Press Note
Laudato si’ Centre for Higher Education
presents
A Sanctuary in the Vineyard
Borgo Laudato si’ as a model of Sustainable Development
Vatican City, 20 /09/2024
“A Sanctuary in the Vineyard – Borgo Laudato si’ as a model of Sustainable Development” is the title of the round table organized by the Laudato si’ Centre for Higher Education (CHE-LS), held in the afternoon of Thursday 19 September 2024 at Palazzo San Calisto, and attended by international experts in the field of sustainable agriculture and viticulture.
The work was inaugurated by Fr. Fabio Baggio, director general of CHE-LS: “The beauty of the gardens of Villa Barberini and the Pontifical Villas has become the natural backdrop for the development of a place of ‘integral ecology’, open to all people of good will. The activities and initiatives being implemented aim to combine education for integral ecology, circular and generative economy and environmental sustainability. Through the realization of the Borgo Laudato si‘ project, we intend to propose a concrete sign of the applicability of the principles masterfully illustrated by Pope Francis in the Encyclical Laudato si’”.
The experts who spoke discussed three fundamental aspects of Sustainable Development: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability.
It was decided to propose a concrete approach to reflecting on these aspects, measuring them against the model of sustainable and regenerative agriculture that is being implemented in Borgo Laudato si'.
The particular focus of the conference was the presentation of the research, study and planting of the Borgo Laudato si' vineyard and the characteristics of the wine, which will be produced from the grapes planted in the agricultural area of the Pontifical Villas.
The vineyard represents a new model of sustainability achieved through the use of the most advanced technologies, a careful reconnection with bio-diversity and the care of the ecosystem to achieve the dimension of integral ecology in practice.
The experts in charge, from the University of Udine, coordinated by Professors Enrico Peterlunger and Roberto Zironi, planted the “Laudato si’” vineyard, a vineyard made up of vine varieties of different origin and provenance, capable - as a whole - of constituting a wine whose composition symbolizes a communion in diversity.
The Laudato si' Vineyard project is the result of research to select vine varieties resistant to various diseases. These varieties were selected at the University of Udine by researchers working in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Genomics and the Rauscedo Cooperative Nurseries.
Experts and professionals in the sector are also collaborating in the development of the vineyard, who have cutting-edge technical knowledge, along with workers who take care of the land and the vines, through the sharing of age-old know-how and traditions dating back centuries, and the learning of new working techniques. The members of the Commissio de Fructu Vineae established for this purpose are Enrico Peterlunger, Roberto Zironi, Francesca Vimercati, Luigi Moio, Laurent Torregrosa, Antonio Dionisio Morata Barrado, Hans R. Schulz and Jancis Robinson.
It is therefore an osmosis of ancient knowledge and innovative know-how that will allow the creation of a high-quality wine, the result of respect for the environment and care at every stage of its creation. The vineyard thus becomes a tangible example of how it is possible to put into practice an agriculture that benefits the environment, the land, the vineyard workers and the wine consumers.
All this requires the codification of a sort of “grammar of wine” that gives meaning and form to man's work, to his relationship with the land and to his ability to generate beauty through work. In fact, the commitment of CHE-LS is to make Borgo Laudato si' a replicable model, which can contribute to the dissemination and consolidation of that culture of care that preserves the Common Home and promotes the integral human development of every human being, with particular attention to the inclusion of those who live in vulnerable conditions.
This was the mandate that the commission of international experts received during the meeting with Pope Francis, accompanied by Fr Fabio Baggio. Indeed, the Holy Father emphasized in his greeting to those present how he was “particularly delighted by the fact that, for both cultivation and agricultural production - and in particular of the vineyard - there is a large employment of labour. This responds to the intention agreed upon at the outset to work for the restoration of good and fruitful relations between the human family and creation, through work that takes care of and safeguards what has been entrusted to us by the Creator”.
Read the full text of the Holy Father’s greeting to the Delegation of Experts working with CHE - LS
