In Pornassio, in the heart of the Ligurian hinterland, an ambitious challenge was launched to enhance the fragile territory of Col di Nava, in the Ligurian Alps. To ensure your contribution, book your next holidays in Liguria with Fairbnb.coop and choose the project of the Community-based Cooperative Terre di Nava as the recipient of the crowdfunding.

The project “A common path in the Terre di Nava”

Building roads, bridges and paths have always been the best, most truthful and sincere way to model future options and webs of possibilities.

In the province of Imperia, almost on the border with Piedmont, a group of people think that it is still worthwhile to create paths, both real and metaphorical, that look to social inclusion as a lever and matrix of innovation.
The Community-based Cooperative Terre di Nava, committed to the preservation and enhancement of an enchanting as well as fragile territory, has decided to promote the restoration of a historic nature trail, creating at the same time a playful and experiential path, open and accessible to all.

A living community, a true community is a community on the way.

The project A common path in the Terre di Nava combines past and future, recovers a tangible asset of the territory starting from the needs, life plans, skills and formal and informal resources of the community that inhabits it, offering even to the most fragile and disadvantaged categories an opportunity for citizenship.

The project meets at least 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN:

• Goal 3, Health and well-being, ensuring a healthy life and promoting the well-being of all and at all ages;
• Goal 10, Reduce inequalities within and between countries;
• Goal 12, responsible consumption and production of resources, guaranteeing sustainable models.

How the crowdfunding of your holidays in Liguria will be used

The path will consist of a circular route, which can be easily covered in about an hour; during the journey it will be possible to immerse yourself in the colors and scents of lavender, collect it and learn about its history, discover plants and aromas, relive contact with nature, rediscover yourself through sensory experiences in the woods.

This experience can also be lived by people who are often excluded from direct contact with nature and the feeling of well-being and freedom that this can give: a part of the donations will in fact be destined for the purchase of a trekking wheelchair and for the creation of information panels in Braille.

Safety interventions will also be carried out, sensory installations accessible to all will be added and relaxation spaces will be created along the way … without forgetting workshops and play activities for children!

Part of the furnishings of the path (benches, fences, handrails, etc.) will be made with the wood of the local forest and with the imagination, skills and manual work of the members of the Cooperative. Fragile individuals will be involved in the restoration work and maintenance of the path, including through job placements.

Terre di Nava: in the Alps, 35 km from the Ligurian Sea

The “Common Path” will be immersed in the nature of the Col di Nava alpine colony, located in the Ligurian Alps at 900 meters above sea level and famous for the production of lavender and honey. A fabulous tree-lined avenue leads to the property located in a luxuriant forest of chestnut and pine trees of 44 hectares, in a natural setting of extreme beauty.

Numerous alpine trails start in the immediate surroundings, to be covered on foot or by mountain bike. You can visit the nineteenth-century forts and the historic centers of Pieve di Teco, Ormea, Cosio D’Arroscia: destinations not to be missed both from a historical-cultural and culinary point of view!

The Col di Nava alpine colony was born in 1930 on the idea of the provincial administration of Imperia as a prestigious wedding gift for Maria Josè of Belgium and the heir to the Italian throne, Umberto di Savoia. Originally it was named after the “Princess of Piedmont.” The structure could accommodate 250 boys and girls and was equipped with state-of-the-art services for the time: throughout the war the structure continued to function.

Immediately after the war it became a reference point for local economic survival, changed its name and was reduced to 80 children, mainly from families in difficulty or refugees to whom the Provincial Assistance Institute guaranteed careful care. Today it maintains its social vocation, with particular attention to the environmental context that surrounds it.