Fast-paced, change-driven, and thirsty for new perspectives, the world today is a landscape where everyone and everything needs to evolve and have an impact. Rewilding Apennines provides a context where rewilding and tourism become the catalyst for positive change by creating a deeper connection with nature.
The “Rewilding Week” program was launched last year in partnership with Altavia Trekking and designed to guide a maximum of 6 people through two coexistence corridors in the Central Apennines, namely around the antique and charming towns Ortona dei Marsi and Pettorano sul Gizio. Spending five days in the field together with the Rewilding Apennines team, participating in coexistence practices and getting a taste of the local small-scale green economy, lead to new perspectives about one’s own life and business approach.
DEEP Energies is based in Milan and delivers strategic consultancy for brands and institutions on sustainability strategy, projects that impact positively on the environment, and ecological monitoring solutions. They participated in the first “Rewilding Week” alongside other entrepreneurs and had the opportunity to live an authentic natural and cultural experience.
“DEEP’s clients are within the cultural space. We work with businesses in fashion, art and transitional technology, who are game-changers in their field, in two core ways. Firstly, we develop and implement sustainability strategies and communications. Secondly, and most importantly for our vision, are our ‘Impact Projects’. For these projects, we are curating diverse relationships in service of environmental impact. We connect dots between innovative environmental impact organisations, scientific research, conservation technology, global institutions, emerging creatives and brilliant creative communities”, James Deutcher, the founder of DEEP Energies, tells us when asked about the portfolio of clients they work with and their interest in conservation.
Brands are actively searching for genuine change and deep engagement, but are also mindful of the consumer-driven push for ’sustainability’. “DEEP aims to use ‘hybrid ecosystem evolution’ — or ‘conservation’ — as a space to create a new future, to create pathways for balanced and reciprocal exchanges”, adds James.
Knowledge gaps and misinformation sometimes prevent well-intended businesses from applying a much-needed sustainability plan without falling into the green-washing conundrum. This is where DEEP thinks rewilding provides a strong and immediate counterbalance for sustainability strategies. “Rewilding Week” provides an opportunity deep-dive into nature, see rewilding at its grassroots, drink clean water from mountain streams and taste honey made from endemic flowers. This personal approach allows brands to understand how to work better on reducing their impact throughout the supply chain and help improve the quality of their products by giving them a new purpose, much kinder to nature in the present and the long-term.
“Transformative experiences in the wild are critical to gaining true perspective and the sense of psychological openness needed for connecting dots and enriching all aspects of life. Not only does an experience with Rewilding Apennines provide this very wild and insightful encounter with ecology, but it also supports local communities and environmental impact work in a direct and meaningful ways”.
James Deutcher
Founder and Director of DEEP Energies
Whatch the videos by DEEP Energies about the experience in the Central Apennines.
Two elements rendered the experience in the corridors unique for DEEP. One of them is the great care used in the rewilding process.
Care to not disturb the fragile balance of nature while allowing it to return to its rightful place. This provided a state of mind to the participants that provide them to deeply connect with nature.
The second element was the interaction with the custodians of these wild landscapes who are slowly understanding what rewilding means and why the nature restoration is essential for sustainable development. James described the coexistence activities undertaken by Rewilding Apennines with the locals as “embedding a new and more symbiotic narrative into the community.”
Environmental, social and economic aspects are tightly connected. Rewilding Apennines is taking this opportunity with the “Rewilding Week” to inform and inspire positive change and minimal impact on nature while at the same time fostering urban engagement with local communities and traditional practices.
Recently, GQ magazine published this article (in Italian) about DEEP Energies, their approach on work and the relation with Rewilding Apennines.