CASA VALLONA
Network is one of the main strengths of the project, as shown with the festival “Sulle Vie del Miele”. Launched in 2015, the event has now taken place for five years, currently involving 15 producers from the Apennines.
Sulle vie del miele
The festival «Sulle vie del miele(On the Trails of Honey) was created in 2015 by a group of beekeepers and bee enthusiasts whose shared goal is that of creating a bee culture and raising awareness on the harmful effects of pesticides. “It is an educational moment, aimed primarily at young people, but not only. We talk of biodiversity and illustrate how it is threatened by certain ‘agricultural’ habits. For this particular project, we work with top-level partners, such as GreenpeaceandLegambiente» explains Chiara Battistini.
The festival draws attention and brings people to the Apennines, creating an opportunity for growth. In 2018, it also hosted a round table involving farmers and beekeepers, who decided to network to produce more and better.
For Chiara, the future lies in cooperation. Casa Vallona would like to open up to projects that are unrelated to agriculture: “We would like to start projects of social inclusion, so that we can make our big family even bigger. This year, for example, we created a picnic area for travellers and hikers walking the Piccola Cassia and other nearby trails”.
Among the many projects, one regards bread production, following in the footsteps of farming business “Tularù” owned by Miguel Acebes Tosti, one of Chiara’s fellow course students at ReStartApp 2014: “I believe it is important that we draw from other experiences. There are about one hundred people living around here, and many are professionals from Bologna who have chosen the Apennines for a healthier lifestyle. It would be great, one day, to be able to involve them and be able to relight the oven at Casa Vallona, an oven that, up to the beginning of the 20th century, used to gather most of the local community around its warmth”.
When the oven was lit, neighbours would all bring their dough to be cooked, together with something to eat to celebrate. “This idea of community inspires me and I do not rule out the possibility that one day I might be able to organise similar participatory events, involving artisans and enthusiasts who believe in rekindling that age-old dimension that forms around simple elements such as bread and wine”. Chiara Battistini calls them “stimulating development projects” and their drive is her energy.
