For schools of all levels of the IC of Fornovo the Tourist Office IAT is available for free guided tours in the area, as well as collaboration on any projects. In addition to this possible, it is possible to arrange and book visits and thematic workshops with experts who have been collaborating with our service for some time. The Middle Ages and its stories, the stories carved on stones, the journeys of pilgrims, the life of the past and that of today, The secrets of nature… There is so much to discover, with a backpack full of curiosities. The main objective is to offer not only “guided tours” but the opportunity to teach in other spaces, outside the classroom, stimulating the sensory aspect, for children, active participation, and knowledge of the territory. The itineraries can be organized half-day or full day. In the second case, the classes will have places to stop for packed lunches, such as the Forum 2000 in Fornovo or green areas. Each path can be agreed directly with the teachers, depending on the programming.
INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS 0525-2599 iatfornovo@gmail.com; 346 9536300
Some examples:
The Via Francigena
The proposal stems from an awareness: the Via Francigena is an extraordinary educational and training resource. A place of meetings and experiences, today as in past centuries. The road allows the journey, the very symbol of initiation, knowledge, discovery, living knowledge. The path that unites the various cities, towns, centers is an ideal thread that links human experiences, nature, art, history: a universe to be discovered traveling in space and time, in reality and imagination, today and yesterday. The Via ‘Francigena’ is like a large square where you can meet, talk to each other, get to know each other: an open-air ‘school’ where all learning experiences are possible, alongside the emotion of discovery, play, curiosity. A school ‘in itinere’, therefore, where we learn by traveling, like pilgrims of all times, inside and outside of us. What we propose is a journey that starts from us and from what we are, to understand the past and build, step by step, our idea of Europe, made up of encounters between cultures, languages, stories, faces, images, signs.
LIKE ANCIENT PILGRIMS
Guided tour in stages, from Medesano to Fornovo Taro, with sections on foot
Possibility to choose between half a day or a full day of visit: in the second case the route would reach Bardone.
THE VIA FRANCIGENA AND ITS CHARACTERS
Guided tour to discover nature and human works along the Via Francigena: the pilgrims’ road
THE TREASURE HUNT ON THE VIA FRANCIGENA
The ‘Treasure Hunt’ on the Via Francigena consists of a path through the streets of the town with the search for clues. (Guided tours not only in Medesano and Fornovo but also in the Fornovo-Berceto section)
ON FRANCIGENA…. I PUT MY HANDS ON IT:
Manual workshop to create decorations, images, and souvenirs of the walk (duration 1.30 approx.)

IN SEARCH OF LOST FOOD
Itineraries to discover traditional flavors and peasant and artisan work. The proposal aims to bring students closer to the origins of food, understand the seasonal cycles of nature and production; know the difference between industrial products and local ones, to educate children and young people to a conscious and correct diet. The route includes a visit to the Museum of Rural Life of Varano Marchesi and to one or more companies that are part of the consortium ‘Mangiar sano a Medesano’: a journey to get to know how Parmigiano Reggiano is born, where honey, bread etc. come from. The proposal, depending on the needs, can be organized in half a day or full day, with the possibility of workshops on food. The routes will see the collaboration of the Parks of the Duchy, on the themes of food education and the Gautelli Museum Foundation for the anthropological aspect.
‘From Plow to Soup’
Thematic path in the peasant museum of Varano Melegari to rewrite, through the objects on display, the history of food, from the care of the land, to our table.
‘As good as bread’
Thematic path to discover the traditional objects for the preparation of bread and workshop for the preparation of bread with the collaboration of the elderly of the village.
‘The garden is art’
(spring)
Thematic path on the garden with laboratory ‘Ortovunque’ to build a small vegetable garden with recycled materials.

DISCOVERING BLACK GOLD
Visit to the Vallezza mine. A heritage of places, architecture, machinery and memories. A short distance from the Via Francigena there is a rich industrial heritage little known and now abandoned, which has changed the cultural and social identity of Fornovo di Taro in the twentieth century: it is the oil mine of Vallezza. During the visit you can explore the remains of the industry, see and learn about the machinery used to search for oil and drill the ground, observe the oil samples that have extraordinary colors ranging from yellow to red to brown: a way of experiencing oil, not as a fuel but rather as an extraordinary fossil, A precious material that “it is a sin to burn”. The visit also allows you to explore closely a pumping station still well preserved in the woods.

VISITS AND WORKSHOPS TO THE MONTE PRINZERA RESERVE AND THE TARO PARK
Many proposals for every order and degree to discover on the head the biodiversity of natural environments, from the water cycle to the butterfly path, from the landscapes of Jurassic origin to the blooms, but also the history of the places and people who lived there.
To know all the possibilities of visit and experiences to live in contact with nature: http://www.parchidelducato.it/parco.taro/edu.php
Info: CEAS Protected Areas Emilia Occidentale Tel. 0521 802688 – 0521 803017 Mail: ceas@parchiemiliaoccidentale.it
Iat Fornovo 0525 2599 iatfornovo@gmail.com Web: www.parchidelducato.it