AL PASSO / IN STEP festival combines science, pastoralists’ experience, and creativity to refocus attention on pastoralism as a living practice and as a key to understanding the environmental and social transformations of our time. The first edition will be held in Scanno, Abruzzo, place marked by the history of transhumance and an active fabric of committed communities and institutions. The theme chosen for this first edition is: Climate change: what if pastoralism were already in the future? An invitation to understand pastoralism not as a legacy of the past, but as a source of inspiration for models of adaptation, care, and coexistence in the present and future.
The programme is structured around three main perspectives, offering a different way of approaching pastoralism:
Understanding pastoralism. An invitation to really get to know pastoralism, going beyond the clichés. To discover what it means to be a shepherd today, and why pastoralism concerns everyone, even those who have never encountered it.
Living pastoralism and letting it live. A space dedicated to what makes pastoralism exist: the daily practices and knowledge of shepherds, the material conditions and political and economic dynamics that make pastoralism possible – or hinder it.
Be inspired by pastoralism. Pastoralism has something to teach those who want a different and sustainable future. A forward-looking perspective, in which pastoralism is a guide and inspiration for facing the challenges of a changing world, through the actions of shepherds, their social movements and supportive scientific communities around the world.
Expected Participants (Hybrid and In-person): 300 pastoralists, scholars, and residents.