IT 
Last September the ENI CBC MED MedArtSal project realized two important capacity building events in the Italian pilot actions of Cervia (Sapore di Sale – 26th Edition at Parco della Salina di Cervia – 2nd – 3th September 2022) and Marsala (SEI – Ettore e Infersa – 16 September 2022) with the contribution of CUEIM, project Lead Beneficiary, and MEDSEA / Mediterranean Sea and Coast Foundation.
The events were organized in order to discover the results achieved in these saltpans through the project, through sustainable actions and activities, according to traditional principles. Workshops and visits were realized to show how the diversification brought by MedArtSal is allowing to find new development opportunities besides the harvesting. Furthermore, the restauration activities realized by the project in these two high ecological value saltpans in Italy represent another positive outcome of MedArtSal in the context of the proposal for an EU Nature Restoration Law.
During the Cervia workshop, realized in the context of the cultural and eno-gastronomic event Sapore di Sale – 26th Edition at Parco della Salina di Cervia, different and numerous applications of salt in the gastronomic sectors were explained (with a particular focus on the possible relations between saltpans and schools) and a new aromatic salt produced with the contribution of MedArtSal was presented. Indeed, at Parco della Salina di Cervia, the project funding was exploited for the restoration and creation of nests in favour of the large avian population living in its wetlands and, thanks to the purchase of a special oven, the production and sale of a new very refined smoked salt.
The Cervia experience clearly shows the outcomes of the long work carried out within the MedArtSal project and the achievement of “concrete goals, which start from tradition but at the same time show a way to a sustainable future” (Francesca Etzi – MEDSEA).
In Marsala, the workshop explored the possible links and synergies between saltpans, environment, health and tourism that could lead to excellent results both in the protection of natural resources and in the economic prosperity of local companies. At SEI – Ettore e Infersa the subgrant was used to restore the traditional embankments that separate the saltpans from the sea, according to a circular economy approach and ancient construction traditions (use of local tuff blocks). The project was able to recover the existing blocks, complete the route with around 5,000 new ones (enlargement of the embankment section with material recovered from cleaning the bottom of the tanks, making the embankment passable by electric vehicles) and to restore the walkway, to make it accessible to tourists from April to October.
This experience underlines the need to diversify the saltpans proposal by combining the salt production with new activities, through an eco-tourism, health and gastronomic approach, “according to traditional principles, entirely sustainable, and using local workers for the implementation” (Antonio d’Ali Staiti – SEI – Saline Ettore e Infersa).
For more info about Cervia Sapore di sale event find here the detailed programme.
For more info about SEI – Saline Ettore e Infersa event in Marsala find here the programme and the video shared by SEI after it.
For more info about MedArtSal project visit the official website
