A sustainable alternative to explore for mountain territories?
I must confess that I had never heard of it, nor had I ever seen anything. Since I realized my dream of a house in the mountains, I began to see aspects of the mountain territory that I did not know and I also “stumbled” upon a stage of the Grass Skiing World Cup in Tambre, in Alpago, province of Belluno.
As you already know – at least I hope so! – as an association we have been dealing with the enhancement of territories and sustainable tourism for a long time; therefore, this kind of skiing intrigued me a lot.
But do places have a soul? Introduction to Quaderno18 edited by il prato publishing house I have been asking myself this question quite often recently, I even wrote about it some time ago, when I had already made a distinction between identity and soul.
My answer to the question is YES, without a doubt on my part. But really, I’m thinking about this matter over and over. I think there is a crucial distinction between identity and soul if we want to develop a real sustainable tourism. So, I will try to answer myself. Again.
[…]
Identity or soul
Here I go back to my initial question and introduce the identity variable. Nowadays it is quite common to link the word identity to places. In my opinion this word is divisive, we are looking for the characteristics that differentiate one place from another rather than what they have in common. A phenomenon that I find worrying since I have the clear impression – walking around the villages – that they are all becoming the same, with similar promotions and with a strong emphasis on food and wine and typical products. Don’t get me wrong, typical products are fine but when, to push a product and a territory, tourist operators invent “the way (cammino) of the prosecco hills” you can easily understand that it is not a pilgrims’ way […]
Sustainability and a flower in All you need is a flower -100 hours for the environment. In more than 100 hours of events we have tried to answer and ask questions about a sustainable world.
Sustainability, a term that embraces concepts that are difficult to summarize if not by using the 17 goals of theUN Agenda for Sustainable Development. Even keeping the Agenda as a “compass” it is still difficult to give the full meaning of the five days of speeches held last June. In order to make your reading easier we have decided to give the structure of Air, Land and Water to Quaderno 11. We really hope that you can enjoy the complexity of what has been discussed.
Air
Three articles dealing with the air element. The destructive air of the Vaia storm – by Thierry Robert Luciani -, the extremely polluted air of fine dust – by Salvatore Patti – and finally the “in the air” cultivation of vertical farms (greenhouses) – by Sergio Martin.
Land
Land, the largest section of articles. Six pieces that intersect visions, sensitivities and different but complementary approaches to each other. The section starts with a piece dealing with nutrition, intensive farming and the musical evenings related with ” All you need is a flower” – by Stefano Pesce.
We then move on to two more pieces that focus on the area of Mestre – Venezia and Marghera. They will lead us to “visit” businesses and the sustainability of production processes – by Gabriella Chiellino – and on how to reach the sustainability of a community and a territory – by Gruppo di lavoroPiave .
The last three articles will focus on different projects. The first one on how to “clean the world” – by Ermes Tuon, the second on how to develop sustainable tourism by using digital tools – by Antonella Grana– and finally how to re-use the Veneto area which is deeply affected by overbuilding – by Federico Della Puppa.
Water
Water, the third and last section with three articles. The Venice lagoon and the types of fish living (and used to live) there. The effects of climate change can be seen on the fish population – by Riccardo Fiorin. We then go back to Mestre with the dream / need for a green area: the Marzenego park – by Carla Dalla Costa. And finally a piece that tells ua a story of art coming from rivers and the sea – by Barbara Cremaschi
Sustainability and a flower. Can a flower be enough? Can anything be done? This was the very first question. Yes even if “it’s already late”. Some people still deny the existance of a problem. They do not want to see the problem / problems caused by human activities
Yet we can all do something big or small based on our sensitivity and ability. The point is: do we want to make a change? …
100 hours for Environment, the event that took place from 5 to 9 June, whose full title was “All you need is a flower – 100 hours for environment” “Ci vuole un fiore – 100 ore per l’ambiente”. The entire event, 5 days, was included in ASVIS Festival Program, the annual Sustainable Development Festival the greatest event in Italy dedicated to the 2030 Agenda
The flower is a symbol of changing perspective, as in our cover photo
The small, delicate blue flowers are in front of a devastated area in Italy. We will not show the devastation, we will not specify the place, what is enough to know is that “ All you need a flower”
We have collected most of the speeches of the 5 days event, which took place at Negozio Piave 67 , in a short video, just a few minutes. In a couple of months we will have a publication. What is important, and that has emerged with the power of the speeches, are the results of climate change. For the environment but above all for humanity “we are running out of time”. “We must change our way of thinking” and consequently the way we act
But … can a flower be enough to start over? No, it is not enough. Not at all, it is in any case hope from which to start again. Hope that needs to be supported with concrete actions, as we have clearly understood in June.
Happy watching and keep in touch. Don’t miss our publication – in a couple of months – with the collection of the speeches.
The Butterfly effect, when small actions can contribute generating great changes
In a tiny little village (no it is not the village of An early Christmas Carol), up on the green hills in Friuli Venezia Giulia, there were (and still there are) many – but really many ,many, butterflies.
You can see butterflies everywhere, on the wall of the houses, in the streets and in their own house. The butterfly house is so big, three big apartments with trees, plants, water (it is a bit humid in there) and butterflies flying everywhere or resting on some flowers. Before arriving in their apartments the butterflies travelled for a long time, they crossed the Ocean but they were babies and they can’t remember their long journey. They know only the tiny little village on the green hills and they are happy like that.
It was too
obvious to describe the three greenhouses and the butterflies and I have chosen
to begin with a short story to tell the real beautiful story of “La Casa delle
Farfalle” in Bordano.
“The House of Butterflies” was established in 2003, it is an eco-museum and is the largest in Italy. The three greenhouses host three different eco systems the African jungle, the Asian and Australian rainforests, and the Amazon. The most peculiar aspect I have discovered when visiting “la Casa” is the project “The Bosque Nuevo”. Bosque Nuevo is a butterfly farm located in Costa Rica. Their project is innovative: by selling “baby butterflies” (pupae) they aim to buy cultivated land and to re-convert it into native forest.
The butterfly farms have created an alternative economy, replacing when possible cattle-breeding or cultivation that are among the causes of forest destruction.
The little town of Bordano
The little town of Bordano has its own story and it connects past events and this new approach to economy. Bordano was affected by an earthquake in 1976. It was almost completely rebuilt by 1983, now there are around 700 people living there. Butterflies are an important presence thanks to a very special microclimate
In 1996 the
Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia started a project, which included street art for
the artistic-cultural and naturalistic
enhancement of the place. And… its focus was… guess what… butterflies!
It really seems that the Butterfly Effect has come true. The flapping of the wings of a butterfly has generated very large effects from one side of the ocean to the other
English version already published in Local Guides Connect
