A green, flowery and unpolluted Eden where we work less and live better: here’s how to achieve it.
Romagna, 21 September 2025
Dear Friends, this year I decided to take my usual month’s trip in Romagna. Yes I know, you’ll wonder why so close given that I’ve accustomed you to my stories of Patagonia, New Zealand, Indonesia… This time I didn’t take any plane to visit this wonderful land, because the change it has experienced in recent years has been extraordinary and has made it the most ideal place in the world to regenerate and engage with a new mentality, which puts life at the centre.
Where the future was born from
It all started on 17 September 2017, when 50 courageous Romagnoli met at Autosufficienza Farm, a wonderful organic farm in Bagno di Romagna. Together they outlined the guidelines for a new lifestyle in harmony with nature and laid the foundations for Romagna to become a model district at world level for quality of life and preservation of nature. Shortly after, with 37 founding members, the Vivi Consapevole in Romagna Association was born which began to work hard to achieve this objective. The informative magazine “Vivi Consapevole in Romagna” was joined by countless events and meetings with the aim of informing the local population and soon the first alternative educational paths started to train young people in a new paradigm. In parallel, a close-knit group of volunteers began to develop small local organic markets, brought the Economy for the Common Good into businesses and spread the Romagna complementary currency which strongly contributed to the development of the local economy oriented towards the Common Good.
With the first successes the trust of the Romagnoli in the Association grew considerably and more and more people decided to join. Strengthened by the community that was created, the Association began to support all the ideas and activities that were proposed and that went towards the reduction of waste and the conception of a natural life far from the world of chemicals and multinationals. The considerable number of members, constantly increasing, has allowed the Association to orient local political institutions of every party towards an increase in quality of life and the preservation or restoration of the natural environment. A series of reforms were implemented which in a few years modified the habits and behaviours of the Romagnoli.
A lush and productive earthly paradise
Political corruption was eliminated, all municipalities began to compile the Economy for the Common Good Balance Sheet and joined the Transition Town movement (Transition Towns represent a movement founded by environmentalist Rob Hopkins in 2005. The objective of the movement is to prepare and raise awareness regarding sustainable settlement issues, teaching communities how to know how to face the double challenge constituted by the combination of global warming and peak oil). After the municipalities, even the most reluctant companies were forced by public opinion and then by institutions to compile the Common Good Balance Sheet. The most enterprising ones have made extraordinary changes internally and today they compete with each other to bring the greatest benefits to the local community. Other companies that wanted to continue polluting, or that had unethical behaviours, were forced to leave the district.
Today in Romagna full-time work has been abolished, people work no more than half a day and, at the same time, full salary has been maintained, since expenses have decreased considerably thanks to community services. The remaining hours of the day, the Romagnoli dedicate to sleep, food, creativity, love, life, themselves, their children, conviviality and volunteering.
The parks, today widespread in all cities and towns, are filled with people every day. Walking in the wide streets is also particularly pleasant: road traffic in fact is almost eliminated, since people prefer to move with bicycles or electric public transport. On the walls of many buildings, colourful murals celebrate peace, freedom and social achievements.
It’s not rare to come across celebrations where everyone smiling dances, sings, eats and plays with funny clothes and natural elements as accessories. The pretext to celebrate life they find in water, in the sun, in the wind, in trees, in earth and in everything that makes our existence “alive”.
The land and streets around the towns and cities of Romagna are scattered with vegetable gardens, flowers and fruit trees surrounded by colourful hedges. Almost everywhere there are spectacles of streams, waterfalls and small lakes that have been built to increase biodiversity and retain as much clean water as possible. This natural and continuous Eden has attracted thousands of butterflies, colourful birds and animals of all kinds that make every route a fairy tale.
One of the most fantastic things about this trip of mine to Romagna is that wherever water flows, it’s drinkable and excellent, since pollution sources no longer exist. The Romagnoli have also strongly reduced meat consumption and, consequently, intensive farms which were the main cause of pollution have disappeared. Even landfills have been closed as waste has decreased drastically and what is still produced is entirely recycled.
From consumers to free citizens
Now goods move much less, since almost everything is self-produced and consumed a few kilometres away. What the Romagnoli can’t produce arrives via freight trains which are then sorted thanks to electric vans and public transport which also serve as couriers in the most remote areas. New buildings and renovations take place entirely in natural building and with natural and km0 materials. This has meant that energy consumption has been strongly reduced and, thanks to the incentive policy for renewable energies under cooperative management, all citizens consume the energy they have themselves self-produced.
In cities and towns boilers have been eliminated from houses and condominiums and now all buildings are heated thanks to biomass district heating. The consumption of drugs, cigarettes and alcohol has decreased drastically. Medicines, vaccines and pesticides remain largely unsold. Pharmacies have been converted into health shops, plastic boxes and pills have been replaced by medicinal herbs. The “eco-monsters” once used as school buildings have disappeared and with them also the concept of studying and doing homework. Children up to 16 years old spend most of their time in parks and woods and in this way costs for the management of structures, staff etc. have also been strongly reduced.
In Romagna students don’t study: they learn. Their natural curiosity is filled through culture spaces where they have the possibility to learn by playing when it’s not possible to be outdoors because the weather is bad.
Every social sector is organised on a human scale, in the awareness that the stay on the planet must be conceived in the way most favourable to life. Thus, in addition to delimiting working time and offering a formative experience based on play and certain information, here in Romagna an existential path is being designed, from birth until the end of vital energy, capable of offering everyone a daily serenity free from disturbances. Probably the Romagnoli have not yet reached eternal happiness, but they have certainly learnt to be content. What I’m seeing on this trip is filling my heart and I’m certain I will return even more regenerated compared to my hermitages on the other side of the world.
Greetings to all!
Francesco Rosso.
This article is inspired by the book “Lettere dalla Kirghisia” by Silvano Agosti
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