October 9–11, at MIND – MILANO INNOVATION DISTRICT
People First: Identity, Community, and Social Innovation to Build the Future
Milan, March 26, 2026 – From October 9 to 11 , the second edition of the CultureLink Festival, the festival organized by the social enterprise Stripes, together with Pedagogika.it, and dedicated to the worldof education andsocial innovation.
Following the inaugural edition in 2024, which featured 35 events, 80 speakers, and over 1,500 participants, the Festival returns with an even stronger focus on the concepts of individuality and collectivity. The theme of the 2026 edition, People, invites us to put the human being back at the center in an era marked by rapid and profound transformations, exploring how the identity of the individual is closely intertwined with the fate of the community.
The CultureLink Festival was born out of a desire to foster culture and build connections: between people, between generations, and also between the third sector and social enterprises, and the public, academic, and for-profit sectors, with the aim of building relationships, developing networks, and fostering community. CultureLink serves as a meeting place for educators, trainers, professionals in the cultural and social sectors, and anyone interested in exploring new approaches and methodologies in the fields of education and social innovation.
At the heart of this year’s edition isthe intergenerational dialogue and the transformative powerof emotional intelligence. Once again, the Festival will feature discussions and encourage dialogue and the exchange of ideas on current issues of social importance. Topics will include digital technologies and collective rights, young people and mental health, gender equality, and disability. Significant attention will be given to these and other issues that today present themselves as both individual and, above all, collective challenges.
Thematic roundtables, conferences, workshops, and hands-on sessions will take place over three days, bringing together social workers, teachers, and experts in education, innovation, sustainability, gender equality, and mental health, as well as institutions, nonprofit organizations, the academic community, children, young people, and families —all working together to foster a culture and build a community characterized by open communication, responsibility, and a shared vision for the future.
“CultureLink was founded on the belief that social change is built together, through dialogue and the coming together of different worlds. We do not want to be a stage where some speak and others listen: we want to be a vibrant space where educators, institutions, families, businesses, and communities truly listen to one another. The theme ‘People’ reminds us that at the heart of every innovation, every policy, and every educational project, there is always a human being with their own story, identity, and connections. CultureLink is the place where these stories come together and from which new shared visions for the future can emerge.”– Dafne Guida, President and Director of Stripes Coop
The Festival is also designed as a collaborative project, open to fruitful partnerships with organizations, sponsors, and entities that wish to help shape the future of people and communities. The full program will be announced in the coming months. You can already sign up for the newsletter to receive updates and stay informed about the latest news.
Stripes is a social enterprise specializing in social, educational, and care services, with a staff of over 600 people. It began its activities by managing early childhood services, but in the 2000s it expanded its expertise into other educational, school-based, and extracurricular areas, managing home-based, school-based, and street-based educational services. Stripes also works in the fields of disability services, family services, language mediation, facilitation, public and editorial communication, new technologies, and conference organization.
Today, Stripes operates 35 daycare centers, 4 preschools, 2 0-6-year-old family centers in Pavia and Vanzago, and 3 clinical psycho-pedagogical centers. Stripes also publishes a bimonthly magazine, Pedagogika.it, has created, in collaboration with various Italian and European universities, the Stripes Digitus Lab, the International Center for Research and Innovation in Educational Robotics and Digital Technologies, and has established Biobab, a daycare center within the Bollate Correctional Facility open to local families, the children of female inmates, and the children of correctional officers and facility staff.
Stripes Press Office
Bovindo
Edoardo Caprino e.caprino@bovindo.it
Simona Marotta s.marotta@bovindo.it | 388 3647498
Giorgia Fontana g.fontana@bovindo.it | 340 0597069
