A participatory workshop aimed at enthusiasts of botany, ecology and the mountains, with no age or background restrictions, bringing together different forms of knowledge to imagine the future of mountain ecosystems: this refers to Building the future of mountain ecologies together, an initiative scheduled for Saturday at Cittadellarte from 3 pm to 5 pm. The Sale Auliche of the Fondazione Pistoletto at via Serralunga 27 in Biella will host the participatory workshop, which, through discussion, conversation and collective reflection, aims to highlight how different ways of knowing can contribute to more adaptive and resilient mountain ecologies. The session will be led by researcher and designer Eliza Collin, co-facilitated and translated in collaboration with Francesca Castagnetti, ethnobotanist and project manager of Let Eat Bi, ensuring accessibility across different languages and perspectives. Working in small groups, participants will go through a series of guided questions relating past and present landscape conditions to possible or desired futures. "The workshop is open to all individuals interested in ecological themes and mountain ecosystems," the organisers emphasise, "particularly those who live or work in close contact with the land, such as ethnobotanists, foragers, farmers, botany and ecology enthusiasts, mountaineers, students, and anyone wishing to contribute their own experience and perspective."

Eliza Collin: Adaptive and Resilient Alpine Ecologies
The event is part of the artistic research that Eliza Collin is developing for Ecosystems as Living Communities, a project by Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte and UNIDEE Residency Programmes in collaboration with UniCredit. A British artist, she is a researcher, filmmaker and producer. She works at the intersection of ecology, climate research and community resilience, developing collaborative and situated projects that link people, landscapes and environmental systems. Her practice is based on methodologies such as ethnography, walking, co-design and participant observation, resulting in films, installations and publications. The project she is developing during her residency investigates how climate change is redefining Alpine species, ecosystemic relationships and cultural practices in mountain areas. In collaboration with scientists and local Alpine communities, Collin explores future climate scenarios, cultural adaptation processes and ecological resilience strategies, while simultaneously questioning the transforming ideas of pristine nature and conservation in Alpine environments. Her research, rooted in place and long-term oriented, aims to make complex scientific issues accessible by activating forms of public engagement capable of influencing how communities imagine and build their future.

For more information, you can email unidee@cittadellarte.it