From global to local

If there is one ability that should be credited to the WWOOF movement, it is the ability to act on multiple levels. At the international meeting in Canada in September, the gaze lifted globally to identify strategies and values common to the various national organizations. In Italy, in addition to the general assembly in Fano and the coordination gathering in Rassecale, it is with great pleasure that we have seen as many as seven local meetings spring up this year, from Val d’Aosta to Molise (and another is already scheduled in Sicily for early 2024). A sign that the slowdown in these meetings in recent years was due to external causes, and certainly not to a lack of desire to get together and collaborate. It is also an important sign to keep more general ideas anchored in the territories, so as not to lose the habit of turning words into deeds.

An eye on WWOOF and its projects

Local meetings have always been the reservoir for WWOOF to draw on for new projects to bring to the assembly and seek to implement in the future. And they are also the times when it is possible to tell and share positive and less positive experiences, bring doubts, questions, proposals. How can we improve communication among members even beyond the WWOOFing exchange? How can greater interaction between hosts and hosts, even those far apart in space, be fostered? How can the association be close to the farmers in the territories that are increasingly affected by extreme weather events (the Romagna members’ meeting in November in Borgo Basino brought this theme strong)? Looking for answers during these days there were also many local WWOOFers (who indeed were the majority during the May meeting at Sabina’s in Monte di Malo, Vicenza): an important signal to broaden the base of those willing to participate more actively in the association’s activities.

Beyond WWOOF

At local meetings, however, it is not just WWOOF that is discussed, aware that the agroecological approach is complex and branches out in a myriad of directions. Educating communities and alternative schooling, synergistic agriculture (Antonio De Falco’s talk at the February meeting in Brozolo, Piedmont, was enlightening), and the transmission of peasant property are just some of the points of interest that those present decided to continue to explore.

However, if we had to identify a common theme for most of these meetings, we would choose hedgerows this year, on the tug of the Seminasiepi course conducted in September by WWOOF Italy. This was discussed at Edy’s back in March with members from Western Emilia, while in Moscufo (PE) Titian gave members from Abruzzo and Molise the opportunity to get their hands directly on the design and planting of a hedge. Hosts and WWOOFers from Veneto visited the shrub rows of a farm next to Giampietro’s, which hosted the second regional meeting in Canizzano (TV), while at the meeting in Riparbella (PI) Massimiliano Petrolo (who was a teacher at Seminasiepi) introduced Livorno and Pisa members to the Arboreo project.

An encouraging 2023, a wish for 2024

The formula is one that has been established over the years. In between the more general part and the part devoted more specifically to WWOOF is the ever-present shared meal, and some say that, in the end, the essence of these meetings is right there: getting to know someone who sits next to you and finding out that he or she has a farm next to yours, has found an effective way to defend against hares, and will gladly host you tomorrow to introduce you to them. If the expression “networking” is on the lips of so many, we see no more concrete way to put it into practice than to sit in a circle, get to know each other, learn together to improve and help each other solve problems. There was no shortage of proposals more shifted toward the local community, through festive and convivial initiatives: an apericena to the sound of Reggae at the weekly farmers’ market in Aosta, a two-day market inserted as part of the Blues Festival in Borgiallo (TO) or even a WWOOFer party with DJ Set in Costigliole d’Asti; creative experiments with the intention of making the WWOOF world interact with the people who live the territory.

We would like to thank the coordinators Isa, Edy, Elena, Beatrice, Nicoletta, Fabrizio, Stefano, Carla, Bridget, and Rosa for their commitment and tenacity in the construction of these convivial moments, indispensable for our association. And we also thank Enrico, Luca, Giampietro, Sabina, Federica, Stefano, Tiziano, Elena&Giorgio for hosting fellow countrymen during these days of sharing. The hope is that we can have such a large and attentive participation again in 2024, and that the practice of getting to know each other can widen its net to all territories.