Silvia SIVINI, University of Calabria, Department of Political and Social Science, Italy
In the Ruralization project a focus has been on new entrants into farming (NE) identified as actors of rural generational renewal (Kinsella et al 2020). They are considered potentially creators of innovation for the agro-ecological transition (Morel & Léger 2016) and for developing environmentally friendly practices as well as in promoting local food networks (Brunori et al 2011). The paper presents the results of a case study, executed in 2021, on the Association and the Cooperative “Casa delle AgriCulture”, operating in the Italian Region Apulia. The idea stems from the desire of a group of youths to remain in their village. Remaining is often more difficult than going, it is an act of courage that involves putting oneself in the game and working to preserve places by giving them a new meaning. The concept of “restanza” (the “remaining”), as defined by the anthropologist Vito Teti, is a creative and dynamic act. Those who remain and those who return are people that, making alternative choices and developing new relationships, give new life to the localities (Teti 2019). Working on a new rural narrative and implementing concrete actions Casa delle AgriCulture has been able to produce a new imagenary of farming and rural life. It has been a complex work of re-signification of places that has left no room for compromise, while always seeking dialogue and confrontation. It has been a collective “utopian thinking” that imagining the future identified the ways to get there and dislodged the status quo (Shucksmith 2018). Casa delle AgriCulture activities have shown how rural regeneration can be based on socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable actions; opened up new perspectives to people, with different skills and interests, who are motivated to remain in the area; fostered an increase in new entrants into agriculture; boosted the cultivation of traditional biotypes and the re-use of abandoned land; raised awareness on agroecological and multifunctional model.
Mots clés : new entrants into agriculture|rural regeneration |agroecology
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