Andrea Giacomelli

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from Tuscan parents in 1967, raised between Milan, Basingstoke (UK), short but memorable stays in Mohammadia (Morocco) and Portollano (Spain) in the early Seventies. After an MS in environmental engineering at Politecnico di Milano (1993, with MS thesis work in Gent) and PhD in Hydrology from the same Institution (1997), I worked for five years in a science and technology park in Sardinia. Then as a senior technologist and project manager in the Milan branch of a US multinational firm (2002/2010). At the end of 2010 the US firm decided to close operations in Italy. Instead of sending resumes to competitors or to Dubai, I decided to relocate to Southern Tuscany (homeland of my parents) to consolidate some independent project which I had started to work on in 2006, and which are now the core of the pibinko.org network.

• I have a consolidated civic track record: teacher of Italian as a foreign language (2002/2005), co-founder and external relations manager for the Italian chapter of the Open Source Geospatial Consortium (OSGEO, 2007/2010), and collaboration with numerous small NGOs, from sports, to ancient seeds, to music, performing arts, to martial arts. My initial technical expertise is in geographic information systems, especially for environmental and land planning themes. Since 2006 I started a series of independent projects concerning the integration of cultural, environmental and open innovation issues with a base in the Farma Valley, some 100 km South of Florence, while maintaining strong links to other parts of Italy and foreign countries. Since 1986 I am active with music, and since 2006 in the creation and production of events (over 150 in 12 years, from small gatherings to national situations). After over a year of design and testing, in September 2017 I launched the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band, a “geomusical” collective which can operate in parallel as a rock-blues band and an environmental education team.