The Appennino Reggiano landscape — panoramic mountain view

A cultural programme & regional marketing initiative

Reroot
Appennino

A co-created programme rerooting international creative practice, sustainable tourism and cultural identity in the landscape, community and development story of the Appennino Reggiano. Built together with the best entrepreneurs, artisans, producers and institutions already active in the territory.

Sustainable tourism Regional marketing Cultural programme NEB network National Park partner Culture Moves Europe
20+
Years of regional
innovation policy
5
Completed
territorial projects
1
UNESCO heritage
national park

What Reroot
Appennino is

The Appennino Reggiano is not a place that needs to be invented. It already has extraordinary landscape, deep food and craft traditions, a National Park of international importance, 20 years of innovative regional development policy, and a community of entrepreneurs and artisans who have chosen to stay and build here.

What it needs is a coherent story — one that connects these assets into a living, navigable experience for visitors, partners and institutions, and that makes the case for the Appennino Reggiano as one of Italy's most compelling mountain territories.

Reroot Appennino is that story. We build it collaboratively with the people already making it happen — not from above, not from outside, but from within the community and landscape that we are part of.

The name is intentional. To reroot is to establish new roots where old ones have been lost, to anchor creative and economic activity to a specific place, and to grow something from the ground up. The Apennines have been losing population for decades. Reroot Appennino is part of the answer to that.

Co-created, not top-down
Every element of Reroot Appennino is developed in collaboration with local partners — entrepreneurs, artisans, institutions, the National Park. We do not programme on behalf of the territory; we programme with it.
Rooted in the specific
Reroot Appennino is not a generic sustainability programme. It is specific to the Appennino Reggiano — its geology, its food traditions, its medieval history, its contemporary makers. Specificity is what makes it credible and irreplaceable.
Economically grounded
Cultural programmes that do not generate economic activity for their territory are not sustainable. Every Reroot initiative is designed to direct visitor spending, partnerships and institutional investment to local businesses and producers.
Open to collaboration
Reroot Appennino is not a closed programme. If you are a local business, institution, artist or organisation whose work belongs in the Appennino Reggiano story — we want to talk.

The Appennino Reggiano

A mountain territory with
extraordinary depth

The Appennino Reggiano is one of the least-known and most remarkable parts of Northern Italy. Understanding its assets is the first step in understanding why Reroot Appennino matters.

Pietra di Bismantova
Landscape & nature
A UNESCO National Park at 1000–2000m
The National Park of the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano covers 260km² of mountain landscape including the iconic Pietra di Bismantova rock formation, ancient beech forests, alpine meadows, glacial lakes and waterfalls. One of the most biodiverse national parks in Northern Italy.
National Park partner · UNESCO heritage
Parmigiano Reggiano and mountain food traditions
Food & craft traditions
Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto and mountain craft
The Appennino Reggiano is the mountainous source territory for Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma — two of Italy's most celebrated food products. The mountain community preserves cheesemaking, cured meat production, textile weaving and stone craft traditions that pre-date industrial production.
Local producer network · Traditional crafts
Castello di Canossa
Cultural heritage
Medieval history from the Matildic Age
The Appennino Reggiano was the heartland of Matilde di Canossa — the most powerful woman in 11th-century Europe, whose fortress at Canossa hosted the famous penance of Emperor Henry IV. The territory is rich with Romanesque architecture, medieval pilgrim routes and castle ruins.
Castello di Canossa · Via Matildica
Gessi Triassici UNESCO chalk cliffs
Innovation & policy
20 years of intentional regional development
The Unione Montana dell'Appennino Reggiano has been one of the most active mountain development institutions in Italy for two decades — pioneering broadband connectivity, green energy, sustainable tourism and circular economy initiatives in a rural mountain context.
Unione Montana partner · Reggio Emilia
Cervarezza Thermal Spa
Thermal wellness
Cervarezza Thermal Baths — 30 metres away
The Cervarezza thermal spa — immediately adjacent to Girotondo Horizons — offers natural thermal water treatments, sauna, steam room and wellness facilities in a mountain forest setting. One of the few functioning thermal establishments in the Apennines accessible without a car.
Thermal partner · 30m from Girotondo
Rock climbing at Pietra di Bismantova
Adventure & sport
Climbing, canyoning, via ferrata and river swimming
Pietra di Bismantova is one of the most famous single-pitch rock climbing destinations in Northern Italy. The river valleys offer canyoning, via ferrata and natural swimming throughout summer. The National Park has hundreds of kilometres of marked trails.
Guide Alpine La Pietra · Local operators

Completed projects

What has been made
in the territory

Full documentation in the Journal
Permanent public art · Vetto
Vetto community installation
Vetto Public Installation
Community engagement · Extended run

A temporary public installation commissioned by the Municipality of Vetto d'Enza to announce the creation of the Vetto Social Club — a new physical community space being built for young people in the area. Designed to activate the village square and engage the community through events, performances and gatherings. The installation was so warmly received that it remained on location well beyond its planned run.

Temporary installation in the village of Vetto d'Enza — extended due to community success
Commissioned by the Municipality of Vetto
Community-designed and locally fabricated
Catalyst for the creation of the Vetto Social Club — physical community space now under construction
Landscape & architecture · IUAV Venezia
Fo_Rest landscape architecture workshop
Fo_Rest
Completed · Ongoing

A landscape architecture workshop with IUAV Venezia students producing four outcomes embedded in the National Park territory. The programme explored the intersection of built intervention, ecological thinking and community use in the mountain forest.

Gio-Coso — permanent chessboard installation in the National Park forest
Territorial network strategy for sustainable tourism
Permaculture strategy for the Girotondo site and surrounding land
Communication project documenting the programme and territory
Ecology · National Park partnership
Tavolo-Grow tree propagation tables
Tavolo-Grow
Ongoing

A tree propagation and rewilding project in partnership with the National Park of the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano. Tavolo-Grow develops practical infrastructure and methodology for native species propagation in the mountain territory, combining FabLab-made growing tables with ecological knowledge from National Park rangers and local botanists.

Custom propagation tables designed and built in the FabLab
Native species methodology for the mountain territory
Open-source documentation available to other mountain communities
Active collaboration with National Park rangers
Education · Local schools
Disegnaemozioni school creative programme
Disegnaemozioni
Ongoing

A creative education programme working with local primary and secondary schools in the Ventasso and Casina area. Students use drawing, making and storytelling to map their relationship with the Appennino landscape. The programme connects school children with local creative practitioners and with the cultural history of their territory.

Partnership with Busana elementary school (confirmed)
Drawing and mapping workshops with local children
Connection between school curriculum and mountain landscape
Outputs archived and exhibited locally
Circular design · Politecnico di Milano
Maglietica circular design workshop
Maglietica
Completed · July 2025

A circular design workshop at Girotondo Horizons with 20 students from Politecnico di Milano, exploring upcycled textile production using post-consumer textile waste. Part of the Reroot Appennino cultural programme strand — bringing university-level creative practice into direct conversation with the territory's craft traditions.

Reflet de Montagnes — woven textile wall piece referencing the mountain landscape
Umbral — suspended canopy from reclaimed fabrics
Carrie — a portable, packable hammock in upcycled textiles
Bag-a-bond — a bag, wardrobe and portable workspace for the traveller and remote worker
Documented in the Girotondo Journal
Cultural programme · Pending
Arte Appennino cultural trail
Arte Appennino
Grant pending · May 2026

The full Arte Appennino cultural programme — an art and architecture trail across the Appennino Reggiano connecting permanent installations, residency outputs and community landmarks into a navigable cultural route. Funding applied for through Culture Moves Europe. Decision expected May 2026.

Distributed art and architecture trail across the territory
Connecting permanent works, residency outputs and heritage sites
Culture Moves Europe grant application submitted
Decision expected May 2026 — programme to be announced if confirmed

Looking ahead

Arte Appennino —
an art trail for the
mountain territory

Arte Appennino is the long-term vision within Reroot Appennino — a distributed art and architecture trail connecting permanent works, residency outputs and community landmarks across the Appennino Reggiano into a coherent, navigable cultural route.

The trail is designed to direct cultural visitors into the mountain territory — not just to Girotondo Horizons but to the communities, landscapes and producers that make the Appennino Reggiano what it is. Every installation is a reason to visit a village, a valley, a watershed.

Current status
A Culture Moves Europe grant application has been submitted to fund the full Arte Appennino programme. If confirmed in May 2026, the programme will be announced with a full partner and installation list. Existing completed works (Vetto installation, Gio-Coso) are already in place and publicly accessible.
Vetto Community Installation
Temporary installation in the village of Vetto d'Enza, commissioned by the Municipality to announce the Vetto Social Club. Extended beyond its planned run due to community success.
Commissioned by Municipality of Vetto · Permanent
Gio-Coso
Permanent chessboard structure in the National Park forest. Produced by IUAV Venezia students in the Fo_Rest workshop.
IUAV Venezia · National Park · Permanent
Maglietica — Reflet de Montagnes
Textile wall piece by Politecnico di Milano students referencing the mountain landscape and its reflection. Produced in the Girotondo FabLab.
Politecnico di Milano · PoliDesign · 2025
Future works — Arte Appennino trail
Commissions across the territory planned pending Culture Moves Europe grant confirmation. Artists and architects to be announced.
Culture Moves Europe · Decision May 2026

Institutional partners

The organisations whose collaboration makes Reroot Appennino more than a single venue initiative and anchors it in the governance, landscape and community of the Appennino Reggiano.

NP
National Park of the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano
Active partner for educational programmes, Tavolo-Grow tree propagation and territorial activities. The National Park provides ecological context, landscape access and institutional credibility for the Reroot programme.
NEB
New European Bauhaus — European Commission
Member of the NEB network. Reroot Appennino aligns directly with NEB values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion. Network membership connects the programme to a European community of practice and to European institutional audiences.
VM
Municipality of Vetto d'Enza
Commissioner of the permanent Vetto public installation — the first Arte Appennino work in a community public space. The collaboration with the Municipality demonstrates that Reroot Appennino operates with and for local governance, not independently of it.
UM
Unione Montana dell'Appennino Reggiano
The regional mountain union representing municipalities across the Appennino Reggiano. Relationship in development — the Unione Montana's 20 years of regional development policy is directly aligned with the economic and territorial goals of Reroot Appennino.
PoliMi
Politecnico di Milano — PoliDesign
Academic partner for the Maglietica and related workshops. PoliMi students produce work in response to the territory and its materials — creating cultural outputs that belong to the Appennino Reggiano story.
IUAV
IUAV Venezia — Architecture
Academic partner for the Fo_Rest programme. IUAV architecture students have produced permanent landscape works and territorial strategies as part of their studio programmes in the National Park.
"A true work of modern architecture and green building. Spectacular views, surrounded by nature. A suitable location for both individuals travelling alone and those travelling in groups. The owners are a rare gem — they truly make you feel at home."

Maria Giulia Farina · ★★★★★ Google Review · Stay at Girotondo Horizons

"This workshop was a rewarding and eye-opening experience. We explored a different side of product design — one that begins with available resources rather than assuming unlimited access. We learned to embrace constraints, to improvise solutions, and to let the process itself reshape the outcome."

Workshop participant · Politecnico di Milano

Maglietica circular design workshop · July 2025

"Nestled in the greenery of the Reggio Emilia Apennines with a 360-degree panoramic view, just steps from the Cervarezza Thermal Baths. We enjoyed the hospitality and service."

Maurizio Farina · ★★★★★ Google Review

Stay at Girotondo Horizons

Partners & collaborators

Get involved

Three ways to be part of
Reroot Appennino

Reroot Appennino is built on the people and organisations already active in the territory. If you recognise your work in what we are describing, we want to hear from you.

For local businesses & producers
Become a Reroot partner

If you are a local business, artisan, food producer, guide, accommodation provider or cultural organisation in the Appennino Reggiano — your work is part of this story. We want to build the programme with you, refer our visitors and partners to you, and co-create experiences that benefit both of us. No fee, no exclusivity. Just a shared commitment to the territory.

Get in touch
For artists, architects & designers
Propose a territorial work

If you are a practitioner whose work engages with landscape, community or material culture — and you believe the Appennino Reggiano is the right place for a project — we want to talk. We can offer site access, community introductions, FabLab resources and, depending on the project, residency support. Arte Appennino commissions will be announced if Culture Moves Europe funding is confirmed.

Propose a project
For institutions & funders
Support the programme

Reroot Appennino is a documented, institutionally recognised cultural programme with academic partnerships, a completed public commission and a pending European grant application. If you are a foundation, regional institution, development fund or cultural organisation whose mandate includes mountain territories, sustainable tourism, rural regeneration or cultural heritage — we would welcome a conversation about collaboration or support.

Discuss a partnership

The Appennino Reggiano
is looking for people
like you.

Whether you are visiting, creating, researching or building — this territory has extraordinary depth and needs the right people to help tell its story. If any part of what you have read here resonates with your work, we would love to hear from you.

Start a conversation Read project documentation

Reroot Appennino is a programme of Girotondo SRL Benefit · New European Bauhaus member · National Park partner · [email protected]