What If Health Began in the Soil?
GreenRoots Festival returns to Badolato for its second edition — Saturday, 12 September 2026
Last year, a simple question brought people together on a Calabrian hillside:
what makes a soil truly alive?
This September, GreenRoots Festival comes back to Badolato (CZ) for its second edition, and this time the question grows roots that reach even further:
From the life beneath our feet, to the life inside us, to the life we build together as a community.
This second edition is made possible by the European Erasmus+ programme, whose support lets us keep the whole day open and completely free.
And there’s another change worth celebrating: this year the festival is led almost entirely by Terranima, joined by our guest Giorgia Liberati (Radici Connesse), an environmental engineer and soil-microscopy specialist.
What began as an experiment has become something our own community can now carry forward — and that, in itself, is a small act of regeneration.
From compost to community
The day moves from the hands-on and practical to the quietly profound.
We begin with compost — learning to raise the microbes that bring soil to life — and follow that thread all the way to the connection between the health of the soil and our own health. Because the same invisible world that feeds a plant also lives inside us.
And when the workshops end, the day doesn’t. This year we’re adding a new chapter: a moment of social regeneration. As the afternoon turns to evening, the wood-fired oven comes to life, music plays, and the courses give way to conversation. Other activities are still taking shape to round out the day — all part of the same idea: slowing down and enjoying one another’s company.
Regenerating the soil, after all, also means regenerating our relationships — the ones we build over a shared meal, a good drink, and an unhurried talk under the open Calabrian sky.
Because learning together is one thing. Growing together is another.
Why Calabria, why Badolato
Events like this matter everywhere — but they matter especially here. In Calabria, where so much land and talent are too often overlooked, a festival like GreenRoots does more than teach techniques.
It brings people together, gives farmers and curious neighbours a reason to meet, and shows that innovation and care for the land can happen right here, at home.
Little by little, we’d love for Badolato to become a reference point in the region for this kind of gathering — a place people associate with soil, learning, and community. Last year, folks came from all around, and many now link this festival with the town itself. That’s exactly the kind of root we want to grow: one that holds, and spreads.
Diversity is resilience
If there’s one lesson the soil teaches, it’s this: the healthiest ground is the most diverse. A soil rich in different forms of life is a soil that resists drought, disease, and shock. The same is true for us.
Last year’s edition brought together an extraordinary mix of people — farmers, gardeners, first-time composters, health and wellness professionals, young and old. That diversity was the festival’s real success. And it’s more than a nice image: diversity is resilience, and resilience is how we build a future that’s more solid, stronger, richer, and better prepared for whatever comes.
Join us
GreenRoots Festival 2026 is free, but places are limited and registration is required. Everything you need — the full programme, the day’s schedule, and how to sign up — is on the festival page:
→ Programme & registration — GreenRoots Festival 2026
Curious how it all began? Take a look back at last year’s first edition.
See you in Badolato on Saturday, 12 September. Bring your curiosity — we’ll bring the compost, the music, and the wood-fired oven.
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