Alta Badia
Care x Wools N2 – Schritt für Schritt, Passo per passo, Step by step will take place on 27 September 2025 and invites you to an exploratory walk through the Alta Badia Valley. The walk is guided by shepherds Sandra Hofer and Daniel Paratscha, who currently graze more than 200 sheep across rural and urban landscapes. Together, they will share their knowledge of shepherding and mountain grazing in South Tyrol, opening a dialogue on what it means to care for sheep, land, and other species at a time when these practices and ecosystems are increasingly under threat.
The walk begins in Colfosco–Calfosch and leads through the Edelweiss/Stella Alpina Valley to the Col di Pradat. Step by step, we will attune ourselves to the rhythms of sheep, mountains, alpine plants, rocks, tourism infrastructures, signs, sounds and noises — exploring how these elements are entangled with shepherding, grazing practices, and the often-overlooked value of local wool.
What does it mean to follow a path? What decisions shape the routes we walk? Is it always step by step, or do we sometimes need to leap into the unknown, into imagination? Which strategies or ways of knowing help us understand multispecies entanglements? And how might walking itself offer a critical perspective to see beyond?
Through this walk, we will begin to develop a preliminary manual: a collection of shared steps, reflections, and exercises tracing our movement. This step-by-step guide aims to shift attention away from human-centered approaches, towards the interconnections of sheep, land, grass, grazing, and local wool production. In doing so, the walk will highlight how embodied knowledge gained through walking can inspire eco-social transformation.
Practical information
Free admission · Registration required via Eventbrite
Departure from Bolzano → Colfosco-Calfosch at 08:00
Return to Bolzano around 18:00
Info & contacts: hello@weighstation.eu
! Please note: audio and video will be recorded during the event.
! Please bring mountain boots, a rain jacket, trekking poles, food, water, and optionally snacks to share for lunch. Alternatively, it is possible to eat at a mountain hut along the route.
About Care x Wools
Care x Wools is a public programme within the research project Feral Wool at the Free University of Bozen–Bolzano, developed as part of iNEST (Citizen Engagement CC3). It addresses the precarious status of local wool and seeks to ‘shift’ human perspectives towards the ecologies connected to wool — beginning from the standpoint of the sheep.
Sheep (Ovis aries) were among the first animals domesticated by humans some 11,000 years ago. This was not a one-sided act: sheep, too, entered into this relationship. Through it, they have provided humans with meat, milk, and wool, while shaping landscapes; in return, humans offered care and protection. Today, however, tonnes of valuable local wool are wasted due to globalisation and industrial market standards. This is also the case in South Tyrol. How can we change the story?
Through Care x Wools, we invite key regional actors to reflect on local wool from the perspective of care and to imagine desirable future narratives that link rural and urban landscapes. What lessons can we learn from sheep? What if they showed us how to care for wool in tune with the cyclical rhythms of nature? What if we imagined new practices of care — for and with sheep?
The programme also includes videos, podcasts, and public discussions with experts ranging from traditional crafts to design and art, production to pastoralism. Together, they will explore the neglected status of wool, its ferality, and open up new horizons grounded in care.