IT.A.CÀ Migrants & Travellers - Festival of Responsible Tourism (''in

Italian Language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

IT.A.CÀ Migranti e viaggiatori - Festival del Turismo Responsabile'') is an Italian widespread annual festival, dedicated to

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and responsible tourism.

History

IT.A.CÀ Festival was founded in 2009 when three no-profit associations from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(''ASD Yoda'', with ''Cospe Onlus'' and ''Nexus Emilia Romagna'') started supporting and promoting

Sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for Impacts of tourism, economic, social, and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs o ...

. The first few-day-long editions took place in the Bologna area but the success and the growing network of interested associations made the Festival grew quickly with new places added to the schedule year by year. More than 300 events were set for the 2018 edition, while in 2019

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

joined the IT.A.Cà network, followed by Sardinia in 2021 with its

Ogliastra The province of Ogliastra ( , ) was a former Provinces of Italy, province in eastern Sardinia, Italy. Ogliastra was the most mountainous province in Sardinia. With only some 57,642 inhabitants, it was also the least populous province of Italy. Th ...

sub-region. In 2021 the 13th edition took place with stages in over 14 Italian regions between May and November, reaching the more than 500 Italian and international players from the fields of tourism, culture and environment. The following year, the Festival started adopting a central theme strategy, with the 14th edition of 2022 around "Habitat - Living the future". Moreover, in the same year, with the support of the

Comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

Lanusei Lanusei (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in Sardinia in the Province of Nuoro The province of Nuoro (; ) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia, Italy. Its capital is the city of Nuoro. It has an area of , and, , a total popul ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and of Sardaigne en liberté, IT.A.Cà festival stated a European project for an International Festival of Responsible Tourism, thanks to the network of international players already involve in the Italian edition. The First meeting took place in

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 22 April 2022.

Values and Mission

IT.A.CÀ Festival (whose name recalls Ulysses native island with an assonance of the bolognese dialect for "You are at home?") "aims to creating a network of different organizations involved in responsible travel, and to engage participants in a multisensory experience.", with an agenda that "guided tours aimed at enhancing the cultural and historical heritage of the area, debates and meetings with experts in the field, seminars, lunches at "kilometer zero", experiential dinners, writing contests, illustration and photography, exhibitions, concerts, film screenings and theater. Through a series fo free events, workshops, conferences, activities, sports in plain nature (including bike tours and trekking with donkeys) and cultural events, the festival aims to raise awareness in travellers, institutions, industries and tourist players on the weight of traditional tourism and the alternative positive edges of

Festival Editions

XIII Edition - 2021: "Right of Breathing" (''Diritto di Respirare'')

The 13th edition moved through Italy with the theme of "Right of Breathing", involving 16 regions with more than 25 different stages, spread from May to November. The high significance of this edition is pinpointed in the debut of

in the network, and the consequent stage, amog others in the region, of

, where - from 24 September to 3 October - a meeting of international player took place (elected as "European meeting"), forging the base for next year's international festival debut. During this meeting in Lanusei different players attended, including representant of the Forum Anders Reisen, to discuss about underpaied work, social justice and minimum wage.

XIV Edition - 2022: "Habitat - Living the Future" (''Habitat - Abitare il futuro'')

The 2022 edition took place aroun sustainability of living and of territories. In addition to the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, who supported the festival since the beginning, other Italian Universities took part, including

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari () is a public research university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 along the lines of the old ...

and University of Pavia.

XV Edition - 2023: "A whole other story - Communities tell the territories" (''Tutta un’Altra Storia – Le comunità raccontano i territori'')

The 15th edition of 2023 includes 20 stages in 11 regions, from may to October. Events took place from North Italy to the South, giving voice to the territories, that becomes real ''narrators'' of their story, their need and their future.

Awards

In 2018 the IT.A.Cà received the UNWTO Award in the "Non-Governamental Organizations" by the

World Tourism Organization The United Nations World Tourism Organization or UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which promotes responsible, sustainable and universally-accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. Othe ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IT.A.CA - Festival of Responsible Tourism Sustainable tourism Festivals in Italy Festivals established in 2009