Meike Hollnaicher
Innovator
Farmfluencers of South Tyrol
Italy
Cultural
Rural Areas
Rural area close to city
The innovation journey
Meike Hollnaicher grew up on her family farm in Germany. She graduated in media design and then worked in an advertising agency. She moved to Italy to study eco-social design at the University of Bozen.
In this period, she developed the idea of Farmfluencers of South Tyrol. The aim of the project is to support eco-social transformation and the preservation of small farms in the region.
The project, initiated in 2020, is an informal initiative run on a voluntary basis and partly funded through crowdfunding campaigns and small grants by private foundations.
The innovation impact
The project provides a space for local small farmers to narrate their stories and connect. Particularly, it involves farmers who cultivate organic and traditional varieties of crops, promoting these as important for the sustainability of rural ecosystems.
Podcasts and short movies about these small farmers are spread through local TV channels and radio programs, social media, and the project website.
This way, the stories reach different generations, encouraging everyone to buy local, healthy food. They also motivate young people to engage in agriculture, promoting it as something “cool”.
Through the project, small farmers start to be part of a network and build synergies. Meike and her collaborators organize meetings at least two times per year so that farmers can meet, build synergies, and support each other. Involving farmers across gender, class and ethnicity, the project also fosters social and gender inclusion in rural areas.
Meike is also trying to connect farmers with local restaurants so that chefs can use more and more local (and unique) products. She is also participating in a film project to reach a wider audience and more farmers.