Development of internal areas
We support the development of inland areas through targeted and strategic actions, based on listening, dialogue, and co-design with local communities. Our commitment aims to create a circular economy that benefits the region, small businesses, and people’s well-being.
We provide consulting solutions, services, and innovative tools; we encourage active community participation and promote regeneration processes that restore the connection between places and their inhabitants, enhancing local identities and resources.
Destination management
Design of strategic plans for local tourism development, involving the local community in the creation of tourism products and services.
Destination Marketing
Engagement of the local community in the creation of multimedia content and digital promotion.
We provide consulting solutions, services, and innovative tools; we encourage active community participation and promote regeneration processes that restore the connection between places and their inhabitants, enhancing local identities and resources.
Archeology
The Coopera cooperative operates in the archaeological sector through Experimental Archaeology, reconstructing ancient techniques and knowledge to better understand the past. It conducts excavation and archaeological surveillance activities, intervening in at-risk contexts to protect and document the finds discovered. Coopera also promotes education and training, with educational projects for schools, universities, and professionals, enhancing the local area and raising awareness of history and the environment among younger generations.
Training
Coopera, thanks to its members and collaborators, offers a wide range of training programs based on years of academic and scholastic experience, participating in university master's programs and ITS courses in various Italian regions. It supports graduate theses and trains new professionals for tourism and territorial development. It promotes experiential teaching in sustainable tourism, archaeology, and the environment, with an inclusive and participatory approach. The goal is to develop practical skills, destination management strategies, and territorial marketing. Coopera creates educational programs that foster creativity, discussion, and a sense of belonging.
Sustainable Tourism
The Coopera cooperative develops sustainable tourism projects to enhance villages and small towns, making them welcoming and attractive to visitors and temporary residents. It promotes the redevelopment of unused real estate and innovative models of widespread hospitality. It creates multifunctional spaces that foster encounters between local communities and new residents. Coopera creates themed itineraries, integrated tourism products, and transformative experiences capable of generating knowledge and a sense of belonging. Each project aims to foster a virtuous local economy, with tangible benefits for those who live in the town and the surrounding area.
Dialogue and Territory: Listening, Relationships, and Conflicts
Coopera works closely with local communities through participatory listening activities, gathering needs, desires, stories, and visions for the future of their town. It analyzes existing relationships between residents, businesses, hospitality and retail professionals to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the social fabric. It intervenes in interpreting internal conflicts, recognizing that villages, like families, require attention, care, and mediation. It fosters dialogue and collaboration among residents to rebuild bonds and strengthen a sense of community. All this becomes the basis for co-designing authentic and shared local marketing plans.
Activities Completed
Since 2011, Coopera has developed and managed numerous innovative projects, creating replicable and visible models throughout the region. These range from the design of cultural and nature itineraries to the creation of tourism products, workshops, and new product development. These include the "Prodotto Homogeneo Borghi" (Homogeneous Village Product), which unites multiple villages in a single integrated tourism offering; the "Accoglienza Turistica Diffusa" (Widespread Tourist Reception) model, a hybrid of hotel and non-hotel accommodation; the "La Portineria del Borgo" (Borgo Porter's Office), multifunctional spaces for services shared between residents and tourists; and the "Smart Village" project, connected villages ideal for remote working. The "Ciclostazione" (Cycle Station) promotes sustainable mobility, connecting cities and inland areas in an accessible and green way.
Community enterprises
Some members of the Coopera cooperative have specialized in the creation, development, and management of Community Enterprises at the University of Florence. This program has strengthened the cooperative's commitment to supporting local communities and inland areas to do business collaboratively. Coopera supports local economic regeneration processes, promoting circular economy models in marginalized villages and towns. Community Enterprises thus become concrete tools for generating employment, enhancing local resources, and offering new prospects to those who remain or wish to return to these places.
