What it’s about
In Castelsaraceno, a village of just over a thousand inhabitants in inland Basilicata, between the Pollino National Park and the Appennino Lucano Val d’Agri Lagonegrese National Park, a new Nonturismo project is about to begin, in collaboration with Comune di Castelsaraceno, Associazione Pro Loco Castelsaraceno ETS, Agenzia di Promozione Territoriale Basilicata, Destination Makers and Ediciclo Editore, with the support of the Fondo di Beneficenza di Intesa Sanpaolo. The aim is to involve residents in a collective account of their territory and to try to answer one question together: what does it mean to live in Castelsaraceno today?
This work will result, in autumn 2027, in a new guide in the Nonturismo series, the editorial project conceived by Sineglossa and Riverrun and published by Ediciclo, which gathers visions, places and stories chosen by local communities and shares them as fully fledged travel guides, complete with maps and itineraries.
It is a way of inviting visitors to discover a place not only through what there is to see, but through the stories and perspectives of the people who live there: tourism not as the consumption of a place, but as an encounter with its spirit. It is the same approach Nonturismo has been testing since 2018 in Ussita, Bologna, Ancona, Arcevia and other Italian territories, and which was recently also tested in Ukraine with the guide Bakota: A Portal to Ukraine.
Why a guide to Castelsaraceno
In recent years Castelsaraceno has become an increasingly well-known destination, thanks in part to the Ponte tra i due Parchi, the Tibetan bridge that symbolically links the two national parks between which the village lies, and which today welcomes around 12,000 visitors a year. But how can we help visitors connect with the visions, challenges, conflicts and dreams of the people who live here? And, at the same time, how can this story become an opportunity for residents themselves to meet and exchange views? These are the questions Nonturismo will start from. Building the guide will not only offer visitors a slower, more mindful way of getting to know the area: it will be, first and foremost, a process of activating the local community, which will be invited to come together, share memories and points of view, reflect on the changes under way and imagine possible visions for the future.
What we’ll do
To build the guide, a Community Editorial Team of around 20 people will be formed: residents, associations, local practitioners, young people and others who know Castelsaraceno from different perspectives. The team will meet four times and will be invited to explore the genius loci, the spirit of the place: what are the traits that make Castelsaraceno what it is? Which stories, traditions and places express its identity? And also: what is changing today, and how do we imagine the village in the future? The meetings will also be attended by experts from different disciplines, the writer Wu Ming 2, editor of the Nonturismo guides, and the artist-in-residence. Out of these conversations will come three non-tourism itineraries, with maps, stops and stories through which visitors to Castelsaraceno will be able to explore the area through the eyes of those who live there.
Alongside the editorial process, the project includes:
- training for those who will work with the community, to share community engagement tools and practices based on the Nonturismo methodology.
- training open to young people aged 18 to 35 from the province of Potenza, who will work on storytelling and identity in inner areas, communication and place marketing, cultural events, creativity and digital, entrepreneurship and fundraising. The goal is to develop four new project ideas rooted in the territory.
