to present-day dynamics to investigate how economic and productive reconversion has impacted communities, territories, and social relations, as well as the political, social, economic, and environmental implications it has produced.

Who promotes it

The Luigi Einaudi Foundation coordinates the project together with its internal research group on deindustrialization, comprising researchers from the University of Turin. The "Ferdinando Rossi" School of Advanced Studies of the University of Turin, Ivrea industrial city of the 20th century, the Global Shapers Hub of Turin, and the Adriano Massazza Gal Documentation Centre of Biella have also joined. INTRA is funded by the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and the "Ferdinando Rossi" School of Advanced Studies of the University of Turin.

The link with DéPOT

INTRA is integrated into the international network DéPOT – Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time (Concordia University, Montréal), fostering dialogue between Italy, France, and North America. In this direction, INTRA was presented at the DéPOT Project Assembly on June 17, 2026, featuring a discussion session with professors and project stakeholders. Another discussion milestone was the round table organized at the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris on May 4, 2026 aimed at university students in collaboration with the Maison de l’Italie.

Activities

• Internationalization: Mobility of researchers and an international conference planned for May 5, 6, and 7, 2027, in Turin.

• Outreach:

  • A portal with an interactive map (WebGIS) of the studied industrial sites, featuring photographs, videos, texts, and oral history interviews with former trade unionists, workers, and family members, continuously updated through citizen science tools;

  • The involvement of an artist to represent the research findings in an innovative way;

  • A pilot documentary on the different faces of deindustrialization.

• Capacity building: Two workshops for university students, educational materials, and training modules with partner universities. The first workshop took place on September 26, 2026, as a research lab during the European Researchers' Night at Parco del Valentino in Turin.