Luca Stefenelli is a hiking and environmental guide. In 2017, he took part in ‘on-campus’ residential course ReStartAlp, organised by Fondazione Edoardo Garrone and Fondazione Cariplo, with the intention of setting up an undertaking that would make nature trails accessible also for people with disabilities.

“I chose the mountains quite late in life, when I was thirty – says Stefenelli – I earned a degree in Political Science, with a focus on international relations and then human rights, a field that may seem very different and apart from what I do today. Still, I believe that my studies come in very useful for me now, because they have given me a wide and comprehensive view of society”. In between his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree, Luca conducted some experiences abroad, including some internships and voluntary work, and, after his dissertation, he was able to find occupation immediately. For approximately 2 years, Stefenelli worked for an organisation that deals with asylum seekers and refugees, a job that was in line with his studies, but – he says – “That wasn’t my way. When the contract with the social cooperative expired, I chose not to renew it and enrolled on a course for hiking guides. My aim was to figure out whether it would be possible for me to combine work with something that would give me complete satisfaction, as well as produce tangible changes in people. My first thought was the mountains”.

In 2017, after finishing ReStartAlp, Luca took his exam and became a qualified medium-mountain guide. He is a member of the Collegio delle Guide Alpine del Trentino (Trentino Alpine Guides Association).. “The selection process was hard, but the real challenge for a young adult is being able to get regular work – notes Luca – This is where my studies came in handy, having given me the skills I need to write up a project or take part in initiatives such as that with the Italian Down Syndrome People Association. During university, I had already had some experiences with people with disabilities and it was easy for me to combine my propensity for working in the social field with the notion of mountain therapy. Over the years, I have conducted numerous activities that go in the same direction. Indeed, as well as working with kids with Down syndrome, I have also organised trips for young adults with psychological and cognitive disabilities and I often accompany blind and partially-sighted people. The goal, in this latter case, is to enable them to discover nature through their other senses”.