Rome – In Abruzzo there is one of the most beautiful municipalities in all of Italy. It is Calascio (Aq), which is part of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga national park: “Calascio is a place of the soul, an incredible place – said the mayor Paolo Baldi in the video interview made in the Roman headquarters of the Dire agency – there is this castle suspended on top of a mountain with all these valleys around with the backdrop of the Gran Sasso and Maiella mountains, all the most important mountains of central Abruzzo”.
Baldi then illustrated the winning project he presented for the 'Bando Borghi' focused on the cultural and social regeneration of the entire territory with a national and European scope. "Calascio has become very well known over time and is very popular, while when I arrived about thirty years ago tourism did not exist, then little by little over time this has developed".
And so, “witnessing the development of Calascio - explained Baldi - it seemed natural to me to propose it to represent the Abruzzo Region when I saw this opportunity of the 'Bando Borghi'. A municipality was chosen for each Italian region and was given a very significant funding of 20 million euros”.
The mayor then clarified that "compared to other lines of financing, which have followed one another over time, this is a somewhat revolutionary idea in the Italian panorama: it is the 'Bando Borghi' that asks the Municipalities for new ideas to develop the territory to help them in the best possible way".
“Furthermore,” continued Baldi, “despite this being funding from the Ministry of Culture, in the announcement we find words like 'population increase', 'business incentive', 'regeneration'. The aim is to try to revive these places that have been abandoned for a long time. Italy is full of abandoned towns. This idea was born from the previous government and was then taken up and carried forward by the current one, and our project was strongly supported by the Abruzzo Region.”
The mayor then underlined: “In my opinion, the Calascio project will be given attention by the press because of the notoriety that the fortress has”. In the project there are various lines, “some aimed at local businesses, at the development of traditional activities, such as sheep farming, then there are lines aimed at tourism development, such as the widespread hotel, and tourism services, then initiatives aimed at cultural activities.
These are the three strands that, when put together, will have to regenerate this place and ensure that the trend of abandonment and depopulation that still exists today is reversed and that new businesses are born. Now we have a technical table shared with the Region to carry forward a project that the Municipality alone could not do”.
The goal is to ensure that this project is left as a legacy, administration after administration. "It's as if it were a start-up: that is, it is an investment made specifically so that the abandonment ends and the trend is reversed, new businesses are born and new residents arrive. In Calascio - Baldi pointed out - in the last 15 years three children have been born, this is a very negative signal. The project, in fact, foresees that this trend is reversed and we move towards a new development. I would really like to show you the changes in this territory, I'll be waiting for you", concluded the mayor.
Article published on May 24, 2023 - 14:39 pm
