500 inhabitants and €20 million in subsidies: the collective adventure of an Italian village
As part of the European Union’s recovery plan, the town of Stelvio has been awarded €20 million in grants. This unexpected gratification rewards the ability of the inhabitants to collectively design the future of their village.
In Stelvio (Trentino-Alto Adige, north-east Italy).
Italy has a unique urban fabric, half of which is made up of small towns, known as ‘borghi’, which generally have fewer than 3,000 inhabitants and are located close to larger cities. In recent years, the number of inhabitants in these towns has fallen considerably, leading to the closure of traditional businesses and an exodus of young people to larger towns. This is a phenomenon that is affecting the whole country: the historic borghi are being abandoned, while the larger towns are expanding.
In South Tyrol, the village of Stelvio, which has seen a gradual but steady decline in its population over recent decades, is also affected by this phenomenon. Perched 1,310 metres above sea level in the Italian Alps, the village now has fewer than 500 inhabitants – a figure that rises to 1,100 if the surrounding villages are included. From the village, where German is spoken more than Italian, you can reach Switzerland in thirty minutes by car, or cross the Austrian border via the Stelvio pass.
Faced with a lack of economic prospects, young people and families are the first to leave, leading to the closure of essential shops; the remaining infrastructure is being redesigned to meet the needs of tourism.
While the Italian government is trying to counteract this phenomenon with measures such as providing fast internet access to attract ‘digital nomads’, it is struggling to take account of the diversity of needs and cultures in these villages. The solution, or at least the inspiration, could however come from Stelvio, which has just received €20 million in subsidies from theEuropean Union ‘s (EU) post-Covid-19 recovery fund.
Hive mind
In German, there is a word for the super-organism of the bee colony: der Bien. This term refers to the specific features of this community: as a group, the bees develop skills that they would not have been able to acquire on their own. A documentary on the subject was shown at Stelvio thanks to EU support. As the credits rolled, local residents were able to put questions about nature conservation and bees to a panel of experts. Daria Habicher, an expert in regional development, asked what lessons could be learned from the way the bee community works.
Dr Cristina Reguzzi points out that the hive’s democratic system is beyond our human capabilities. Bees can instantly identify the position and responsibilities of their fellow bees within the hive. By using signalling substances to communicate with each other and coordinate their activities, they function as a single organism. According to Cristina Reguzzi, even if humans do not have the innate hive mind that bees have, there is much to be learned from their spirit of cooperation.
Conversely, the bees could probably learn a lot from the spirit of initiative and capacity for collective deliberation of the people of Stevio. In fact, they were instrumental in obtaining the funding, which was awarded in March 2022 following a call for projects with a very tight deadline put in place by the Italian Ministry of Culture with subsidies from the EU’s recovery fund.
Ongoing commitment
“The projects were ready. 70% of what we presented had been planned years ago, then put on hold due to the lack of funding”, explains Marisa Giurdanella, head of culture for the neighbouring town of Bolzano and Stelvio’s intermediary with the national ministry, who still finds it hard to believe her eyes when faced with such a windfall.
The €20 million from the EU is the crowning achievement of a village culture rooted in the ongoing commitment of individuals from a variety of interest groups, such as those concerned with the soil,organic farming or those responding to the cultural and social needs of young people.
The involvement of local residents in the political process is part of the success of these groups, which have been active for several decades. Given the small size of the village, these interest groups exert a considerable influence. It’s not uncommon to find a table on the terrace of cafés and restaurants where residents meet to exchange the latest news, as Daria Habicher explains. On Wednesdays, the local council welcomes questions from residents, sometimes organising public meetings so that they can give their opinions.
Armin Bernhard, qui jouait le rôle de chef d’orchestre dans les projets de développement de Stelvio, est malheureusement décédé avant que la ville ne se voie accorder les fonds. Cet événement a marqué un véritable choc pour tout le monde, mais grâce à l’énergie et à la passion qui avaient accompagné son travail, l’argent n’est pas revenu aux mains d’entreprises désireuses de s’approprier le projet.
Preserving originality
Stelvio’s originality and diversity have thus been preserved. The Tyrolean town stands out from the twenty other small towns that have received 20 million euros for their development. Rather than focusing exclusively on tourism or the restoration of historic sites, the Stelvio project also includes the development of public transport, co-housing solutions for the elderly, the creation of flats for young people and the organisation of a craft festival. The project also focuses on agriculture and the development of sustainable,environmentally-friendly solutions.
It may seem strange that it is the Ministry of Culture that is investing in economic development, but as Angelantonio Orlando, project supervisor and coordinator for the Ministry of Culture in Italy, points out, ‘culture is the economy’. We wanted to concentrate fully on small towns,” he explains. After all, Italy has an infinite number of such places. We wanted to combat under-population and the exodus of young people to larger towns. There’s no reason why these sites should be excluded from economic development.”
Allocating €20 million to a single village to stimulate the local economy and prevent its decline has nevertheless provoked debate. Moreover, the explicit purpose of the money is to invest in the future. Some feel that the funds could have been better distributed between different towns facing emergency situations. ‘We could perhaps have divided the budget between several towns”, says a representative of the province of Bolzano, who acknowledges that this is a pilot project but questions the validity of this decision.
Time pressure
A delegate from the district administration, which is responsible for contacting construction companies and managing the paperwork, also questioned whether Stelvio deserved the money more than other towns, but said that the main difficulty lay in the bureaucratic management of EU funds. Probably as a result of past experience, the administrative formalities were considered by some to be too strict. ‘As well as arriving late, the calls for projects were extremely demanding in terms of deadlines”, says the same source.
Italy, which has the largest share of the stimulus fund at nearly €200 billion, is under pressure of time: it must manage to absorb this gigantic envelope and transform it into useful projects by 2026, the date on which European funding comes to an end. The well-prepared Stelvio project was an exception; many cities had to prepare everything in a hurry in order to qualify for funding.
However, involving people at every stage of the project doesn’t necessarily mean inviting all the stakeholders to the table; it’s all about convincing the local population of the value of the project. “At the end of the day, it’s our citizens who will have to deal with the consequences of this money. We’re not just talking about buildings, but also intangible things. And these things take time,” concludes Daria Habicher.
While the village of 400 inhabitants is very keen on its independence, it has never felt so close to the European Union. ‘We have already received other grants from the EU, but this is a first in many respects,” explains Samuel Marseiler, deputy mayor of Stelvio. ‘These decisions will still be of benefit to our citizens in twenty or thirty years‘ time’, he prophesies.
It is still too early to determine whether this pilot project will have a significant impact on the Italian and European landscapes. It is also too early to see the first changes in the village. Stevio’s collective adventure is nonetheless promising.
This article was produced as part of The Newsroom 27 competition, organised by Slate.fr with the financial support of the European Union. The article reflects the views of the author and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for its content or use.
