The Mountains of Saint Francis
Cultural Association
Coldigioco, under the direction of Alessandro Montanari (scientist) and Paula Metallo (artist), soon became a sort of scientific sanctuary where one could find inspiration and hospitality by reading the history of the Earth written in the stone pages of the "mountains of Saint Francis," thus magnetically attracting both new generations of students and researchers, as well as professionals and scholars in other cultural fields.
Many of these have decided to "stay" in Coldigioco, contributing to its growth by investing in improvements to both structural services (completing the restoration of the entire village) and educational offerings, spanning a multitude of fields beyond geology, such as astronomy, cooking, art, music, and microbiology with a particular focus on speleobiology, given its connection to the nearby Frasassi Caves, and theater, since Coldigioco is also the registered office of the Teatro di Onisio theater company.
Hence, twenty years after its founding, in 2012, the now populous and virtuous international community of Coldigioco decided to establish a non-profit organization to consolidate its mission of promoting and spreading culture in general, thus creating the Association for Social and Cultural Promotion "Le Montagne di San Francesco" (LMSF). Among the facilities that LMSF provides to Coldigioco for courses, seminars, residencies, and conferences are: classrooms, science laboratories, dormitories, community kitchens, art studios, an exhibition gallery, a recording studio, an astronomical observatory, and vans for transportation.
Not even five years later, in 2017 (on the occasion of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the OGC), LMSF, in the sumptuous setting of the Mestica Theatre in Apiro, managed in synergy with the Teatro di Onisio, hosted the important Penrose conference of the GSA (Geological Society of America) with more than 60 participants including academics and researchers from 11 different countries around the world (Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Croatia, Italy, Holland, Norway, Sweden, England and the United States).
Collaborations
USA
University of California Berkeley
Pennsylvania State University
Princeton University
Lehigh University
Carleton College
Caltech
New Mexico Institute of Mines and Technology
Appalachian State University
North Carolina State University
Columbia University
Amherst College
Associated College of Midwest (ACM)
Syracuse University
Dartmonth Univesrity
Washington University
Williams College
EUROPE
University of Vienna
Free University of Bruxelles
Free University of Amsterdam
University of Utrecht
University of Göttingen
University of Lunds
Ecole des Mines Paris
Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris
University of Zagreb
University of Gdansk
University of Geneva
ITALY
University of L'Aquila
University of Florence
University of Camerino
University of Padua
University of Urbino
University of Sassari
University of Bologna