The event aims to promote reflection and a participatory analysis of current solidarity economy practices, particularly those related to food, in the Gorizia/Goriška area. Depending on the participants’ origins, the exchange and analysis may also extend to nearby areas of Friuli Venezia Giulia or Slovenia.

Through dialogue, exchange, and participatory work, the event begins with a moment of shared learning in themed roundtables, followed by a workshop mapping good practices and local productive realities that already support a solidarity economy in the region. This exercise will highlight the challenges and needs these practices face, as well as the potential and perspectives that could enhance their current and future efforts. The results of the meeting and the workshop will be published on the Festival’s website, available to all and serving as a contribution to future encounters.

Program

10:00 am – 11:00 am | Dialogues for inspiration and territorial co-learning

We invite you to meet and be inspired by our guests, who will share direct experiences on how their communities promote and organize alternative food networks. Presentations will be divided into thematic roundtables:

The experience of members and families in local Solidarity Purchase Groups (GAS):

• Domizia Brandellero – President of GAS “Il Ponte,” Gorizia (GO)
• Matilde Fontanin – Member of GAS “Gradisca,” Gradisca d’Isonzo (GO)
• Serena Alessandrini & Rossella Beltrame – Members of GAS “GoGAS Tartaruga,” Staranzano (GO)

The experience of local companies and producers in GAS:

• Marco Vecchi – Agricultural farm “GOS,” Villesse (GO)
• Raffaella Tofful – Agricultural farm “La Raganella,” Cormòns (GO)

The experience of GAS in Buenos Aires’ socio-economic solidarity circuits:

• Christian Arnaiz & Laura Niño – Researchers at Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (Buenos Aires, Argentina) working on short marketing chains in the social and solidarity economy and family agriculture through a participatory action-research approach.

11:00 am – 11:15 am | Coffee break with fair-trade products

11:15 am – 1:15 pm | Towards a shared mapping of food spaces: knowledge-visions-projects

The workshop will focus on building a map of good practices related to food production, distribution, and consumption at the cross-border level. A discussion will follow to identify opportunities and prospects for strengthening existing local networks and developing new collaborative networks aimed at promoting sustainable and solidarity-based food supply chains in our region.

Methodology

The workshop will draw on methodologies developed within the Transition Towns movement, particularly inspired by Rob Hopkins’ latest book From What is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want. Hopkins encourages local communities to awaken their imagination to outline the best possible future for themselves—a prosperous, sustainable, and resilient future.

To achieve this, we will start with a thorough and updated analysis of our context, including all the realities, initiatives, and projects already working towards building a better future.

In the second phase, we will imagine the evolution of this local network of people and projects, exploring the opportunities and synergies that have yet to be realized.

Finally, in the third and last phase, we will move to action: how do we take the first steps today? In the coming days? In the coming months? What is our strategy? What leverage points can we focus on?

Moderators:

• Sara Basso – Urban Planning Professor, Department of Engineering and Architecture, UniTS
• Nadia Carestiato – Geographer specializing in participatory processes, ProDES FVG
• Giulio Pesenti Campagnoni – Facilitator and expert in participatory processes
• Valentina Rodani – Research Fellow in Architectural and Urban Composition, Department of Engineering and Architecture, UniTS