In a context marked by fragile welfare systems and the persistent institutional invisibility of
family caregivers, the project "Caregiver Bergamo - Supporting Those Who Provide Care"
offers an innovative model grounded in organizational imagination and transformative
mobilization. Promoted by the Health Protection Agency (ATS) of Bergamo and supported by
over 90 local actors—including public institutions, third-sector organizations, professionals,
schools, and unions—the project activated a collaborative governance laboratory for the codesign
of inclusive policies and services.
Through a participatory action research process structured in three iterative phases (listening,
co-design, and transformative restitution), the research enabled reflective and dialogical
dynamics, enhancing the experiential knowledge of caregivers. This process fostered the
emergence of hybrid competencies, identity transformation, and a renewed awareness of
caregivers as active contributors to care systems. Organizational imagination operated here as a
catalyst to rethink roles, narratives, and practices—supporting the creation of more equitable and
sustainable local welfare configurations.
The project demonstrates how co-creating policy through participatory and situated knowledge
can generate transformative alliances between institutional systems and lived family
experiences. The research enabled a process of situated learning and shared accountability,
helping to reconceptualize welfare not merely as a system of services, but as a relational and
generative space.
In line with the 2030 Agenda and the ICAP symposium's framework, this contribution explores
the role of Work and Organizational Psychology in promoting recognition, epistemic justice,
and social sustainability. It proposes that only through transformative practices—anchored in
participation, care ethics, and organizational imagination—can we activate new visions and
pathways for addressing complex care challenges in contemporary society.