Archive

1. Rocciaviva

   2023-01-04 6:35 pm Comments Off on Rocciaviva

   Rocciaviva is a group of young people based in southern Italy.

   It’s common for local young people to leave the area in search of other opportunities, but Rocciaviva’s founders made the decision to return home and create regenerative opportunities in their local community, sharing skills and knowledge they have learnt while away.

   Rocciaviva’s mission is to cultivate well-being, environmental and social regeneration by sowing change, through:

   • Construction of a community and a network on the territory
   • Reforestation of degraded areas
   • Expanding ecosystem restoration to different lands in the south of Italy
   • Spreading permacultural values (sustainable way of living)
   • Creation of educational and cultural opportunities for the local community and visitors.

   Rocciaviva has already planted 12,000 plants, restored a lake as a water retention system and ran educational and community events such as seminars on permaculture, and has made a strong positive connection with the community it works in.

2. Comunità Frizzante

   2021-07-19 7:47 pm Comments Off on Comunità Frizzante

   Comunità Frizzante literally means “sparkling community”. Comunità Frizzante is a diverse network of organisations and informal groups who are passionate about the Vallagarina valley in the Italian Alps. The group mobilises the participatory production of fizzy drinks to challenge individualised ways of life and alienation from the mountains they are based in, focusing on ecological respect.

   The drinks have proved a great tool for investigating and challenging destructive economic practices: with the cola, the group inquires together with teenagers into the politics of multinational food corporations; with the orangeade – produced from the left-over orange pulp – it supports the fight against hyper-exploitative labour of undocumented workers in the orange production; with its grape drink, it questions the grape monocultures invading their valleys, while campaigning for regenerative agriculture.

   The project shows how activities of social inclusion can take a non-stigmatising form, which led it to co-establishment a “school of well-being” with the local mental health center. They also run public courses, foraging walks and connect with migrant workers.

3. Sfruttazero (Diritti a Sud)

   2019-02-01 10:56 am Comments Off on Sfruttazero (Diritti a Sud)

   ‘Sfruttazero’ (‘Zero exploitation’) is a natural tomato sauce that is grown using agro-ecological farming methods. It’s produced by DaS in collaboration with the Association Solidaria in Bari and has resulted in job contracts for 25 people (including unemployed Italians and African migrants). A proportion of sales from Sfruttazero goes towards a fund for supporting the struggle of migrants that still live in Southern Italy’s ghettos.

   Diritti a Sud (DaS) is an Italian association comprised of people from different generations, social and cultural backgrounds. Its core philosophy is ‘Think Global Act Local’. DaS promotes a multicultural society through encouraging the meeting and exchange of different cultures – such as through cooking lessons, living libraries, a free Italian language school for migrants, and other public event.

   The idea of Sfruttazero is to change the system with a direct alternative. Sfruttazero shows that another kind of work is possible – work that respects nature and promotes human and workers’ rights in the local community.

4. Laboratorio Sicilia 2030

   2019-01-31 8:30 pm Comments Off on Laboratorio Sicilia 2030

   In this crucial time of climate, environmental, social and economic crises, Sicily is struggling to find an encompassing vision, to break free from widespread inertia and resignation, and align itself with its values.

   The idea of Laboratorio Sicilia 2030 is to actively support individuals and organizations in Sicily to regenerate and grow sustainably following the UN 2030 Agenda. It is choosing to unite many often uncoordinated local initiatives in Sicily under the inclusive and organizing purpose of the Sustainable Development Goals.

   It wants to collaborate with all sectors of society and facilitate multi-stakeholder collaborations.
   For Laboratorio Sicilia, the time has come to enter into an era of shared responsibility and learning, co-creating a laboratory of solutions for planetary health and the benefit of all.