Theme: Back to Simplicity

In the late Middle Age – as today – lands and goods were owned by few and conquered through war. Their power and richness drove the many to return to simplicity; one of the first and strongest example in history was St. Francis. His rule, founded on brotherhood and simplicity, is still alive today in some phenomenons: sharing economy, peer to peer, open source, purchasing groups, internet of things.
Are we going to have our Renaissance after the current pioneers of simple thinking?

Palazzo del Monte Frumentario
via San Francesco
Assisi, Umbria, 06081
Italy

UsuArdo

UsuArdo was born in Catania in 1988 and graduated in Computer Engineering from Catania University in 2015. After participating to some competitions of robotics, he got an internship at a company in the industry and discovered the huge potential of virtual reality and the benefits of Serious Games applied to medical environment. He currently works at Behaviour Labs, a start-up company that develops a wide range of software solutions (including robotics and virtual reality) focused on health and wellness.

Andrea Tittarelli

Andrea Tittarelli lives in Bastia Umbra. After the high school diploma he started a work experience in the field of health and social services. He graduated in Research and Planning of Social Policies from Perugia University in 2008, got a doctorate-level diploma in Fundraising from University of Bologna in 2009 and a Master’s degree in Management of Social Firms from University of Trento in 2010. From 2011 to 2013 he worked for the bank group Intesa SanPaolo, dealing with the launch of the Umbrian section of Banca Prossima, a lending institution designed for social enterprises. Together with Angsa (National Association of Parents of Autistic Individuals), he has opened and is currently managing La Semente, a community centre, a social farm and a rural district that helps differently-abled people to insert themselves into the world of work. In 2014 he has been nominated as a senior spokesman for the Umbrian section of the National Forum about Social Agriculture.

Antonia Colasante

Antonia Colasante, psychologist, psychotherapist and certified Facilitator in Lego© Serious Play® Method, spent most of her career involved with Communication and training topics. Currently she works as counsellor and trainer in Agenfap (www.agenfap.com), supporting companies and executives to optimize their online personal and company presence and brand with the Corporate Storytelling. She also manages the communication of an institutional project related to the work life balance issues at Italia Lavoro SpA. Prior to taking up this position, with over 15 years of experience, she worked as Senior Project Manager in National and European calls for training, equal opportunities issues and networks’ projects. People use to call her “hub” because she connects people, ideas and stories. Affected by compulsive ideas syndrome, she needs to wear multiple hats because there are too many opportunities to live just one life.

Cristina Rigutto

Cristina Rigutto is a corporate communicator, a sought after public speaker and the author of books on science communication. She has more than 25 years of experience as an innovator, consultant and educator in the field of strategic communication. She provides media training and consulting to corporation and public institutions and she conducts workshops on Social Media for Science Outreach, across Europe. Her session topics focus on the ever-changing world of technology and on its impact on science communication. She currently resides in Italy. In her spare time, when she is not maintaining her renowned blog of presentations tips, tutorials and news, she can normally be found on the golf course.

Elena Brescacin

Elena Brescacin is a web developer and a tester of the accessibility of websites and mobile apps for Digital Entity, NTT Data Italia. Blind from birth, she has been passionate about technology since 1989. In her job she seeks the best technological solutions to make it easier for blind people to use computers, smartphones and tablets; moreover, she checks out new products in the marketplace (including white goods and medical devices) to be sure that they’re absolutely user-friendly and gives feedback to their producers. Since 2013 she has collaborated with the editorial staff of nvapple.it, a specialized portal about accessible solutions offered by Apple products.

Eva De Marco

Eva DeMarco defines herself as an engineer in evolution. She graduated in 2003 in Civil Engineering and started to work as a freelancer, dealing with structural calculus in civil and industrial engineering. After a few years and two kids she came to the conclusion that this was not for her. In 2012, she thought of creating an app to try to satisfy a need experienced by many, finding farms selling their own high-quality products. She developed the idea and founded Orto in Tasca. This enabled her to broaden her knowledge and is offering her new professional opportunities.

Fabio Zaffagnini

Fabio Zaffagnini started working as a marine geologist for the Institute of Marine Sciences of CNR Bologna and for the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change. After a freelance experience, in 2012 he starts dealing with transfer of technology and industrial research for a private research center. In 2011 he has launched a project called Trail Me Up, a system based on virtual augmented reality that allows users to go for virtual guided tours of trails all over the world. Since 2015 he is one of the independent Experts of the European Commission for product design and social innovation. He has created and coordinated Rockin’1000, an event during which 1000 musicians have played at the same time a song by the Foo Fighters; the video has reached over 24 millions of views. He loves travelling, rock music and beach volley.

Leonardo Cenci

Leonardo Cenci is the fouder of “Avanti Tutta Onlus”, an association that promotes sport activities linked to medical therapies, with the firm belief that healthy lifestyle and mindset are essential allies to fight against any disease. He is a passionate marathoner of the Avis Perugia team and works as a marketing manager for an enterprise in Perugia. He has been fighting against cancer for three years.

Marianna Marcucci

Raised between Italy and Corse, Marianna Marcucci completed her Pharmacy Degree knowing that her future would not be inside a chemical laboratory. While attending University she started working in the travel industry and joined several independent courses to satisfy her curiosity and to improve her knowledge. Her research over the last few years has focused on the opportunities offered by the web in the field of travel, art and culture industries. She is the co-founder of Invasioni Digitali (Digital Invasions), a crowdsourcing initiative started in Italy in 2013 with the aim to spread the culture, the local beauty and history using the power of internet and social media to engage people.

Raniero Regni

Raniero Regni graduated in Philosophy from Perugia University in 1980 and got a Ph.D in the Science of Education at Roma Tre University in 1988. At the moment he is a Full Professor of Social Pedagogy, Adult Education and Intercultural Pedagogy in the Human Sciences Department of LUMSA University in Rome. He is a teacher of the course Montessori for Children’s Home in the Montessori Training Center in Perugia. He has lectured in many European Universities and has been a speaker at AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) conferences in Europe and the United States. In 2012 he held a training course at Luke Chan Chinese, Hong Kong.

Robin Good

Robin Good is an independent thinker, online publisher (MasterNewMedia.org), an avid tester and promoter of new tools (T5 – tools.robingood.com) and entrepreneur (POP Campus), focusing on new and effective uses of new media technologies for journalism, collaboration, marketing and learning. He is also the founder of an online campus devoted specifically to support the development of non-funded, information-based, sustainable projects led by non-technical people.

Sonia Montegiove

Sonia Montegiove is an analyst, a programmer and a freelance journalist. She is involved in non-profit organizations: she is the president of LibreItalia and a member of The Document Foundation. In the field of publishing, she works in the editorial staff of Girl Geek Life, she is the editorial manager of Open 4 Business (a channel of the portal Tech Economy focused on the open source softwares) and a contributor for LibreItalia and the online daily Orizzonte Scuola. Her publications include: Valentina nello spazio, a fairy tale to bring children into the study of science; 10 personaggi in cerca di Libre Office, an ebook guide to the open source software LibreOffice. She is the curator of the ebook Crescere a pane e software libero (various authors).