Girotondo Basecamp

In the green heart of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Girotondo Basecamp is a project that goes beyond simply renovating a disused building, weaving together landscape, community and future in an idea that has already convinced many, winning funding from the GAL Hospitality Activities 2023, the Restructura 2024 Call4Idea and the Borghi Invitalia 2024 grant.

Here, hospitality becomes something more: not just a place to sleep and eat, but a vibrant space hosting events dedicated to sustainability, circular design, art, culture, sport and team building — transforming tourism and innovation into a driver of growth for those who choose to live, or return to live, in the Apennines.

The intervention is both concrete and radical: energy efficiency measures with expanded cork insulation, triple-glazed wooden windows, an insulated panoramic terrace and, by 2025, full self-sufficiency thanks to an 11 kW photovoltaic system with storage, solar thermal, micro-wind power and heat pumps — to say goodbye to fossil fuels.

The real strength of the project lies in its people: Girotondo Atelier, in collaboration with the Politecnico of Milano, transforms waste into furniture and design objects; Girotondo Impact, together with Confcooperative Terre d’Emilia, becomes an incubator for women-led startups engaged in environmental regeneration and social innovation — because ecological transition needs new perspectives that are both more inclusive and more radical.

All this is complemented by a bottom-up circular economy: integrated aquaponics, permaculture farming, and organic livestock breeding, closing a production cycle that is also educational and community-based.

Girotondo Basecamp is therefore much more than a renovated building: it is a replicable model, where architecture, energy, creativity and social innovation come together to create a resilient, participatory and deeply human ecosystem.