landscape with fields and hills
Empowering rural communities to act for change

Abruzzo, Italy

Territory: Mountainous and inner area
Inhabitants: approx. 1,294,000
Area: 10,831 sqkm
Main occupations: Agriculture, handicrafts
Protected areas: Abruzzo ranks first in Italy in terms of percentage of protected area, accounting for 37 percent of the regional territory. Among the most important are the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, and Sirente-Velino Regional Natural Park

Our ambition
Since 2018, we have been working to make a dream come true! We are helping people in inner areas become the interpreters and protagonists of their own future. We are on a mission to build community-owned businesses that work with the market in a way that benefits everyone.

We seek to bring about a new vision and usher in the era of the Humanistic Renaissance of Communities. This is where each individual contributes to creating their own habitat, tailored to their needs and in harmony with their surroundings.

We want to see small villages become places where people can enjoy a good quality of life, where they can experience the future through innovative projects. We want to help residents connect with their community and link the community with the place that defines it. We are working hard to make this happen by building sustainable economies that can help bring disadvantaged and marginalised areas into the modern world.

We have been doing this for years, and every day is a new adventure! We are always up for a challenge and ready to go the extra mile to prove that the common good is possible.

We will support the implementation of a community agri-food products transformation centre and machinery sharing. This is aimed at sustaining the networking among community-based cooperatives that are part of the Borghi In Rete network.

We strive to support the creation of network dynamics among deeply rooted community cooperatives who have the ability to enhance the intangible culture of the places and the people who inhabit them. This approach not only strengthens the bonds within the community but also promotes the unique and invaluable cultural heritage of each location, thereby fostering cultural innovation.

To improve mobility, we will experiment with shared transportation models in remote areas. Central here is mobility as a topic not only of environmental sustainability but also of social justice. Rural areas are systematically deprived of accessing primary services. Therefore, focus is on creating sustainable and inclusive transportation that can ensure equitable access to essential services for all residents.

Strengthening the proximity welfare for the older people will be based on both monitoring with a digital bracelet connected to a control center monitored by a socio-health cooperative, and community home care provided by the community cooperative. This approach aims to combat loneliness that older people often experience and to ensure that they are also emotionally supported, fostering a sense of community and belonging.

This makes us unique
We are a Network of Community Cooperatives, made up of folks from the local area. We are all about making the world a better place through the power of community and the sharing economy. We are working together to build a brighter future for everyone, using the amazing resources we have right here at home.

The Network is a great way to get involved in building a new economy. It is a fantastic opportunity to open a third path between the market and the state. This is all based on the DES (Economic and Social District) model, which for BorghiIN encompasses an entire region of Italy.

We are so proud to say that ten percent of the municipalities in Abruzzo have a community cooperative as a form of participatory enterprise! We are all about supporting projects that bring together different areas of life, like tourism, welfare, heritage management, culture, and knowledge. As we all know, no one can do it alone. And just as an individual cannot succeed alone, a single village needs its territory to reach global markets and make the future possible. We are a real grassroots revolution!