Minimo Comune Multiplo

A festival for the internal areas of the Apennines

Minimo Comune Multiplo is a social innovation festival held in Bardi, a village in the upper Val Ceno of the Parma Apennines, in the province of Parma (Emilia-Romagna). The event directly addresses the issue of depopulation in internal areas, a challenge that has marked mountain territories for decades: in Bardi, the population has decreased by about 12% in the last decade and by over 60% in the last fifty years. The festival was created to reverse the perspective and showcase experiences that, even in the most peripheral and fragile contexts, have managed to imagine new solutions.

The meaning of the name

The title plays on the mathematical expression of the least common multiple and proposes a social interpretation: «Minimo» (Minimal) refers to daily, concrete actions, «Comune» (Common) refers to the shared problems of the territories, and «Multiplo» (Multiple) refers to the networks and alliances that multiply the effects of community work. It is a minimal festival by choice, made up of close-knit encounters rather than large numbers, where knowledge grows only when it is shared.

The program

The edition unfolds over three days. Friday opens with a focus group dedicated to new economies and community services in the mountains and the screening of the documentary Entroterra by the Boschilla collective, followed by a discussion on the role of institutions and civic participation.

• Round tables on depopulation, territorial planning, and sustainable tourism;
• Conference “What strategies to combat depopulation: theories and practices for territorial planning”, with 5 training credits (CFP) recognized by the Federation of Architects' Orders of Emilia-Romagna;
• workshops and guided tours of the upper Val Ceno territory;
• the first crossing of the «Cammino dei Principi» (Path of the Princes), a historical itinerary connecting Val Ceno to Val Taro;
• the presentation of the participatory project Appennino Skill's Lab, developed together with the local community.

Bardi and its castle

The festival is set in a landscape of strong identity: Bardi is dominated by the imposing castle perched on a spur of red jasper, one of the most scenic castles in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines. It is one of the largest municipalities in Emilia-Romagna and holds a heritage of villages, trails, and traditions of the Parma mountains. Promoted by the Municipality of Bardi with the support of the Region's Participation Call, Minimo Comune Multiplo combines debate on territorial policies with the concrete discovery of a territory that wants to be inhabited again.