Those transversal and virtuous alliances that help the villages (and perhaps the country)

Local economies, beyond the public guarantee of essential services, need to generate income by following both the vocations of the territory (agriculture, craftsmanship, small industry, tourism possibly in the long term) and the opportunities offered by 'remote work' thanks to the development of digital technologies. And finally avoid relying on the bad habits of welfare subsidies and unproductive public employment, which distort the social capital a community needs to build trust and projects for the future.

Malfa's growth has followed precisely the dynamics of business culture and the market: quality hospitality, services, fine dining (the chef at Signum, Martina Caruso, was awarded a Michelin Star in 2019, while her brother Luca takes care of hospitality and wine business). With a strong role for women, for industry/craftwork specialising in food preserves, capers, malvasia, but also for trade, fashion, small jewellery. Local knowledge, evolving according to the taste of open and international markets. A Mediterranean idea of exchanges and crossings, indeed. And of cultural choices aware of Fernand Braudel's and Predrag Matvejevic's lesson on the sea as a 'crossroads' and a space for comparisons, trade and conflicts between 'civilisations piled one on top of the other'.

The Salina Doc Fest (narrative documentaries, international in scope), entrusted to the skilful hands of Giovanna Taviani (daughter of art: her father Vittorio and uncle Paolo arrived in Salina in the 1960s and opened their home there) is an active testimony of this. An indication - the links between material cultures and narratives - that is valid for other places, villages, towns to interest relations between open identities and curious otherness. The strength of Mediterranean culture, after all, lies precisely in the richness of diversity. And in the aptitude for integration: the flora is an extraordinary testimony to this. And the civilisations of oil, wine and bread, different yet profoundly similar, tell of the evolution of systems of relations that precisely today, in the face of the risks of globalist standardisation of consumption and customs, can act as points of reference for attractiveness (not only tourist, but more generally economic and social) and quality of life and, why not, of work.

All this needs good, far-sighted administration, on services (including high-tech), land preservation, quality of life, infrastructure. And good politics, local but wide-ranging. Mayors are essential players in this.

Here is the point: the need for a reassessment of the virtuous relationships between local interests and values, opportunities for economic growth and choices linked to general considerations and values. After years of contempt for politics ('politicians don't work') and the consequent space for media populism, it is essential today to think about the qualities and responsibilities of 'public' and indeed political structures. In small municipalities, even with transversal alliances and skilful civic lists, politics, with common service projects, can give exemplary indications to the rest of the country.