The D’orica company, one of the Aracne partners, uses a small and restored Nissan reeling machine to process the cocoons produced by farmers in the Veneto region, creating silk and gold jewellery. On 16 September 2025, a significant event for the Horizon Aracne project took place in Presina of Piazzola sul Brenta, in the province of Padua. This machine was relocated to the restored barn of the Villa Palladiana, a magnificent building designed by the architect Andrea Palladio.
Attendees, including many local and regional authorities, as well as business and academic figures, were shown the interactive museum attached to the company’s workshop. This connection among agriculture, industry and architectural heritage restoration is a ‘case study’ of the Aracne project and will form part of the European Cultural Route that the project aims to promote.
The lead partner, CREA, was present at the inaugural conference, represented by the director of the Centre for Agriculture and the Environment, Prof. Giuseppe Corti, and the head of the Sericulture Laboratory in Padua, Dr Silvia Cappellozza. Prof. Corti conveyed the greetings of the CREA president and expressed the hope that this achievement would contribute to economic development and job creation in agriculture. Also present at the event were Nevio Benvenuto, representing the Gucci fashion brand and serving on the project’s advisory board, and the group of farmers who were the subject of the project’s business case study carried out by the partner Iniziativa Cube.
