On Monday 8 June 2026, The Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze hosted a meeting for second-tier managers of the Ministry of Culture as part of the process to draft the Ministry’s Charter of Values, organised in collaboration with the Scuola nazionale del patrimonio e delle attività culturali.

The proceedings were opened by a series of presentations aimed at outlining the results of the first meeting that had launched the process, involving senior managers, held in Rome on 9 and 10 April 2026 at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, with the aim of defining a shared framework of values capable of guiding the Administration’s actions and strengthening the institutional identity of the Ministry of Culture.

The definitions of the ten or so values established on that first occasion were presented yesterday in the Galleria dei Prigioni and the Tribuna del David by Martina De Luca, Head of the Training Department at the National School of Heritage and Cultural Activities and project coordinator, and by three directors-general of the Ministry of Culture: Marina Giuseppone, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Organisation at the Ministry of Culture, Andreina Contessa, Director-General of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e Musei del Bargello, and Fabrizio Magani, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape.

Conceived as a manifesto of inspiration and vision for public action, the Charter aims to identify the core of the Ministry of Culture’s founding and non-negotiable values; as Marina Giuseppone pointed out, it is the first of all ministries to adopt such a document. The document aims to strengthen a sense of belonging and internal collaboration, whilst recognising cultural heritage as a common good and promoting widespread responsibility for its protection and enhancement.

Andreina Contessa, Director General of GAMB – Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e Musei del Bargello, inviting participants to adopt a ‘lofty’ perspective, stated among other things: Our institution, the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e Musei del Bargello, is delighted to host this important meeting organised by the National School of Heritage and Cultural Activities and to provide an ‘inspiring’ setting such as the Tribune of David for all participants. The Ministry of Culture’s Charter of Values was created to enshrine what is indispensable: the conviction that knowledge is the first bulwark of freedom, that culture in its various forms is a right for all, and that transparency is the primary duty of those called upon to serve the country’s culture. Every director, official, every professional, every citizen must be able to find in these pages the ethical boundaries of their actions, so that the past may be fertile ground for the future. The actions of this Ministry derive their legitimacy from the fruitful balance between a rigorous ethical drive and a forward-looking vision of the future. We are called not merely to administer the present, but to nurture the future. Ethics and Vision are the two driving forces behind a single mission: to make memory an inspiration for innovation, so that culture may be a right of citizenship for all, a space of freedom and a source of intergenerational hope.

Designed as a dynamic tool, intended to evolve over time, the Charter places care at the heart of administrative action and aims to build a relationship of trust both within the Administration and with citizens and communities.

The event was attended by 45 senior managers from the Ministry of Culture in central Italy: from museums to superintendencies, from libraries to central offices in Rome – such as the Department for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, the Directorate-General for Museums, the Institutes for the Protection of Historical, Artistic and Architectural Heritage, and for the Protection and Digitisation of Archival Heritage. There were a great many participants from Tuscany, including Florence, Lucca and Pisa, as well as Siena and Carrara. The discussions at the crowded round tables were coordinated by the team from the National School of Heritage and Cultural Activities.

The next stages will take place at the Royal Museums of Turin, which will host managers from Northern Italy, and the Archaeological Museum of Naples for those from the South.