For some time now, the path of growth and expansion of Etico has also passed through the world of innovation. On the occasion of the European Mobility Week 2022 which was held from 16 to 22 September, Albergo Etico therefore took the opportunity to renew and consolidate its relationship with Gaiago, precisely because the annual theme of the European Mobility Week 2022 was “Best connections”. In fact, with this theme we have tried to highlight and promote the synergies between people and places, a commitment that with this collaboration the two realities have been carrying out for some time in Rome and soon in other structures.

Raising awareness of sustainable mobility is important as an experience but also to promote behavioral change in favor of active mobility, reach out and create connections between existing groups and new audiences, connecting people, places, transport, policies but also the development of territories and a more ethical and sustainable tourism. With these assumptions, Albergo Etico is happy to renew its commitment to carry out community mobility sharing. It is a sort of evolution of traditional sharing, as it offers a shared electric mobility service to small communities, such as businesses, accommodation and residential facilities.

This project is fully part of Etico’s broader project of social innovation and inclusive sustainability, in favor of a positive impact on the territory and an impact on the reference community. As the journalist Stefano Panzeri quoted in an article in La Stampa Tuttogreen some time ago, it is a matter of «a responsible tourism approach which now looks towards sustainability with the adoption of an electric car (the estimate is 300 hours per month mobility), and the relative wallbox for recharging. A car to be made available to customers who wish to visit the Eternal City in silence and with zero emissions. The intent is to make the service available also to the realities of the neighborhood with which they already share collaborations, such as the newsstand, the florist or the food suppliers, to create a green ecosystem of neighborhood mobility”.

These are the words of Alex Toselli, president of the Albergo Etico cooperative, regarding the future of the project: «Albergo Etico re-launches its challenge, although aware of the difficulties of this phase. We want to continue playing our part as protagonists of social inclusion. We will try to achieve our goals, convinced that today it is essential to turn to social enterprise as a vector of economic development. I believe that the way of understanding the mobility of Gaiago is fundamental to impact also from a social and environmental point of view and must be a priority. Starting from Rome, we are working on this adventure so that it can soon be extended to all the other ethical hotels».

These are the words of Antonio Pelosi, manager of the ethical hotel in Rome: «Being able to move and do it comfortably? Yes, of course. But let’s do it sustainably! With an electric and shared car. But that you don’t have to search with difficulty (mobile phone in one hand, purse in the other) on the streets of the city: you book it at a certain time and for the time you need. And you’re sure when and where to find it. And when you’re done, you put it back where it belongs. Very convenient for those who live or work near the Albergo Etico, who after having created a bar and a restaurant, and having set up open spaces for coworking, thus want to further strengthen their relationship with the neighborhood community».

The socio-employment inclusion of people with disabilities was the center of an event by #Vdalavora and organized by the Department of Economic Development, Training and Employment on Saturday 30 April, in Fénis.

During the meeting ‘Work for All – when inclusion becomes a value’, the meaning of the culture of inclusion was explored, changing its perspective and considering diversity as a value to be cultivated day after day, without improvisation. Theater of the event was the ethical Hotel Comtes de Challant in Fénis.

The structure, through an accessible tourist reception project, integrates and makes professionally grow young people with different forms of disability, in a real working context.

With the special participation of La Pina, radio presenter of Radio Deejay, who has always been attentive to issues related to social inclusion, guests who were able to enhance the role of people with disabilities in the economy and in contemporary society took part: Paolo Calosso, president of the Mont Fallère Social Cooperative, Raffaella Roveyaz, president of the Coop Dragonfly, Lisanna Mancuso, sole director of Sharenergy.

There was also no shortage of testimonies from those who found themselves in difficulty and voices from other regions. The Councilor for Economic Development, Training and Employment, Luigi Bertschy, recalled that this fourth event dedicated to work is part of the actions envisaged by the 2021/23 Labor Policy Plan. According to Bertschy, in order to promote the diffusion of an inclusive work culture, it is essential “to increase a greater awareness of the universal community project among the population, businesses and institutions”. Then, he continued: “Recognizing the potential of work as a tool for inclusion and growth opportunities for companies, in this very delicate phase of the recovery, is a great opportunity to enhance the skills that each person can express in a more easy and welcoming capable of positively influencing the improvement of the performance and results of all workers”.

We report below a brief excerpt from an article on Albergo Etico published in 2018 by Simonetta Morelli, on InVisibili of Corriere della Sera, entitled “Albergo Etico, a Method for growing”.

The history of Albergo Etico Metodo Download is an often casual crossroads of talents and wills that have made this company fly beyond national borders.

Abroad, in the countries where this social enterprise is taking root, the Italian model of integration and inclusion that characterizes it has been appreciated; the same one that finds it hard to be valued at home but that exported abroad receives great acclaim because it produces results and wealth.

In a word, it works.

Moreover, in the eyes of foreign observers its value is comparable to that of high fashion and all those excellent local products that make Italy a point of reference and a source of inspiration. It all began in Asti, when Niccolò, a student of the Colline Astigiane Hotel School, had to complete his training with an internship. Niccolò, who has Down syndrome, is welcomed by chef Antonio De Benedetto in his restaurant. The environment and the relationship with chef Antonio solicit Niccolò to the point that he will surprise everyone. The few weeks foreseen will multiply and become months. Niccolò who blossoms and believes in himself, completes the internship at a hotel in Valtellina. Today he has a permanent contract and is the tutor of other kids who, like him, are developing career paths and personal autonomy.

Here the complete article.

In occasione della Giornata Mondiale della Sindrome di Down, il 21 marzo 2022 ci sarà la prima proiezione evento del documentario Le Ricette dello Chef Antonio per la Rivoluzione che mostra il dietro-le-quinte di una cucina e un albergo dove giovani uomini e donne con disabilità imparano un mestiere e iniziano a prendere posto al tavolo della vita.

Il documentario è diretto da un regista australiano, Trevor Graham, che scoperto da un’amica di questa realtà italiana ha attraversato l’oceano per vederla con i propri occhi. Ha così iniziato a seguire la vita, i sogni e i drammi di alcuni lavoratori e lavoratrici dell’Albergo Etico di Asti.

Vivere con una disabilità, imparare un mestiere e condurre una vita indipendente è complesso e non sempre va come previsto. Le Ricette dello Chef Antonio per la Rivoluzione mostrerà proprio questo, innestando un seme di speranza per un futuro più inclusivo e sensibilizzando lo spettatore su un necessario cambiamento sociale.

Le Ricette dello Chef Antonio per la Rivoluzione è distribuito da La Sarraz Pictures, casa di produzione torinese che ha coprodotto il film insieme alle società australiane Yarra Bank Films e Black Sheep Films.

Antonio De Benedetto è uno chef italiano con un’ambiziosa missione: cambiare il mondo attraverso il cibo. Per farlo, ha dato vita a un ristorante e un hotel nei quali lo staff è composto in larga parte da giovani uomini e donne con disabilità che arrivano da tutta Italia per formarsi e lavorare.

Questi ragazzi e ragazze, ognuno con i propri sogni e progetti per il futuro, vengono formati da Antonio per affrontare un percorso verso la libertà e l’indipendenza.

Note di regia

Cosa significa NORMALE? Chi è NORMALE? E chi non lo è?

Sono quesiti complessi che ho provato a esplorare girando Le ricette dello chef Antonio per la rivoluzione.

Ho sentito parlare per la prima volta dell’Albergo Etico da una mia amica di Sydney (Australia) che ha una figlia con la sindrome di Down. Questa mia amica è particolarmente coinvolta nei diritti per la difesa di persone con disabilità intellettive ed è rimasta sbalordita da quello che ha visto accadere ad Asti. Nella sua lunga esperienza di madre e difensore dei diritti dei disabili, non aveva mai visto una cosa del genere né in Australia né nel resto del mondo. Quindi ho deciso, così su due piedi, di partire per Asti e vedere con i miei occhi. Quel viaggio non si è mai concluso, sono rimasto strabiliato.

Con i personaggi del film ho stretto un’amicizia speciale. Loro si fidano di me e mi hanno permesso di riprendere la loro vita. Vogliono che la loro storia venga raccontata.

In un mondo di tristezza e distruzione, questa è una storia che ti fa stare bene.

Trevor Graham

On Elle the journalist Silvia Locatelli wrote an article on Albergo Etico. We thank you and we report a part of it, with a link to the Elle website to read it in full:

It was 2006 when Niccolò Vallese arrived at the Tacabanda restaurant in Asti for an internship. The director of the hotel school had asked chef Antonio to take one of their students for a few months but the last boys he had sent were too listless, one had even cut himself with a potato peeler. “Trust me, this one is good and willing,” she told him, “only, he has Down syndrome.” Nothing mattered to Antonio as long as he had the desire to learn and a little passion for the job. That boy changed his life, today he has a regular contract at the Tacabanda and tutors other boys like him. Because at a certain point, says the chef: «Niccolò’s evolution got out of hand and we said to ourselves: let’s see what happens if we include other kids with intellectual disabilities».

It so happened that an Australian director, Trevor Graham, made a film about them: Chef Antonio’s Recipes for the Revolution (an Australia-Italy co-production, Yarra Bank Films, Black Sheep Films and La Sarraz Pictures, with backing from Screen Australia and the Italian Ministry of Culture).

The Italian première will be on 21 March, World Down Syndrome Day, in Turin, Milan, Rome and other cities (details on screenings at www.lasarraz.com).

“Revolution” yes, because chef Antonio changes the world by bringing people to his restaurant and to the ethical hotel that was born later: «He welcomes them into the heart of Italian hospitality», explains Trevor Graham. «Experience is not only good food but also the guys who cook it and serve it at the tables. It brings a new vision and energy that leaves its mark in the lives of customers, people with intellectual disabilities and their families, your celebrated tourist hospitality and fine cuisine become something socially useful. This is the role of documentaries, to open wide the windows on what men can do together to change things, Antonio is an inspiration».

It was a dear friend of Sydney who has a daughter with Down syndrome who spoke to Trevor about the project: «I love stories that have food at the centre, this film is the third in a trilogy: it’s a pleasant and effective way to address important social and political issues. The theme here is inclusion, bringing people together, because we all have many things in common and we all have the right to a dignified, independent and full life. The Sydney premiere was a triumph. Never have so many people written to me, even things like: “We ran to eat Italian, you made us hungry”. What more can I want? And maybe over a plate of spaghetti they thought back to the film, to Niccolò, Jessica, Irene, Nicola…».

Who want to make friends, find love, dance and feel alive like all of us.

Trevor traveled back and forth from Asti for three years: «I shot 80 percent of the film, the rest is the work of my Italian assistant director, Lorenzo Bombara, who also acted as my interpreter. The boys quickly got used to me, I said to them: “Pretend it’s one of the saucepans”, they didn’t even notice me anymore, I was family. What you see is all spontaneous, we only recorded some voices in the studio because the noises from the kitchen often drowned out the boys’ words».

It was 2011 when the association was created and 2015 when the first ethical hotel and the first Academy of Independence were born in Asti, an experimental path that helps young people with intellectual disabilities to grow up, become independent and develop their own potential.

One of the founders is Niccolò, together with chef Antonio De Benedetto, his brother Egidio and Alex Toselli. “We were the first who didn’t come from the social world or from familiarity with people with Down syndrome,” explains Antonio. «The real innovation lies in the involvement of the family, in the pact of honor with them, we build another academy at home, the dialogue is continuous as is the sharing of responsibilities. There is a control methodology that we call a parachute to give parents peace of mind, because without their trust it cannot be done, especially without the peace of mind of mothers, we have noticed. If you don’t stabilize their fears, the cord vibrates and the child wobbles… The problem is the parents – civil society is ready – they don’t have an operating scheme and the ethical hotel offers them one, to them and to the kids”.

Antonio’s setting is very clear in the film: a family atmosphere but military rules. “He can also be very hard on the kids,” says Trevor, “he wants them to understand that it’s real work, that it’s real life and they have to work hard.”

It is one of the pillars of the chef from Asti: «Someone has to give them the position of their evolution because they don’t have it, everyone tells them they are good even when they don’t know how to do anything: how does a person grow and orient himself without a map ? I am a naked and raw cook, it also happens that I lose my patience. Beware, it’s fiction that ruins guys, not the truth. They are trained to be a resource, to be decisive, and parents are trained to be work managers for their children. The right of the disabled, in the world of work, is to be able to stand tall. For this reason, the approach must be straightforward, then obviously, with them, there is a different graduality».

Hence the name of the method, Download, which was born naturally. At a certain point, Antonio and his collaborators realized that something was triggering the change but what? The answer came by chance, watching Tavarelli’s film on Maria Montessori with Paola Cortellesi: «The methodology of the Children’s Home was the same that we used. In fact, the method was born in a psychiatric hospital. And who was there in those days in psychiatric hospitals? People with intellectual delays, the misunderstood. Montessori creates a method that develops in the home environment, like ours. I read Education for Freedom and I rediscover what we do in restaurants and hotels. One could almost say that we have created the House of grown children». Three other ethical hotels are born in Italy and six academies.

70 percent of the boys who attend them are placed in the world of work.

And while Trevor was shooting the film in Asti, another ethical hotel was born in Australia in the Blue Mountains.

The next will be a guesthouse in Palestine right in front of the Basilica of the Nativity.

For Antonio it is certainly no coincidence. «These guys are little blue helmets… Do you know what the Dictionary of Metamedicine says? That people with Down syndrome came into the world to teach not to learn, to bring harmony and peace. They are therapeutic elements, in the family and in society. I am always listening to them… Think of what that bullied girl in North Macedonia managed to do: the prime minister accompanied her to school and the whole world talked about it. Shall we bet that in a few years we will meet you again at a summit for peace in the world?».

“Rivoluzione” sì, perché chef Antonio cambia il mondo portando la gente nel suo ristorante e nell’albergo etico nato successivamente: «La accoglie nel cuore dell’ospitalità italiana», spiega Trevor Graham. «L’esperienza non è solo il buon cibo ma anche i ragazzi che lo cucinano e lo servono ai tavoli. Porta una visione e un’energia nuove che lasciano il segno nella vita dei clienti, delle persone con disabilità intellettive e delle loro famiglie, la vostra celebre ospitalità turistica e la buona cucina diventano qualcosa di socialmente utile. Il ruolo dei documentari è questo, spalancare le finestre su quel che gli uomini possono fare insieme per cambiare le cose, Antonio è un’ispirazione».

È stata una cara amica di Sydney che ha una figlia con la sindrome di Down a parlare a Trevor del progetto: «Adoro le storie che hanno al centro il cibo, questo film è il terzo di una trilogia: è un modo piacevole ed efficace per affrontare questioni sociali e politiche importanti. Qui il tema è l’inclusione, avvicinare la gente, perché abbiamo tutti tante cose in comune e tutti abbiamo diritto a una vita dignitosa, indipendente e piena. La première di Sydney è stata un trionfo. Non mi ha mai scritto tanta gente, anche cose tipo: “Siamo corsi a mangiare italiano, ci hai fatto venire fame”. Cosa posso volere di più? E magari davanti a un piatto di spaghetti hanno ripensato al film, a Niccolò, Jessica, Irene, Nicola…». Che hanno voglia di avere amici, di trovare l’amore, di ballare e di sentirsi vivi come tutti noi. Trevor ha fatto avanti e indietro da Asti per tre anni: «Ho girato l’80 per cento del film, il resto è opera del mio aiuto regista italiano, Lorenzo Bombara, che mi faceva anche da interprete. I ragazzi si sono abituati velocemente a me, gli dicevo: “Fate finta che sia una delle pentole”, neanche mi notavano più, ero di famiglia. Quel che vedete è tutto spontaneo, abbiamo solo registrato alcune voci in studio perché i rumori della cucina spesso coprivano le parole dei ragazzi».

È il 2011 quando viene creata l’associazione e il 2015 quando nascono, ad Asti, il primo albergo etico e la prima Accademia dell’indipendenza, un percorso sperimentale che aiuta i ragazzi con disabilità intellettiva a crescere, a diventare autonomi e a sviluppare le proprie potenzialità. Uno dei fondatori è proprio Niccolò, insieme allo chef Antonio De Benedetto, suo fratello Egidio e Alex Toselli. «Siamo stati i primi che non arrivavano dal mondo del sociale o dalla familiarità con persone con sindrome di Down», spiega Antonio. «La vera innovazione sta nel coinvolgimento della famiglia, nel patto d’onore con loro, costruiamo un’altra accademia a casa, il dialogo è continuo come la condivisione delle responsabilità. C’è una metodologia di controllo che noi chiamiamo paracadute per dare tranquillità ai genitori, perché senza la loro fiducia non si può fare, soprattutto senza la tranquillità delle mamme, abbiamo notato. Se non stabilizzi le loro paure il cordone vibra e il figlio traballa… Il problema sono i genitori – la società civile è pronta – non hanno uno schema operativo e l’albergo etico gliene offre uno, a loro e ai ragazzi».

È chiarissima, nel film, l’impostazione di Antonio: atmosfera familiare ma regole militari. «Può essere anche molto duro coi ragazzi», dice Trevor, «vuole che capiscano che è un lavoro vero, che è vita vera e devono impegnarsi». È uno dei pilastri dello chef astigiano: «Qualcuno gli deve dare la posizione della loro evoluzione perché loro non ce l’hanno, tutti gli dicono che sono bravi anche quando non sanno fare niente: come fa a crescere e a orientarsi una persona senza una mappa? Io sono un cuoco nudo e crudo, capita anche che perda la pazienza. Attenzione, è la finzione che rovina i ragazzi, non la verità. Si addestrano per essere una risorsa, per essere risolutivi e i genitori vengono istruiti per essere work manager dei figli. Il diritto del disabile, nel mondo del lavoro, è di poterci rimanere a testa alta. Per questo l’approccio dev’essere schietto, poi ovviamente, con loro, c’è una gradualità diversa». Da lì il nome del metodo, Download, che è nato naturalmente. Ad un certo punto, Antonio e i suoi collaboratori si sono accorti che qualcosa azionava il cambiamento ma cosa? La risposta è arrivata per caso, guardando il film di Tavarelli su Maria Montessori con Paola Cortellesi: «La metodologia della Casa dei bambini era la stessa che utilizzavamo noi. Infatti il metodo nasce in un ospedale psichiatrico. E chi c’era a quei tempi negli ospedali psichiatrici? Persone con ritardi intellettivi, gli incompresi. Montessori crea un metodo che si sviluppa nell’ambiente casalingo, come il nostro. Leggo Educazione alla libertà e ritrovo quello che noi facciamo al ristorante e all’albergo. Si potrebbe quasi dire che abbiamo creato la Casa dei bambini cresciuti».

Nascono altri tre alberghi etici in Italia e sei accademie. Il 70 per cento dei ragazzi che le frequentano viene collocato nel mondo del lavoro. E mentre, ad Asti, Trevor girava il film, in Australia, sulle Blue Mountains nasceva un altro albergo etico. Il prossimo sarà una guesthouse in Palestina proprio davanti alla Basilica della Natività. Per Antonio non è certo una coincidenza. «Questi ragazzi sono dei piccoli caschi blu… Sa cosa dice il Dizionario della metamedicina? Che le persone con sindrome di Down sono venute al mondo per insegnare non per apprendere, per portare l’armonia e la pace. Sono elementi terapeutici, in famiglia e in società. Io con loro sono sempre in ascolto… Pensate a cosa è riuscita a fare quella ragazzina bullizzata in Macedonia del nord: il premier l’ha accompagnata a scuola e tutto il mondo ne ha parlato. Scommettiamo che tra qualche anno la ritroviamo a un vertice per la pace nel mondo?».

The Opera Pia Isnardi and the Download Social Cooperative have signed the agreement thanks to which the Albergo Etico will move to the premises of the Isnardi Opera (in spring), also in Asti, in via Don Urbano Isnardi, 11, leaving its first historic headquarters in Asti, in Corso Galileo Ferraris 58, the place where the Download project, designed to promote the independence and job placement of people with disabilities with innovative methods, was born and took its first steps.

The Bishop of Asti Marco Prastaro, president of the Isnardi Opera, immediately made himself available to start a process that could make this move of headquarters a reality.

The Isnardi Opera, erected by don Urbano Isnardi as a moral institution in the 18th century and later IPAB, has a long history in Asti; the founder had the intuition to create a community in which to welcome and grow in autonomy, in job training, in faith and prayer, in sharing community life young girls who at the time did not have great possibilities of building a secure future .

This change, shared by the president of the Cooperative Download Albergo Etico Alex Toselli, together with the board of directors of the Isnardi Opera, was strongly desired to relaunch the mission of the Opera by favoring a use of the spaces as close as possible to the original idea at its time drawn by the founder.

At the same time, however, this change also aims to keep Albergo Etico faithful to its history and to the history of the territory in which it was born and has developed over the years.

The new building will have larger and renovated rooms, in line with the principles of hospitality that Albergo Etico has always made its own.

At the same time, however, this change also aims to keep Albergo Etico faithful to its history and to the history of the territory in which it was born and has developed over the years. Albergo Etico is in fact a social enterprise which, through a training course alongside professionals in the hotel and restaurant sector, offers job opportunities and the possibility of expressing talents and emerging to young people with Down syndrome and other forms of disability. 65% of Albergo Etico’s boys and girls with disabilities enter the world of work.

Born in 2009 and with a network still expanding in Italy and abroad, Albergo Etico can in this sense represent an innovative model of business and solidarity.

The new structure, which should be operational starting from spring, will be fully furnished and equipped for every need of the children hosted in the Academy, to promote job placement and the autonomy of active citizens, by training the children and the girls in a safe place, through a gradual path of coexistence and autonomy, learning to live with their peers and colleagues, self-managing and taking responsibility.

“Journey to the Ethical Hotel in Rome where (also) people with disabilities work” is the title of a report that the journalist Simona Berterame made for Fanpage at the Ethical Hotel in Rome.

In Rome, a few steps from Piazzale Flaminio, there is in fact an inclusive and welcoming hotel. It’s called “Albergo Etico” and it’s not just an entrepreneurial project but a real social challenge: people with disabilities also work here. Eighteen rooms spread over several floors within the walls of an old building from the early twentieth century, which until a few years ago housed the Institute of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy. The Ethical Hotel allows young people with various disabilities, including post-coma, Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome, to enter the world of work in a simple and stimulating way thanks also to the supervision of the managers of the structure.

An important article by Anna Alberti was published in Io Donna in the Corriere della Sera on Saturday 27 November in which she speaks of “work that makes the difference”.

“Clients – Toselli said in the article – find first of all a great travel experience, the welcome and quality typical of Made in Italy with costs and services suitable for 3 or 4-star structures, plus the smile and the desire to make these kids who learn autonomy from us, as well as a trade”.

“A third of our staff – continued Toselli – is made up of people with various degrees of intellectual disability, supported by available and capable professionals. And most of them at the end of their apprenticeship are hired, focusing on a path of working autonomy and housing independence: at the Ethical Hotel they receive a salary, not subsidies”.

In addition to the broader article with Toselli’s words, the newspaper also contains a box dedicated to the experience of Etico and its history, with a statement by Antonio De Benedetto, chef of the Tacabanda restaurant and former student of the same institute, in which he speaks by Niccolò Vallese and the Accademia dell’Indipendenza: “Today Niccolo has the keys to the restaurant, lives alone, has many friends, a regular contract and tutors other kids like him”.