From stakeholder workshops to action: co-designing the future of alpine dairy farming in Trentino

A new report documenting the participatory process in Val di Sole, Trentino, Italy, has just been published.

The document retraces the co-design journey that unfolded between autumn 2024 and spring 2025, covering the outcomes of three workshops held in Malé and Pellizzano with local stakeholders from the dairy and forestry sectors, institutions, research bodies, and community actors.

What the report shows is a process that gradually found its direction, starting from a broad exploration of two strategic supply chains and converging, after structured dialogue and internal reflection, on a targeted intervention in the dairy sector, considered more mature and ready for concrete action.

Across the workshops, 32 and then 22 participants helped articulate the distinctive values of alpine farming: pasture and transhumance as biodiversity drivers, the farmer’s role as a guardian of the landscape, and cheese-making as something that carries history, skill, and genuine passion. From this collective effort, a coherent action plan emerged around four pillars: supply chain traceability, producer storytelling, cultural memory activation, and youth engagement.

A wide range of tools, from traceability systems and interactive maps to video content, QR codes, travelling exhibitions, and a digital storytelling platform, will combine social and digital innovation in line with SMART ERA approach.

The next phase will focus on turning these shared ideas into practice: assessing feasibility, identifying resources, partners, and timelines for territory-rooted actions.

Download the full report here and follow project’s next steps.

Cover photo by Claudio Carrozzo on Unsplash