Many hands make light work. The residents of the villages of Abruzzo know it very well and, after the earthquake in the summer of 2016, have rolled up their sleeves to maintain artistic and cultural charm of the countries hit by the earthquake through laboratories of active citizenship. These are cooperatives aimed to meet the daily needs of citizens. Real local enterprises conceived to ease the dynamics of small communities: from reopening of the historical emporium to the school transport of children, from assistance to older people to shopping at home, passing through the valorization of typical food and the development of tourism. Great attention is also dedicated to the care of the naturalistic territory and to sustainable management of forest resources.
A network of villages with eleven municipalities, from the smallest, Santo Stefano Sessanio (113 inhabitants) to the largest, Tollo (4.122).
«The community cooperatives – explained Massimiliano Monetti, architect of Chieti and president of “Confcooperative Abruzzo” – can represent a turning point for our small countries in the internal areas, first of all those affected by earthquakes, because unite the inhabitants in a common, competitive project and wide-ranging, but Abruzzo Region must immediately provide an economic incentive and change some too binding aspects of the law approved in 2015».
The road is long but it’s the right one. Even if Abruzzo needs its ihabitants to resurrect and attract more and more visitors.
«We need an incentive to give birth to these cooperatives – confirms Monetti – It would be enough to start 10 thousand euros for a cooperative, 100 thousand euros in total, if we keep the target to the ten realities to be supported as a pioneer reality. Also “Confcooperative” is ready to play its part, with funds and support for start-up. Meanwhile we have a technical staff that can support these cooperatives, which is a direct help in terms of services».
In short, Abruzzo, a land famous for its characteristic villages like  Atri, Castel del Monte, Roccascalegna and Scanno, take off again from the teamwork of its inhabitants and invite tourists from all over Italy and from all over the world to watch the spectacle of a wonderful region.
