Ostana. Smart Rural Innovation Hub
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Project Description
Ostana is an Occitan multi-centric settlement in the italian Alps, which suffered in the past a depopulation rate of 99,5%. After the Reinassance of the last 30 years, Ostana is today an Innovation Hub for companies, universities, institutions and its community.
Viso A Viso represents the most recent community territorial project for economic, social and cultural growth, based on the Metro-mountain paradigm on equal opportunities and recognition for cities and mountain areas.
Project Region
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Description of the project
Summary
Viso A Viso is a management project and a permanent living lab, launched in 2020. It includes co-managing of the public structures of Ostana (Italy) to provide the community with services and products in line with a new business model aimed to boost sustainable economic, social and cultural growth.
Ostana is a case of territorial rebirth. The village is an Occitan multi-centric settlement in the North-Western Alps, in the Po valley and in the MAB-UNESCO area, facing Monviso mountain at an altitude of 1000-2000 mt on the sea. Depopulation strongly affected the village over decades: in 1921 there were 1,200 inhabitants, while at the end of the 20th Century only 5 residents were left in the village, with a depopulation rate of 99.5%. Ostana has reversed the process of depopulation and today there are nearly 100 residents living in Ostana all year long, while in the summer and high season the number grows to more than 500 tourists and second-home owners overall.
The rebirth of the village began in the late 1980s, when a bunch of former Ostana inhabitants (at the time living in Turin) took the decision to come back to the village with the idea of starting a process of high-quality architectural renovation based on very strict rules, and the protection and promotion of alpine landscape and culture. In collaboration with the Politecnico of Turin, they created the conditions for a better quality of life in the village. These were based on architectural renovation, providing services to the inhabitants, developing both traditional and contemporary cultural projects, and taking care of the deployment of renewable energy, agriculture and forest management. Over the years, Ostana identitarian buildings were restored and opened for the community and guests: Lou Pourtoun - a cultural center, a foresteria, a guesthouse for overnight stays, an ethnographic museum, a shelter, a number of BnB, a wellness center.
Key objectives for sustainability
VAV considers economic self-sufficiency interlinked with environmental and social sustainability.
To reach the first one, it adopted a multifunctional approach and it is today running a Cultural Center, a foresteria, a guesthouse for overnight stays, an ethnographic museum and it is going to open a Mountain Wellness Center. VAV has launched the ambitious residency program - OSTANA RES. In line with the WHO report, it is encouraging the role of Arts for wellbeing and in healing processes as well as it is promoting a new role for agriculture, particularly related to high mountain medical herbs cultivated by local new farmers. VAV is promoting the new festival “MOUNTAIN WAVE. Open-air theaters in the Highlands” and “MONVISO PLAY” on gamification products for tourism and/or cultural purposes.
Concerning the second one, VAV joined innovation networks, such as UNITA, Smart Rural, ETHLocal, and got engaged in actions aimed at increasing landscape value, biodiversity, green development and resilience to tackle climate change (impacting pastures, forests, wetlands, natural environments). It hosts the research group Alpstream with researchers from the University of Turin, the Politecnico and the University of Western Piedmont who are working to monitor the degree of functioning and health of rivers.
VAV promotes a strategy of zoom in - zoom out in order to better understand territorial evolution and promote Ostana as an appealing place to stay long, live and work more than a just-for-holiday-place. It launched a new business model, based on sustainability and grounded on a cross-disciplinary attitude, cross-fertilization between different economic and social players in the area, involvement of skilled professionals, culture and leverage for business. The main objectives of the cooperative are: boosting new businesses in the valley and to offer qualitative and interesting job places for the youth; creating the conditions for people's physical and personal wellbeing.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The recovery and valorization of the traditional architecture was a priority for the local administration. A strong focus on architecture and energy efficiency is combined with landscape valorization and protection of natural heritage, as well as the network of historical paths and stone walls. The relevant contribution the Politecnico of Turin brought in, allowed it to start from an abandoned village to end up with a new town. Public and private buildings’ restoration were regulated by precise guidelines to preserve Ostana’s identity while designing a place for contemporary living. Today two thirds of the 500 buildings of the village have been restored, making Ostana a “collective project”.
The village has implemented some smart solutions for renewable energies such as solar panels, geothermal solutions, and renewable public lighting. In order to decrease emissions and overcrowding, Ostana organized shuttle services in tourist peak seasons. Ostana is in line with the EU 2030 climate & energy framework with its Local Plan for Energy and Climate. Sustainable agriculture and forestry projects are carried on taking into account the EU 2020 Biodiversity strategy, the EU Forest strategy and the regional Rural development plan.
Ostana has been building its reputation in Italy and the entire Alpine region triggering the rebirth of the village through high quality contemporary architecture. It was awarded with:
- Ostana is one of the 15 villages selected by the call Smart Rural (the only one from Italy) 2020
- Constructive Alps. Finalist 2020 and 2018 (Lou Pourtoun and Mizoun de la Villo)
- Architecture Venice Biennale in 2018 (Lou Pourtoun and a covered market structure called Porto ousitano) - presentation
- Cresco Award 2017
- European Award on Landscape MIBACT (Italian Ministry for Culture and Tourism) in 2017 (special mention)
- Fare Paesaggio Award 2016
Articles on Ostana’s experience:
Key objectives for inclusion
Along with the natural alpine environment, public spaces and the ongoing projects (co-working spaces, library, educational facilities) aimed at attracting new qualified inhabitants. Ostana is not only a beautiful touristic destination, but also a nice place to live in, both for farmers and local enterprises and for professionals and researchers who can smart-work while looking for a healthier and more relaxing environment. All basic services are provided (cash dispenser, post office, health service, culture), including public transport for young students.
The Occitan Culture and the safeguard of minority languages are central to the life of the village, as well as educational and research projects involving Universities, research centers, academies.
During 2015-16 Ostana’s Municipality set up and started running a CAS - Centre for Emergency Reception. The project aimed at welcoming the asylum seekers in the local community, providing them with Italian language courses, cultural mediation, legal protection, professional empowerment, integration in the Italian society. The project lasted from 2017 to 2019 and it was supported by Ministry of Home Affairs’ funds, covering daily subsistence allowance for asylum seekers and related services for local inclusion. Ostana welcomed six asylum seekers with excellent results in terms of social and professional integration. Four of them decided to remain in Ostana at the end of the project after having received refugee status and two are still working and living in Ostana at present.
The project was perfectly coherent with Ostana’s vision, focused on the reconstruction of the community and not being only a simple esthetic restoration of hamlets. The village fostered the development of a new community: a mixture of old and new inhabitants, new farmers, entrepreneurs, researchers, artists and intellectuals, asylum seekers. Today, these are all new and active residents in Ostana.
Results in relation to category
The regeneration of Ostana has been based, at every stage, on Research and Innovation and it brought a relevant number of researchers, professionals and Higher Education Institutions to work and collaborate in Ostana. Property renovation was the first step and it produced Lou Pourtoun - a cultural center, a foresteria, a guesthouse for overnight stays, an ethnographic museum, a shelter, a wellness center.
Viso A Viso, the most recent Ostana’s management project, also achieved important results and established solid alliances and it provided qualitative services, products and to boost a new living and working in the village. Particularly, the collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino brought laboratories, conferences, projects for restoration of new public buildings. Together with Alpstream -Alpine River Study Centre (Università Piemonte Orientale, Università di Torino and Politecnico di Torino) it opened a research laboratory and it offers today high educational opportunities and research programs. It hosts the Monviso Institute, a research institute on sustainability and L’aura scuola di Ostana with professional learning for cinema makers.
It gave space to the Ambornetti Retreat, an entrepreneurial project developing a new “techno rural” settlement. In December 2020 it launched a self sufficient housing project: the Chestnut cabin, implemented by by Iris srl. This allowed to host well known artists, musicians, innovators and scientists for their creative and co-design residences. Together with Abadir, Accademia di Design e Arti Visive based in Catania (Sicily) it activated in 2021 the Master in Heritage Innovation; with the CAI - Italian Alpine Club and Museo della Montagna it is running Monviso Play project.
VAV is collaborating with local NGOs and SMEs which operate in media production, cinema, politics, environment, sustainability, to support projects and activities targeted to empower citizens and youth from Ostana and the Monviso Highlands.
How Citizens benefit
Ostana is located in a mountain and marginal territory, but thanks to a small but highly motivated community and excellent local leaders, Ostana has been able to take decisive actions in reversing the national trend of depopulation and unemployment and triggering the process of rebirth.
The local community is extremely active and a wider community exists outside the village that strongly support and enrich the resident community: a network of qualified supporters and a system of competences and alliances from outside the valley. High levels of educational attainment and civic participation, shared knowledge and active networks contribute to the social cohesion and the growth of the community.
Ostana includes a complex community, consisting of people with parental roots in the village both elderly and young people, owners of vacation houses, people that have chosen to live and work in Ostana due to the appealing natural environment and working opportunity. The average age is relatively low (50 years) compared to other similar villages in the western Alps. Interaction among generations is very high. Daily life changes strongly during the year according to the big change in population during high/low seasons.
VAV is promoting in Ostana methodologies of co-design and strategic thinking to involve the community together with well known artists, musicians, innovators, scientists so they can create and implement their projects in Ostana by combining top down and bottom-up approach, open a new dialogue between people and being inspired by nature.
Innovative character
Viso A Viso project is innovative as it concerns the whole village of Ostana as a permanent Living Lab of Contemporary Alpine Regeneration. This means the concrete implementation of the quadruple helix model, an active ecosystem in which the Municipality is today collaborating with young entrepreneurs involved in tourist, agriculture as well as cultural fields, with researches (e.g. from ALPSTREAM Team, the Monviso Institute, etc.) and citizens. Viso A Viso is boosting the entrepreneurial implementation of Ostana, according to a new business model. The possibility to co-manage the public infrastructures allows it to connect private and public sectors. The community cooperative makes it possible to systematize resources and skills, responding to the needs of mutuality. It is therefore a fundamental choice so that the management of the structures is not of a speculative or predatory type, but oriented to the benefit of the community itself.
Viso A Viso is also working hard to push Ostana to become more and more aware of the existence of a wider community, of the necessity to think beyond the village itself, beyond its geographical boundaries, dimensions and mindset. On the way round, the innovation degree of the actions which includes experimental wild nature theatre, gamification strategies, high level music co-design and production, tourism for all, new agriculture and food, Master level education, is attracting new qualified inhabitants with different professional competencies: professionals, researchers, farmers, shepherds, artists, freelancers, city quitters.
Covid emergency is increasing this phenomenon, with a lot of people opting out of increasingly regulated and pressured urban spaces, looking for spaces to explore and experiment in their own business, in a green and healthier environment, with a closer and more cohesive community.
