Humans of ParcoAppennino nel Mondo shares stories and faces from a moving and widespread community around the world, rooted in the Appennino Tosco Emiliano mountains.
The Stories tell about people and families that experienced migration, from and to Apennines in any historical period.
The Stories’ Seekers are involved in finding out these people, unique pieces of a mosaic that portraits an unusual Apennines.
Apennines of the past, that emerges from historical facts like the Great Migration, happened from the last decades of 1800 d.c. to the ‘80s, when a huge number of migrants, between 100.000 and 200.000, left the province of Reggio Emilia to reach the Americas.
Apennines of the present, where somebody comes from afar to build a new future, or from wich somebody goes away for affective reasons, professional and learning growth, or driven by the desire of change.
Humans of ParcoAppennino nel Mondo is part of the ten years old project Parco Appennino nel Mondo, promoted by Parco Nazionale dell’Appennino Tosco-Emiliano and Unione dei Comuni Appennino Reggiano in order to develop and renew the relationships with whom have left their land in the past and to stimulate interest towards the undiscovered Apennines’ territory.
The project involves different partners from the local, to the national and international level and focuses on two main senses of belonging: the village (borgo), place of the emotional bonds; the Appennino Reggiano (in the province of Reggio Emilia), place of on extended community; the Apennine in the World (Appennino nel Mondo), place of a thousand places, the residence of affective citizens (cittadini affettivi), appointed ambassadors of their territory of origin.
“REinVENTA – Apennine Community Laboratory” project began in March 2020 with the aim of bring to light peripheral communities of the Reggio Apennines, protagonists of this vulnerable area characterized by low population density and economical fragility. The project is funded by the Pietro Manodori Foundation as part of the WelCom 2020 call to support innovations in the field of welfare, personal services and territorial development.
Strength of belonging to a territory and lifestyle on a human scale are the main aspects in this collection of life experiences. Stories of choices, stories of radical changes in which difficulties become the pivot of new realities.