Second community Workshop in Valdagno
From 10 to 12 May, the second community workshop was held at the Municipality of Valdagno, organised by La Piccionaia - Theatre Production Centre in the framework of the European project SMART - Small Alliance Representing Territories.
As with the previous community workshop, this one was organised in a hybrid form and included a first in-person session with individual interviews with significant representatives of the community nominated by the Municipality of Valdagno (e.g. local operators, local historians, etc.), while a second session was held online with a third-year class from the local Liceo "Einaudi" - Tourism specialisation.
The interviews were conducted in Palazzo Festari, using a qualitative methodology, starting with the presentation of the role of the interviewers in the project, to explore a number of themes:
- the relationship between Valdagno and the water resource from the participants' point of view;
- their personal experience in relation to the area covered by the intervention;
- the collection of stories, memories, other possible sources.
Let's get to the heart of the days. On the first day, 10 May, we took a walk with Dario and Rolando along the completed section of the cycle path, to name the tributaries and recognise on the ground the various topics discussed during the interviews.
On the second day there was a meeting with the architect Monica Oliviero, an expert on issues related to the anthropisation of the territory. Arch. Oliviero took part in the working group that explored the themes of sustainable viability, proposing actions aimed at raising the awareness of the population and stimulating political choices suitable for the conservation of places and the increase of people's well-being.
An interview was then given by the nature photographer Jessica Peruzzo, who does a constant observation of the pond, especially of the avifauna, and which presented one of the main protagonists of the route: the dipper.
The last day was devoted to an in-depth study of historical topics, in particular the history of the sanctuary of S. Maria di Panisacco, in the company of local historian Silvano Fornasa, who gave an interesting overview of the history of one of the valley's key places, from the ancient settlement of a castle to its transformation into a sanctuary.
In the afternoon, a workshop was held with 13 students from the third Tourism class of the Liceo "Einaudi", who had already participated in the first community workshop. The workshop explored the relationship between places, their narrative and their ability to offer experiences. The pupils made their own community map, reflecting on which places inspire the their interest and in which places in the valley they would like to lead an au pair group with young people visiting from another Italian region.
In addition, during the third day of interviews, we met with Councillor Michele Cocco and discussed the water resource within the valley's economic system, including the various steps involved in managing the energy network and the aqueduct.
Finally, together with the guide and expert naturalist Michele Franceschi, we re-examined the theme of the relationship between man and the valley's environment. His point of view was very useful in identifying the decisive role of the contrade among the valley's tourist attractions. While the social city and the historic centre are elements that characterise the centre of Valdagno, the specific quality of the Valdagno mountains is the intermediate strip, which is heavily cultivated and anthropised, and which can play a strategic role in the development and attractiveness of the valley.
Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Interreg V-A Italy-Austria 2014-2020