“The solidarity economy draws on various projects and initiatives that mainly focus on the
everyday practices of alternative ways of living, producing, and consuming” (Bauhardt, 2014).
This includes different projects, from ethical purchasing groups to the ecovillage experience,
from transition town to self-production systems.
As seen elsewhere, these projects are spreading independently and without a comprehensive
view of the territorial scale in Italy as well.
The aim of this work is to expand the knowledge on governance of local systems, using an
approach based on the principles of solidarity economy.
In this system, the production and distribution of goods and services is brought back to a small
and local scale, sustainable from an environmental point of view. Local projects aim to make
communities more resilient compared to systems influenced by the global market alone.
In particular, applying an approach inspired by the action-research method, the experience of
establishing a Solidarity Economy District in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region has been
analyzed and evaluated.
Solidarity Economy Districts (RES, 2007) are intended as laboratories of civic, economic and
social experimentation, where develop local resources and generate wealth in a condition of
ecological and social sustainability, focusing on people, their relationships and rights , the
environment and peace.
Our case study is an experience conducted in four municipalities of north-eastern Italy, Friuli-
Venezia Giulia, who established a close cooperation for the development of a new and different
agricultural and food model for their own territory.
"Pan e farine dal Friûl di mieć" (Bread and Flour of middle Friuli) has been therefore activated,
as an experimental project aimed to launch a local, sustainable, and inclusive supply chain of
wheat flour and its derivate products.
After its start in 2015, the project is developing through a series of stages with the progressive
involvement of different stakeholders of the community, who sign a pact that engages them to
mutual responsibility in the systems of production and consumption of primary goods.
