In the enchanting setting of the Piacenza Apennines, in Cerignale, Mayor Massimo Castelli, national coordinator of the small municipalities of the Italian National Association of Municipalities – ANCI, presented the award 2018 “Friend of small villages”, aimed at recognizing commitment to the enhancement and development of small mountain communities in Italy to the sociologist Aldo Bonomi, the editorialist Giangiacomo Schiavi of Corriere della Sera, Ivan Stomeo, mayor of Melpignano, municipality of the famous “Notte della Taranto”, and Anna Giorgi of UNIMONT.
A hoe, an ax, a pincer and a grater the original prizes chosen by the mayor, to symbolize tenacity, determination and willingness to work to build the future by leveraging the “vocations” and peculiarities of the many small mountain municipalities of the country.
“A wonderful initiative – says Anna Giorgi – in an enchanting village, it bears witness to how determination, good ideas and the ability to realize them are essential to restore the soul and future to the many “remote” areas of our country. UNIMONT, with its work of training and research for the development of mountain areas, helps the process of reinterpretation of mountain territories in a contemporary and competitive key, which can only have human capital and innovation at its center, and it is a great satisfaction to receive this recognition from the territories for which we work. I am increasingly convinced that this is an important challenge for the future of the country. “