IL RISCATTO E LA RINASCITA DI UNA COMUNITÀ | Nicola Rocco Valluzzi | TEDxLatronico

Key Concepts:

• Spopolamento (Depopulation)
• Turismo esperienziale (Experiential Tourism)
• Attrattore turistico (Tourist attraction)
• Ospitalità diffusa (Distributed hospitality)
• Sindrome Nimby (NIMBY syndrome)
• Zipline (Flying fox)
• Land Art
• Video mapping
• Slittovia su rotaie (Rail sled)
• Turismo comunitario (Community tourism)

1. The Initial Crisis (1999):

• In 1999, when the speaker became mayor of Castelmezzano, the village faced severe decline.
• The only butcher shop was about to close.
• There were three bars, two grocery stores, a declining hotel, and a restaurant.
• Few children were born, young people were leaving, and the population was aging.
• The middle school was on the verge of closure due to low enrollment.
• The community resisted the school's closure by having older residents enroll, those who hadn't had the chance to study when they were younger, joining their grandchildren in class.

2. The Fight for Survival:

• The community's response to the school closure was the beginning of a resistance against depopulation and service depletion.
• The goal was to create a project to offer a different present and future for the youth, affirming the dignity of a thousand-year history and the beauty of the place.
• Castelmezzano was recognized as "the most beautiful village in the world among the least known" by an American travel magazine.

3. The Idea: The "Volo dell'Angelo" (Angel's Flight):

• The idea to reverse the community's fate came about by chance in the summer of 2000 through a meeting with a French architect and set designer.
• The architect mentioned an original zipline he had seen in France, inspired by Andean children who used a similar system to get to school.
• The zipline concept was simple, using gravity for descent and basic physics for braking, fulfilling the dream of flying.
• The speaker and others visited France to see the zipline.
• The zipline in France flew over an anonymous pine forest, but in Castelmezzano, it would fly over a spectacular landscape, connecting two communities and their histories.
• The "Volo dell'Angelo" would connect two villages, two mirrored histories, and two cultures that had never united despite their proximity.

4. Project Development and Funding:

• The "Volo dell'Angelo" project was seen as a turning point, an attraction to make the two communities known for their history and beauty.
• In 2002, funding was secured from the Comunità Montana through a European Union investment program (PIT - Programmi Integrati Territoriali), amounting to €1 million.
• Also in 2002, Castelmezzano was among the 37 founders of the association "I Borghi più belli d'Italia" (The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy).

5. Bureaucratic Challenges and Resistance:

• The period between 2002 and 2007 was marked by unexpected bureaucratic difficulties.
• 24 authorizations, permits, and clearances were required to build the first zipline in a protected area in Basilicata.
• The project faced opposition from groups with NIMBY syndrome.
• Despite a request for an infringement procedure to block funding and various complaints to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the project continued.
• The construction took 8 months after the necessary approvals were obtained.

6. The Success of the "Volo dell'Angelo":

• The "Volo dell'Angelo" began in the summer of 2007, amidst skepticism.
• In 18 years, it transformed Castelmezzano and the Dolomiti Lucane.
• From 2007 to 2024, 307,000 people flew on the zipline.
• The tourist attraction generated €8.1 million in ticket sales alone.
• Over the last 14 years, the website had over 6 million unique users.
• Over 21 million web pages were accessed on the site.
• 70% of tickets are purchased online.
• In 2024, during a tourism crisis, each click on the website generated €1.7 in revenue.
• The public company managing the "Volo dell'Angelo" employs 25 workers and generates over €500,000 in annual revenue.

7. Economic and Social Transformation:

• Castelmezzano, with 700 inhabitants, saw the reopening of the butcher shop and the creation of 450 beds in distributed hospitality (BNB, guesthouses, vacation homes).
• There are now two hotels, agritourism businesses, seven restaurants, wine bars, ice cream shops, pizzerias, shops selling local products, and new tourism-related services.
• A hospitality economy has emerged, becoming the primary source of income for most resident families.
• The induced economic activity generates millions of euros annually, with significant employment opportunities.
• The success has been mirrored in the village of Pietra Pertosa.
• The "Volo dell'Angelo" demonstrated that depopulation can be challenged with projects that integrate memory, environment, and innovation.

8. Recognition and Further Development:

• In 2021, Castelmezzano was recognized by the UNWTO and FAO as one of the most successful models of community tourism in the world.
• Almost all economic activities related to tourism are promoted and managed by residents.
• The "Volo dell'Angelo" inspired the Italian comedy "Un Paese Quasi Perfetto" (A Nearly Perfect Country) and has been featured in TV series and commercials.
• Other experiential and cultural tourist attractions have been added, including:
  • 4 km of via ferratas connecting the two villages.
  • The "Percorso delle Sette Pietre" (Path of the Seven Stones), a Land Art path along an ancient mill route.
  • A multimedia show with lights, sounds, and video mapping projected on a rock face, narrating 1000 years of history and legends.
  • A rail sled (slittovia su rotaie) connecting the upper part of the village, a 750-meter descent at 40 km/h, with a 350-meter ascent on an electric rack railway.

9. The Rail Sled Success:

• In the first 15 days of operation, over 15,000 people tried the rail sled.
• On May 1st, over 10,000 people visited Castelmezzano, leading to the closure of the historic center due to overcrowding.

10. Conclusion:

• Castelmezzano has become a recognized reality, offering opportunities and hope where there was resignation to decline.
• Being a mayor means being the custodian of the community's hopes and needs.
• Creating a stable and lasting development path is a rewarding act of civic engagement, protecting and regenerating the history and identity of the place.
• The goal is to give the next generation a hope for the future.