Abstract

A New Zealand millionaire, Mark Harte, tries to buy a tiny uncontaminated Italian paradise: Budelli, an uninhabited island between Sardinia and Corsica. The negotiation fails after years of litigation against him and the responsible authority. So, a classroom of schoolchildren from Mosso, a little hamlet in the Piedmontese Alps, inspired by their science teacher, starts to work on an ambitious crowdfunding campaign in order to «buy» the island and preserve it. They calculate everything: the reachable sum, a social media strategy based on a Facebook page, and they open a bank account. Their story goes viral in a very short time: a lot of people from all over the world start to send money. Then they choose a historical Italian crowdfunding platform: «Produzioni dal Basso». With its help they open their own platform, «Non si s-Budelli l'Italia». On the same day the Court decides to assign Budelli to the authority of the nearby Parco della Maddalena. This decision doesn't stop the classroom's efforts: they continue to work with the authority, trying to plan the island's future.