Silvia is a lower secondary school teacher, and she lives and works in Ostellato. She explains that her home town has always had a strong bond with water and the valleys, and deeply relies on them. It underwent a drastic change after World War 2, when land reclamation of the Valle del Mezzano was completed and reclamation still leaves an evident trace in the territory. The territory is scattered by numerous operating pumping systems, which testimony the process of land reclamation started during the Renaissance by the Este family and concluded in the 70s’ and offer an excellent opportunity for educational tourism and school visits.

Groups of school students of all levels can visit the area and hold didactic workshops in the equipped visitor’s centres. They can especially understand how the territory has changed not only physically and from a nature-related perspective but also economically and socially. Indeed, it has undergone a transformation from fishing village to farming village, where farms are the area’s bearing structure.