{"id":313,"date":"2014-11-30T11:26:23","date_gmt":"2014-11-30T11:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/?p=313"},"modified":"2021-03-20T11:05:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T11:05:36","slug":"my-green-trip-to-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/my-green-trip-to-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"My Green Trip to Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was delighted recently to be informed that I was successful in winning a place on a Green Trip to Italy as part of the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Project with the Irish partners Tipperary Energy Agency<\/a> (TEA). \u00a0Earlier in 2014 we had hosted a group of over 30 visitors on a similar trip from Europe and Ireland in The Bothy in Borrisoleigh. The Bothy<\/a> is a community shop selling locally produced food and crafts along with tea and coffee (we haven\u2019t quite figured out how to grow our own tea and coffee yet). It is a non profit enterprise run and staffed entirely by volunteers and with the invaluable addition of a lady on a Tus scheme. Visitors to Ireland on that trip visited such places as Templederry Community Wind Farm<\/a>, Drombane Upperchurch \u00a0Energy Team<\/a> and Cloughjordan Eco Village<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bassano Del Grappa. It’s famous covered wooden bridge over the River Brenta was designed in 1569. The bridge has been rebuilt a number of times to the original design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Six of us flew out on Wednesday 8th Oct. to Venice and then on to Bassano del Grappa, a medieval city and the birthplace of the alcoholic spirit Grappa. My other travelling companions were:- TEA representative Vincent Carragher. Will Softly (great name isn\u2019t it) of the Seedsavers Association<\/a> and Brigit\u2019s Garden<\/a> who also does a bit of DJing. Ailbhe Gerrard of Brookfield Farm<\/a> where this year\u2019s All Ireland Permaculture Gathering<\/a> was held. Michael O Meara, a farmer, beekeeper and Independent \u00a0Councillor with Tipperary County Council. Colm Byrne of Glas<\/a>, a renewable and sustainable energy solution provider. We arrived to our destination late at night and were lucky to find a restaurant still open where we could have dinner after our long journey. I think it was there that we all really started to get to know each other as we shared an excellent meal and great conversation.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**Our visit the next morning started with a short bus ride to the Color Caf\u00e9, a cultural centre and cafe which is a project of the** Cooperative Adelante<\/a> of Bassano del Grappa which provides a venue for people of all walks of life and ages to hold exhibits, concerts, show movies and anything else they can think of, while also offering assistance in arranging same. The slogan beneath the Color Caf\u00e9 sign reads \u2018Animatori di idee\u2019 which translates to \u2018Animators of ideas\u2019.\u00a0The omens were good.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
We assembled in the theatre part where we were welcomed by a local Council member. This was followed by a brief introduction on the Solidarity Purchasing Group (SPG) on Solar Photovoltaic Plants and then a presentation on the technical aspects of the SPG by two local engineers. SPGs are an Italian-based system of purchasing goods collectively. These groups are usually set up by a number of consumers who cooperate in order to buy food and other commonly used goods directly from producers or from big retailers at a price that is fair to both parties. They put people and environment before profit.<\/p>\n
$\"20141009_102051\"$ <\/a>
Presentation by Solidarity Purchasing Group (SPG) on Solar Photovoltaic Plants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**The SPG on Photovoltaic Plants has 10 Founding Values<\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
\n
Help families have clean energy through economic saving.<\/li>\n
Involve SPG members in the decision making process.<\/li>\n
Stop land exploitation! Reject big land plants that waste fertile agricultural land.<\/li>\n
Create a sustainable and green economy.<\/li>\n
Support the economy and small local business.<\/li>\n
Fair wages to every supply chain member.<\/li>\n
Choose components produced in democratic countries.<\/li>\n
Choose eco friendly technologies and production processes.<\/li>\n
Support environmental protection, public health and sustainability.<\/li>\n
Nuclear energy is not necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
$\"Michael$ <\/a>
Michael and Will admiring the electric car owned by one of the engineers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In 2010 the SPG on Photovoltaic Plants in Bassano del Grappa was the biggest SPG in Italy. They organised agreements with banks to grant credit to people who wanted to install photovoltaic plants. They had 160 plants installed. There was 374, 400kg of CO2 saved in one year and they had the involvement of low income families.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After the the presentation on the SPG, representatives of the partners from participating countries gave a brief description of learnings and what they have done since their visit to Ireland in relation to education and recruitment with the wider population. We then broke for lunch in the Colour Cafe.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**Holy Moly, an ethical bank! What could it mean?<\/b><\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Walking$ <\/a>
Walking through Padua<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
With our physical hunger satisfied, the quest to satisfy our hunger for knowledge continued and we boarded a bus to head to the city of Padua<\/a>, which is home to a university where Galileo was once a lecturer. We walked along the picturesque streets with it\u2019s magnificent buildings for a while before we eventually reached Banca Etica, Ethical Bank in English. Holy Moly, an ethical bank! What could it mean?<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**From their website, the idea behind** Banca Etica<\/a> consists in creating a place where savers, driven by the common desire of a more transparent and responsible management of financial resources, may meet socio-economic initiatives, inspired by the values of a sustainable social and human development.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"The$ <\/a>
The exterior of one part of the Ethical Bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Company adopts the following principles of Ethical Finance:<\/p>\n
\n
ethically oriented finance is aware of non economic consequences of economic actions;<\/li>\n
access to finance, in all its forms, is a human right;<\/li>\n
efficiency and soberness are components of ethical responsibility;<\/li>\n
profit produced by the ownership and exchange of money must come from activities oriented towards common well-being and shall have to be equally distributed among all subjects which contribute to its realisation;<\/li>\n
maximum transparency of all operations is one of the main conditions of all ethical finance activities;<\/li>\n
the active involvement of shareholders and savers in the company’s decision making process must be encouraged;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n
each organisation which accepts and adheres to the principles of ethical finance undertakes to inspire its entire activity to such principles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Ethical$ <\/a>
No pin stripe blazers for these trail blazing bankers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The talk given to us in the bank focussed more on the green initiatives and energy efficiency of the building itself. While it was interesting to hear about the biomass heating, insulation and solar panels on the roof, I would have been more interested in hearing about some of the projects that the bank has financed.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**So instead I did my own research:-<\/p>\n**
**In 15 years, Banca Etica has, among other things:<\/p>\n**
\n
provided a total of 23,804 loans to families and social enterprises for a total of \u20ac 1.8 billion;<\/li>\n
70% of the funding approved by Banca Etica has gone to non-profit organizations (compared to the 1% of the Italian banking system\u2019s average). In recent years, Banca Etica has also gradually added some responsible for-profit organizations to its borrowers.<\/li>\n
the interest rates charged by Banca Etica loans to customers (families, non-profit organizations, social enterprises) are on the average lower than those of the rest of the banking system<\/li>\n
Banca Etica has funded the installation of 1531 renewable energy plants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can read the full report here<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**One man\u2019s junk is another man\u2019s treasure<\/b><\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As my Italian isn\u2019t up to much, I resisted the urge to try and borrow a few quid from our new friends in the bank and headed off to get the bus with the rest of the group. Our next stop was the Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza, which is a \u2018Type B social cooperative\u2019, which means it is a social co-operative dealing with work inclusion of disadvantaged persons. The Insieme co-operative was established by some groups of citizens who were actively involved in helping troubled young people \u2013 especially those with problems of drug addiction, prostitution, theft, conviction. These citizens decided to promote activities to help the troubled people reintegrate into the community. Insieme\u2019s main business is the collection and reuse of waste materials.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Furniture given a chance of a second life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And boy do they know how to collect and reuse waste materials! The location we visited was a 3,300 square meter building that was officially opened in 2006 at a cost of \u20ac2.3m (the Banca Etica, mentioned above, was one of the sources of funding for the building). From books to bikes, furniture and clothes and everything else in between, at the sides, on the top, underneath.<\/p>\n
Seriously, nothing goes to waste here. Every item of clothing, and there\u2019s a lot, is graded. Anything not good enough to resell is used to make cleaning rags or sent on to be used as stuffing etc. We got a tour of the premises by the manager who informed us about how the whole operation works. Upstairs, not open to the public, is the furniture restoration area and electrical recycling area where crates of cut off plugs, old hard disk drives, cables and all sorts of bits and pieces that would have any hacker\/maker drooling at the mouth.<\/p>\n
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Bicycle repair section of the Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Part of the clothes sorting area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**There\u2019s a case study about the Insieme Cooperative that you can read** **here<\/a><\/p>\n**
**<\/p>\n**
**\u00a0Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n**
**I want to ride my bicycle<\/strong><\/p>\n**
**The next day we walked the short distance from our hotel to the** Don Cremona Hostel<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0At the hostel we were given bicycles to begin our cycle\u00a0tour in association with the FIAB Association. The FIAB<\/a> is the\u00a0Italian Federation of cycling friends, a charity which promotes and encourages cycling in communities.<\/p>\n
$\"Bassano$ <\/a>
On the way to Conca D’Oro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
For most people there were electric assist bicycles to get to our destination. If you’ve never ridden one of these before, make it your business to do so! When you peddle, a little battery kicks in and gives you a hand (or a foot as the case may be). Your job is to keep the pedals moving, the bike supplies the power to propel it forward. There’s even a ‘boost’ button when you want to rev it up a notch!<\/p>\n
With the Italian climate it is a perfect way to travel…. For some people…. There weren’t enough electric assist bikes to go around for everyone and myself and a few more had to make to with regular bikes.<\/p>\n
Those short cycling trips with my\u00a0kids back home paid off and I made it to our first stop of the day, San Giuseppe di Cassola Synergistic Garden, without breaking too much of a sweat. And managed to resist the urge to poke a stick into the spokes of the\u00a0other\u00a0smug looking electric bikers \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
At the garden a member of FIAB spoke about the work they do in promoting cycling and then we moved into the synergistic garden itself where the head gardener told us about this gardening technique. This is where I get lazy and hand you over to Wikipedia.<\/p>\n
**Forget your shovel if you want to go to work\u00a0<\/strong>(in the garden that is)<\/p>\n**
$\"San$ <\/a>
San Giuseppe di Cassola synergistic garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Wikipedia<\/a> tells us\u00a0that Synergistic gardening is a system of organic gardening, developed by Emilia Hazelip. The system is strongly influenced by permaculture, as well as the work of Masanobu Fukuoka and Marc Bonfils. After establishing the garden, there is no further digging, ploughing or tilling, and no use of external inputs such as manures and other fertilizers, or pesticides. Soil health is maintained by the selection of plants, mulching, and recycling of plant residues.<\/p>\n
Did you notice that part above? ‘No further digging’, that’s my kind of gardening.<\/p>\n
There must be something to it if bees are any barometer to go by. There were some hovering around the flowers on some of the plants and you could actually see the honey on their legs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**Green cleaning<\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
Non toxic products used for making bio-detergents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After getting down and dirty in the garden it was time to move indoors for a lesson in cleanliness. A member of the\u00a0Buen Vivir Association gave a practical lesson in the self production of bio-detergents. Buen Vivir translates as good living or living well. It describes a way of\u00a0doing things that is community-centric, ecologically-balanced and culturally-sensitive (good article here<\/a> going into more detail).<\/p>\n
Most of us are familiar with some of the cleaning properties of everyday items at home such as vinegar, baking soda or lemon juice. The lady who gave us the practical lesson holds regular classes in the making of bio-detergents. Products such as washing machine powder, washing liquid etc. can all be home made using readily available products.<\/p>\n
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
I can’t believe it’s not Daz!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The great part is that they are not as toxic as the products on sale on supermarket shelves. You know, the ones with poison warnings and skulls and crossbones and the like. The ones that are put into separate bags from your other shopping. And woe betide the careless bag-packer raising funds for the local primary school who puts the washing powder in with the bread!<\/p>\n
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
Practical lessons in diy cleaning products<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After our lesson we mounted our bikes again and headed off for\u00a0our last visit of\u00a0the day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**\u00a0It’s a farm, but not as we know it<\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Conca D’Oro Social Farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Conca D’Oro is a social farm using\u00a0bio-agriculture and which promotes the professional inclusion of disabled people. Conca D’Oro is an inspiring place to visit. About 25 to 30 of the people working there are mentally disabled or autistic. Accommodation is also provided.\u00a0Before going on a guided tour of the farm we had lunch in the onsite restaurant. All the food served is produced on the farm, bread, eggs, vegetables, fruit, jams etc. \u00a0Conca D’Oro sells it’s produce through a little shop on the farm, through it’s own\u00a0restaurant and to shops and restaurants in Bassano Del Grappa.<\/p>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Outside the restaurant, even the Italian trees have more fashion sense than me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Oh lay, oh lay, oh lay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Inside the shop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
The herb garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You can learn more about the role of this social farm here<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
or listen to some audio below
\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u00a0managed to <del>rob<\/del>\u00a0<del>borrow<\/del> acquire an electric bike for our return journey, not that I needed it or anything, and we all headed back to the hostel. The bikes were so much fun that six of us, three Irish and three Belgian, asked could we hold on to them a little longer and go on a little tour ourselves through Bassano del Grappa and outskirts.\u00a0That was great fun, zooming through the narrow streets. It was like in\u00a0the car\u00a0scene with the Minis in the movie ‘The Italian Job’, except we were on bikes of course.<\/p>\n<p>That night while deciding where to go for dinner we bumped into one of the staff from the hostel. He told us of a good restaurant that uses the food from Conca D’Oro. That was that decided!<\/p>\n<p>The late night dinners and dining alfresco with a glass of\u00a0Prosecco while enjoying the conversation among great company was the topping off of a wonderful few days. Really and truly it was a wonderful experience visiting the various projects and gaining an insight into how they operate. We learned a lot over the few days and came home brimming with ideas. Watch this space for future developments!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_340\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-340\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"340\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/my-green-trip-to-italy\/20141010_164711\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=2048%2C1152\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1152\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"GT-I9505","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1412959631","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.2","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Green trip to Italy\" data-image-description=\"<p>Green trip to Italy<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=300%2C169\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=1024%2C576\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-340 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=640%2C360\" alt=\"Green trip to Italy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=1024%2C576 1024w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=300%2C169 300w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?w=2048 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-340\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Irish contingent along with the Italian hosts and some of the Belgian contingent. L-R:- Colm Byrne, Michael O Meara, Vincent Carragher, Very nice Italian host, Ailbhe Gerrard, Derry O Donnell, Will Softly, Crazy Belgian man,. Front: Crazy Belgian man, Very nice Italian host, Crazy Belgian man.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Read more about the partners involved in this element of the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Project\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.energyeducation.eu\/index.php\/42-the-consortium\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-313\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/my-green-trip-to-italy\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-313\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" 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The Kilkenny hurling team, known as 'The Cats' were hoping to make history by beating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Publicity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/IlM0ihe7IfA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":177,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/sometimes-social-media-is-useless-go-where-your-customers-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":4},"title":"Sometimes Social Media is useless, go where your customers are","date":"October 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this sign recently and thought to myself, 'Fair play to the publican for making an effort'. Clonmore is a village in Co. Tipperary about 6km from Templemore. As far as I know there's only one pub in it 'Fitzpatrick's' and this is where Eamon McCann was playing. 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It has an ample\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/img_0496.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Bassano Del Grappa. It’s famous covered wooden bridge over the River Brenta was designed in 1569. The bridge has been rebuilt a number of times to the original design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Six of us flew out on Wednesday 8th Oct. to Venice and then on to Bassano del Grappa, a medieval city and the birthplace of the alcoholic spirit Grappa. My other travelling companions were:- TEA representative Vincent Carragher. Will Softly (great name isn\u2019t it) of the Seedsavers Association<\/a> and Brigit\u2019s Garden<\/a> who also does a bit of DJing. Ailbhe Gerrard of Brookfield Farm<\/a> where this year\u2019s All Ireland Permaculture Gathering<\/a> was held. Michael O Meara, a farmer, beekeeper and Independent \u00a0Councillor with Tipperary County Council. Colm Byrne of Glas<\/a>, a renewable and sustainable energy solution provider. We arrived to our destination late at night and were lucky to find a restaurant still open where we could have dinner after our long journey. I think it was there that we all really started to get to know each other as we shared an excellent meal and great conversation.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**Our visit the next morning started with a short bus ride to the Color Caf\u00e9, a cultural centre and cafe which is a project of the** Cooperative Adelante<\/a> of Bassano del Grappa which provides a venue for people of all walks of life and ages to hold exhibits, concerts, show movies and anything else they can think of, while also offering assistance in arranging same. The slogan beneath the Color Caf\u00e9 sign reads \u2018Animatori di idee\u2019 which translates to \u2018Animators of ideas\u2019.\u00a0The omens were good.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
We assembled in the theatre part where we were welcomed by a local Council member. This was followed by a brief introduction on the Solidarity Purchasing Group (SPG) on Solar Photovoltaic Plants and then a presentation on the technical aspects of the SPG by two local engineers. SPGs are an Italian-based system of purchasing goods collectively. These groups are usually set up by a number of consumers who cooperate in order to buy food and other commonly used goods directly from producers or from big retailers at a price that is fair to both parties. They put people and environment before profit.<\/p>\n
$\"20141009_102051\"$ <\/a>
Presentation by Solidarity Purchasing Group (SPG) on Solar Photovoltaic Plants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**The SPG on Photovoltaic Plants has 10 Founding Values<\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
\n
Help families have clean energy through economic saving.<\/li>\n
Involve SPG members in the decision making process.<\/li>\n
Stop land exploitation! Reject big land plants that waste fertile agricultural land.<\/li>\n
Create a sustainable and green economy.<\/li>\n
Support the economy and small local business.<\/li>\n
Fair wages to every supply chain member.<\/li>\n
Choose components produced in democratic countries.<\/li>\n
Choose eco friendly technologies and production processes.<\/li>\n
Support environmental protection, public health and sustainability.<\/li>\n
Nuclear energy is not necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
$\"Michael$ <\/a>
Michael and Will admiring the electric car owned by one of the engineers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In 2010 the SPG on Photovoltaic Plants in Bassano del Grappa was the biggest SPG in Italy. They organised agreements with banks to grant credit to people who wanted to install photovoltaic plants. They had 160 plants installed. There was 374, 400kg of CO2 saved in one year and they had the involvement of low income families.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After the the presentation on the SPG, representatives of the partners from participating countries gave a brief description of learnings and what they have done since their visit to Ireland in relation to education and recruitment with the wider population. We then broke for lunch in the Colour Cafe.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**Holy Moly, an ethical bank! What could it mean?<\/b><\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Walking$ <\/a>
Walking through Padua<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
With our physical hunger satisfied, the quest to satisfy our hunger for knowledge continued and we boarded a bus to head to the city of Padua<\/a>, which is home to a university where Galileo was once a lecturer. We walked along the picturesque streets with it\u2019s magnificent buildings for a while before we eventually reached Banca Etica, Ethical Bank in English. Holy Moly, an ethical bank! What could it mean?<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**From their website, the idea behind** Banca Etica<\/a> consists in creating a place where savers, driven by the common desire of a more transparent and responsible management of financial resources, may meet socio-economic initiatives, inspired by the values of a sustainable social and human development.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"The$ <\/a>
The exterior of one part of the Ethical Bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Company adopts the following principles of Ethical Finance:<\/p>\n
\n
ethically oriented finance is aware of non economic consequences of economic actions;<\/li>\n
access to finance, in all its forms, is a human right;<\/li>\n
efficiency and soberness are components of ethical responsibility;<\/li>\n
profit produced by the ownership and exchange of money must come from activities oriented towards common well-being and shall have to be equally distributed among all subjects which contribute to its realisation;<\/li>\n
maximum transparency of all operations is one of the main conditions of all ethical finance activities;<\/li>\n
the active involvement of shareholders and savers in the company’s decision making process must be encouraged;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n
each organisation which accepts and adheres to the principles of ethical finance undertakes to inspire its entire activity to such principles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Ethical$ <\/a>
No pin stripe blazers for these trail blazing bankers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The talk given to us in the bank focussed more on the green initiatives and energy efficiency of the building itself. While it was interesting to hear about the biomass heating, insulation and solar panels on the roof, I would have been more interested in hearing about some of the projects that the bank has financed.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**So instead I did my own research:-<\/p>\n**
**In 15 years, Banca Etica has, among other things:<\/p>\n**
\n
provided a total of 23,804 loans to families and social enterprises for a total of \u20ac 1.8 billion;<\/li>\n
70% of the funding approved by Banca Etica has gone to non-profit organizations (compared to the 1% of the Italian banking system\u2019s average). In recent years, Banca Etica has also gradually added some responsible for-profit organizations to its borrowers.<\/li>\n
the interest rates charged by Banca Etica loans to customers (families, non-profit organizations, social enterprises) are on the average lower than those of the rest of the banking system<\/li>\n
Banca Etica has funded the installation of 1531 renewable energy plants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can read the full report here<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**One man\u2019s junk is another man\u2019s treasure<\/b><\/p>\n**
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As my Italian isn\u2019t up to much, I resisted the urge to try and borrow a few quid from our new friends in the bank and headed off to get the bus with the rest of the group. Our next stop was the Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza, which is a \u2018Type B social cooperative\u2019, which means it is a social co-operative dealing with work inclusion of disadvantaged persons. The Insieme co-operative was established by some groups of citizens who were actively involved in helping troubled young people \u2013 especially those with problems of drug addiction, prostitution, theft, conviction. These citizens decided to promote activities to help the troubled people reintegrate into the community. Insieme\u2019s main business is the collection and reuse of waste materials.<\/p>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Furniture given a chance of a second life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And boy do they know how to collect and reuse waste materials! The location we visited was a 3,300 square meter building that was officially opened in 2006 at a cost of \u20ac2.3m (the Banca Etica, mentioned above, was one of the sources of funding for the building). From books to bikes, furniture and clothes and everything else in between, at the sides, on the top, underneath.<\/p>\n
Seriously, nothing goes to waste here. Every item of clothing, and there\u2019s a lot, is graded. Anything not good enough to resell is used to make cleaning rags or sent on to be used as stuffing etc. We got a tour of the premises by the manager who informed us about how the whole operation works. Upstairs, not open to the public, is the furniture restoration area and electrical recycling area where crates of cut off plugs, old hard disk drives, cables and all sorts of bits and pieces that would have any hacker\/maker drooling at the mouth.<\/p>\n
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Bicycle repair section of the Insieme Cooperative in Vicenza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Insieme$ <\/a>
Part of the clothes sorting area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
**\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n**
**There\u2019s a case study about the Insieme Cooperative that you can read** **here<\/a><\/p>\n**
**<\/p>\n**
**\u00a0Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n**
**I want to ride my bicycle<\/strong><\/p>\n**
**The next day we walked the short distance from our hotel to the** Don Cremona Hostel<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0At the hostel we were given bicycles to begin our cycle\u00a0tour in association with the FIAB Association. The FIAB<\/a> is the\u00a0Italian Federation of cycling friends, a charity which promotes and encourages cycling in communities.<\/p>\n
$\"Bassano$ <\/a>
On the way to Conca D’Oro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
For most people there were electric assist bicycles to get to our destination. If you’ve never ridden one of these before, make it your business to do so! When you peddle, a little battery kicks in and gives you a hand (or a foot as the case may be). Your job is to keep the pedals moving, the bike supplies the power to propel it forward. There’s even a ‘boost’ button when you want to rev it up a notch!<\/p>\n
With the Italian climate it is a perfect way to travel…. For some people…. There weren’t enough electric assist bikes to go around for everyone and myself and a few more had to make to with regular bikes.<\/p>\n
Those short cycling trips with my\u00a0kids back home paid off and I made it to our first stop of the day, San Giuseppe di Cassola Synergistic Garden, without breaking too much of a sweat. And managed to resist the urge to poke a stick into the spokes of the\u00a0other\u00a0smug looking electric bikers \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
At the garden a member of FIAB spoke about the work they do in promoting cycling and then we moved into the synergistic garden itself where the head gardener told us about this gardening technique. This is where I get lazy and hand you over to Wikipedia.<\/p>\n
**Forget your shovel if you want to go to work\u00a0<\/strong>(in the garden that is)<\/p>\n**
$\"San$ <\/a>
San Giuseppe di Cassola synergistic garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Wikipedia<\/a> tells us\u00a0that Synergistic gardening is a system of organic gardening, developed by Emilia Hazelip. The system is strongly influenced by permaculture, as well as the work of Masanobu Fukuoka and Marc Bonfils. After establishing the garden, there is no further digging, ploughing or tilling, and no use of external inputs such as manures and other fertilizers, or pesticides. Soil health is maintained by the selection of plants, mulching, and recycling of plant residues.<\/p>\n
Did you notice that part above? ‘No further digging’, that’s my kind of gardening.<\/p>\n
There must be something to it if bees are any barometer to go by. There were some hovering around the flowers on some of the plants and you could actually see the honey on their legs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**Green cleaning<\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
Non toxic products used for making bio-detergents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After getting down and dirty in the garden it was time to move indoors for a lesson in cleanliness. A member of the\u00a0Buen Vivir Association gave a practical lesson in the self production of bio-detergents. Buen Vivir translates as good living or living well. It describes a way of\u00a0doing things that is community-centric, ecologically-balanced and culturally-sensitive (good article here<\/a> going into more detail).<\/p>\n
Most of us are familiar with some of the cleaning properties of everyday items at home such as vinegar, baking soda or lemon juice. The lady who gave us the practical lesson holds regular classes in the making of bio-detergents. Products such as washing machine powder, washing liquid etc. can all be home made using readily available products.<\/p>\n
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
I can’t believe it’s not Daz!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The great part is that they are not as toxic as the products on sale on supermarket shelves. You know, the ones with poison warnings and skulls and crossbones and the like. The ones that are put into separate bags from your other shopping. And woe betide the careless bag-packer raising funds for the local primary school who puts the washing powder in with the bread!<\/p>\n
$\"Buen$ <\/a>
Practical lessons in diy cleaning products<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After our lesson we mounted our bikes again and headed off for\u00a0our last visit of\u00a0the day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**\u00a0It’s a farm, but not as we know it<\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Conca D’Oro Social Farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Conca D’Oro is a social farm using\u00a0bio-agriculture and which promotes the professional inclusion of disabled people. Conca D’Oro is an inspiring place to visit. About 25 to 30 of the people working there are mentally disabled or autistic. Accommodation is also provided.\u00a0Before going on a guided tour of the farm we had lunch in the onsite restaurant. All the food served is produced on the farm, bread, eggs, vegetables, fruit, jams etc. \u00a0Conca D’Oro sells it’s produce through a little shop on the farm, through it’s own\u00a0restaurant and to shops and restaurants in Bassano Del Grappa.<\/p>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Outside the restaurant, even the Italian trees have more fashion sense than me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Oh lay, oh lay, oh lay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
Inside the shop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Conca$ <\/a>
The herb garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You can learn more about the role of this social farm here<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
or listen to some audio below
\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u00a0managed to <del>rob<\/del>\u00a0<del>borrow<\/del> acquire an electric bike for our return journey, not that I needed it or anything, and we all headed back to the hostel. The bikes were so much fun that six of us, three Irish and three Belgian, asked could we hold on to them a little longer and go on a little tour ourselves through Bassano del Grappa and outskirts.\u00a0That was great fun, zooming through the narrow streets. It was like in\u00a0the car\u00a0scene with the Minis in the movie ‘The Italian Job’, except we were on bikes of course.<\/p>\n<p>That night while deciding where to go for dinner we bumped into one of the staff from the hostel. He told us of a good restaurant that uses the food from Conca D’Oro. That was that decided!<\/p>\n<p>The late night dinners and dining alfresco with a glass of\u00a0Prosecco while enjoying the conversation among great company was the topping off of a wonderful few days. Really and truly it was a wonderful experience visiting the various projects and gaining an insight into how they operate. We learned a lot over the few days and came home brimming with ideas. Watch this space for future developments!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_340\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-340\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"340\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/my-green-trip-to-italy\/20141010_164711\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=2048%2C1152\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1152\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"GT-I9505","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1412959631","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.2","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Green trip to Italy\" data-image-description=\"<p>Green trip to Italy<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=300%2C169\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?fit=1024%2C576\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-340 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=640%2C360\" alt=\"Green trip to Italy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=1024%2C576 1024w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?resize=300%2C169 300w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/20141010_164711.jpg?w=2048 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-340\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Irish contingent along with the Italian hosts and some of the Belgian contingent. L-R:- Colm Byrne, Michael O Meara, Vincent Carragher, Very nice Italian host, Ailbhe Gerrard, Derry O Donnell, Will Softly, Crazy Belgian man,. Front: Crazy Belgian man, Very nice Italian host, Crazy Belgian man.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Read more about the partners involved in this element of the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Project\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.energyeducation.eu\/index.php\/42-the-consortium\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-313\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/my-green-trip-to-italy\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-313\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" 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Who is producing the electricity that powers your lights, TV, fridge etc.? This is something that most of us don\u2019t even think about. However it\u2019s something that Tipperary based Community Power want to change. You can now choose to buy your power\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Community"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/cVPP-Sub-Partners-meeting-bunratty.jpg?fit=899%2C685&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/co-ops-the-saving-of-a-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":1},"title":"Co-ops \u2013 The saving of a community. Report from LiT Thurles","date":"February 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday night, 21st Feb., I popped along to an event organised by the Tipperary Environmental Network in LiT Thurles. \u00a0The event 'Co-ops \u2013 The saving of a community' involved presentations by three speakers followed by a discussion and Q and A\u00a0\u00a0session. \u00a0The speakers were Bill Kelly of Meitheal Mid West\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Community"","img":{"alt_text":"marcella maher drombane upperchurch energy team","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/marcella-maher-drombane-upperchurch-energy-team.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/what-am-i-doing-now-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":2},"title":"What am I doing now? Part 1","date":"December 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"After I got back from my stint in Oz my Father got onto me to work with him in producing a magazine about Tipperary. He had produced a few tourist guide books to Ireland, years previously, and had also published a couple of issues of Magical Tipperary. So a quick\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":227,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/over-100000-youtube-views-in-less-than-a-week-some-insights\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":3},"title":"Over 100,000 YouTube views in less than a week, some insights","date":"September 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The idea was simple, the timing was perfect. A woman in England dumped a real cat in a wheelie bin, was caught on cctv and the footage ended up on YouTube and then national TV. The Kilkenny hurling team, known as 'The Cats' were hoping to make history by beating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Publicity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/IlM0ihe7IfA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":177,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/sometimes-social-media-is-useless-go-where-your-customers-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":4},"title":"Sometimes Social Media is useless, go where your customers are","date":"October 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this sign recently and thought to myself, 'Fair play to the publican for making an effort'. Clonmore is a village in Co. Tipperary about 6km from Templemore. As far as I know there's only one pub in it 'Fitzpatrick's' and this is where Eamon McCann was playing. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Advertising"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/clonmore-band-sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/dromineer-underused-and-missing-the-buckets-and-spades\/","url_meta":{"origin":313,"position":5},"title":"Dromineer underused and missing the buckets and spades","date":"July 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last weekend my family and I headed to Dromineer, on the shores of Lough Derg in Co. Tipperary. The Irish Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter was visiting for the day, organised by the local Lifeboat Station. For anyone who's never been to Dromineer it's a beautiful spot. It has an ample\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/img_0496.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/derryodonnell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}