About us

Trasformare il modello socioeconomico e creare un “ecosistema” di pratiche e modelli in risposta alle crisi che interessano il nostro pianeta

What is RETHINKABLE?

RETHINKABLE is intended to be a new framework in which to reason and discuss, all together, about new ideas that can transform the socio-economic model in which we are embedded, and which has long been demonstrating its limitations.

The motto ‘there is no more time’, which persists today particularly among the younger generation, draws attention to the urgency of having to change paradigms and practices in development models. Culture must therefore be put into practice side by side: in this direction, the Festival intends to generate new ways of disseminating culture, which bring back confrontation, sharing and the promotion of active citizenship practices to the centre.

It is a space for meeting, discussion and collective growth, both to meet experiences that have already set out towards a different socio-economic model and to imagine and plan new paths and initiatives! In this edition, the event looks at Agenda 2030 Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

What are Transformative Economies?

Transformative Economies refer to an ‘ecosystem’ of practices and models that have been emerging for some time in response to the multiple crises affecting our planet: financial and economic, environmental and climate, social and human. The Festival aims to disseminate culture with respect to paths, models and tools that look towards a renewed society.

The Festival was created in 2022 to disseminate and promote transformative economies in their various forms, taking up the 4 axes proposed by the first ‘World Social Forum of Transformative Economies’ held in Barcelona in 2020, namely:

• the social and solidarity economy;
• the Common Goods (natural, urban, digital, knowledge);
• the agro-ecological movement and food sovereignty;
• feminist economies and gender perspectives;

In addition:

• the positive and virtuous role that local and territorial communities have and can have within social, economic and environmental transformation processes;
• the agenda and issues proposed by the Degrowth movement;
• the movements fighting against the causes of climate change.

Who is behind RETHINKABLE?

A group of Italian and Slovenian partners – the lead partner ProDES FVG, the Universities of Udine, Trieste and Nova Gorica, Legambiente FVG, the Association for Degrowth, the scientific unit ZRC SAZU (Nova Gorica) and the NGO CVCS (Gorizia) – decided to realise a cross-border Festival that could be a place of knowledge, meeting and growth among people and experiences that are experimenting other ways of doing economy.

Along the way, other realities approached and collaborated in the organisation of the event: RIES – Italian Network for Solidarity Economy, the NGO Fairwatch (Rome), the Arci Gong club of Gorizia, the provincial coordination of Libera Gorizia, Xcenter of Nova Gorica and GO!2025. Media partners are Altreconomia and Comune.info.

The project is realised with the support of the FVG Region.

ProDES FVG

ProDES FVG ‘Promotion of the Solidarity Economy District Communities of Friuli Venezia Giulia’ is an association of social promotion (APS) established in 2016 as the operational arm of the ‘Forum of Common Goods and Solidarity Economy of FVG’, a coalition of more than 40 entities that, after a path started in 2012, made possible the birth and promulgation of the regional law 23 March 2017, n.4 ‘Rules for the enhancement and promotion of the Solidarity Economy’.

The Association's aims include ‘promoting the culture of conviviality in social and economic relations and environmental protection’ and ‘promoting the establishment of district solidarity economy communities and district and supra-district production chains to support local production and employment’. In order to contribute to these aims, ProDES FVG organises public conferences, training and consultancy activities, the development of projects, and the production and dissemination of informative material, also through cooperation with public and private institutions.

Among the main cultural activities promoted and organised by ProDES FVG there is the organisation of the ‘FVG Solidarity Economy Day’ events organised in 2018 in Udine and in 2019 in Tolmezzo, both financed by the funds provided by Law no. 4 of 23 March 2017. In 2020, the Day was organised in online mode as part of the ‘Seeds of Justice’ dissemination and training project co-promoted by a network of VOs in the region.

From 2017 to 2021, it organised and co-organised dozens of dissemination events such as conferences, seminars, meetings, guided tours and theatrical performances to raise awareness on pressing issues such as the relationship with the environment, common goods, participatory democracy, solidarity/social economy experiences and the virtuous role of communities at local, national and international level.