Universities are increasingly called upon to play an active role in transferring knowledge, skills and innovation to society, thus contributing to the transformation of local contexts. The workshop held in Vico Equense (NA) from 10 to 12 June 2025 exemplifies how applied research and territorial co-design can foster an effective learning-by-doing process. During the workshop, students, under the supervision of academic tutors, explored strategies for the technological adaptation and functional regeneration of the monumental complex of the Santissima Trinità, developing design scenarios consistent with community needs.

The project unfolded in several phases. The first involved an in-depth understanding of the building and its surroundings. This phase addressed both architectural features—such as the structural system, the vertical connections and the identification of areas showing signs of decay—and the broader territorial context, including the historical evolution of Vico Equense and its polycentric morphology. Contributions such as topographic surveys, archival photographs and oral history interviews enriched the analysis of the site, originally a convent, later a girls’ boarding school, and now a disused public property.

The second phase focused on qualitative data collection through interviews with residents, public officials, entrepreneurs and casual users. While no single function emerged as universally endorsed, a shared desire became evident: the need for a space capable of fostering identity, multifunctionality and social connection. The fragmented nature of Vico Equense—geographically and socially—is mirrored in this plurality of visions. Nevertheless, they converge on the idea of the complex as a potential social hub. This diversity was interpreted as indicative of the site’s potential for flexible, integrated reprogramming rooted in the local genius loci.

The third phase entailed the construction of a SWOT analysis, which guided the transition from the exploratory to the design stage. This led to the conceptualisation of a widespread Ecomuseum—a territorial infrastructure that connects and systematises existing cultural assets, festivals and collective memories, often dispersed and uncoordinated. The Ecomuseum was not conceived as a traditional exhibition space, but as a dynamic civic platform promoting heritage education, cultural engagement and active citizenship through bottom-up participation.

Central to the proposal is youth involvement. The Trinità complex is envisioned as a training hub for younger generations, with workshops and learning pathways focused on local culinary traditions, artisanal practices, botanical knowledge and narrative identity. By fostering ecological awareness and cultural rootedness, the initiative supports generational exchange and empowers youth as custodians and narrators of local heritage. The project also envisions forms of economic self-management, with trained participants guiding visits and events, stimulating a circular community-based economy.

In this model, intergenerational exchange, social inclusion and youth protagonism become key drivers of regeneration—cultural, social and economic. The “Trinità 13” project thus imagines a future in which memory becomes a resource for innovation, and where sky, earth and sea—symbolically united in the heart of the Holy Trinity—act as vectors for a new paradigm of living heritage.

Keywords: Learning by doing, ecomuseum, co-design, identity, heritage.