For more information, you are welcomed to visit the Crowd Funding Page http://www.indiegogo.com/solar-energy-on-mafia-free-land or the company website http://www.greeningvillages.com
The main goal of the first Greening Villages Project is to support a social agricultural cooperative Cooperativa Sociale Terre di Puglia Libera Terra which works on Italian land confiscated from the mafia by providing them with a renewable energy installation. Spreading the word about our project contributes to our goal of fostering a model that can make villages in the world more environmentally and economically sustainable. If our first project is successfully realized, it will pave the way for the next projects. We dont lack enthusiasm and ideas. We just need support to realize them", stated Francesco Maria Basili, the managing director of GV Greening Villages UG.
The goal of the project is to increase organic food production and support the local fight against the mafia. The cooperation between GV Greening Villages UG and the agricultural cooperative Cooperativa Sociale Terre di Puglia Libera Terra will contribute to achieving several significant goals that are socially beneficial to the town San Pietro Vernotico.
The main portion of the Greening Villages project is the installation of solar panels on the roof of a warehouse. The warehouse will be built to store agricultural tools, while the roof will be used as a firm surface for installing solar panels. An additional benefit is that no valuable agricultural land will be used for the solar panel installation. Through the solar panel installation, the agricultural cooperative will be supplied with more electricity for its needs, which can also boost the production of organic agricultural products.
Moreover, the surplus of produced electricity can be sold to the national smart grid, which will generate additional income. This production boost will enable the Cooperative to provide more jobs, which in turn will increase activities combating the social structures built by the Mafia in the area.
The Greening Villages story has started over a year ago, when two enthusiastic Masters students studying Environmental Sciences, had some innovative ideas about making rural communities greener. These ideas led to founding a young and ambitious start-up: GV Greening Villages UG.
GV Greening Villages UG is supporting the work of agricultural cooperatives and farms by managing campaigns on their behalf, in order to provide funding for meeting their comprehensive needs in terms of clean energy production and consumption. This start-up is promoting a new business trend that incorporates a strong social element. Their work has the goal to develop the company in two very close business arenas – ecopreneurship and social entrepreneurship.
