Gruppo Italiano Amici della Natura (Italian Friends of Nature Group)

The Italian Friends of Nature Group (GIAN) is a non-profit association that has given itself the form of a federation of local associations, each with its own autonomy, which recognize themselves in the values and ideals of the international Naturfreunde (NFI). The latter was founded in Vienna in 1895 on the thrust of the labor movement which, not being able to access holiday resorts reserved for the wealthy bourgeois class, bought and renovated houses close to marked natural contexts to make them holiday centers for families. For the time this constituted a not indifferent cultural revolution: The return to Nature was no longer seen as a temporary vacation period but as a return to the true origins of man through which to rediscover one's psycho-physical well-being.

Since then NFI has grown a lot: not only has it become an international association made up of 45 federations (mainly European and for some years also African), it has more than 250,000 members with about 700 structures available, but it is also accredited by the European Commission to promote European projects for environmental and social purposes.

Its motto is BERG FREI (from the German: "Free Mountain") which, contextualized also to non-mountain realities, continues to have the meaning of freeing Nature from the aggression and oppression of man. It is with this spirit that GIAN and its sections operate by proposing activities aimed at increasing knowledge and respect for Nature, trying to stimulate a collective conscience aimed at defending and preserving the environment. Activities and initiatives aimed at increasing and improving human relationships are also promoted by promoting, for example, the exchange between different cultures.

The Italian Friends of Nature Group (GIAN) intends to contribute to the affirmation of a society in which all human beings enjoy equal rights and equal opportunities and considers them indispensable conditions: peace, non-violence, environmental protection and social justice. Introducing these principles into the daily life of shelters by practicing the non-violence of self-control and openness is the effort we make every day.

The houses that our sections manage are therefore structures for a type of tourism with a very low environmental impact and that allows you to experience the nature of the place (we call it sweet tourism) but also the main headquarters of our activities as well as our main tool for doing social aggregation since the members can attend them in self-management