Gagliato is a small town in the southernmost region of the Italian peninsula. It is nestled on a hillside, a ten minute drive from the sea, and a world away from the pace and lifestyle of the technology sector.

This little town of only 500 people was the serendipitous choice that Mauro and Paola Ferrari made in 2005 as their summer retreat. In convenient proximity to the Lido San Domenico in Soverato (the“Lido of the NanoSciences”), Gagliato welcomed the Ferraris and their international guests with warmth and generous hospitality.

Out of that first approach, grew an extraordinary experience that over the years has transformed a community facing a downturn into a vibrant reality thanks to the discovery of its vocation as “town of the nanosciences”. Not only Gagliato has been attracting national and international attention for the scientific events of the summer, but it is also developing into a model on how a little town’s vocation can generate economic opportunities, a new urban and social landscape, and hope and optimism for the future.