Shaking up the shoemaking guild and reviving an ancient craft: Nicolas Rapagnani from Italy wants to make sandals using a 3D printer and presented his first prototype. With the platform “Rural Commons Assembly”, the Austrian artist Johannes Reisigl networks initiatives that are locally committed to art and culture. The nutritionist Sonja Schönberg from Germany is researching fair and ethical meat production in the Alpine region. These and other ideas were presented by the participants of the first “Alpine Changemaker Basecamp” (ACB) at its final meeting in Schlanders/I at the end of July. The project is funded by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

The one-year programme offered around 30 “Alpine Changemakers” a transdisciplinary project week, exchanges with like-minded people and one year of mentoring. This enabled them to implement their ideas for sustainable development in the Alpine region. An international team of coaches from science, entrepreneurship, regional development, philosophy and art accompanied them. Christina Thanner, Project Manager for Social Innovation at CIPRA International, takes stock: “The ACB brought together a wide variety of people, with a diversity of ideas and disciplines.”

The next ACB will start in 2023, and those interested can now register at [email protected].

Source and further information: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG90sy89Jtg&list=PLV16XJdJE0rKXpMhQENumust4dGj0n7uu&index=8 (en), www.alpinechangemaker.org (en)