In times of great difficulty, each person should lend a hand to contribute, in a variety of ways, to steering a course of action in a different direction. Everyone should contribute with the tools and possibilities at their disposal.

It seemed that we could/should give our personal ethical and civil contribution to a society objectively disadvantaged, prevalently perceived as marginalised, even in the presence of opportunities. Therefore, this editorial initiative’s impetus came from the awareness of a widespread socio-cultural condition, which unfortunately generates unequal public scenarios and economic delays.

A contribution, one might say, that is patchy. Is this a consolation? If any organ is sick, the whole organism suffers: examples and apologies are countless… so what to do? We each play our part, trying to coordinate!

The diagnoses of sociologists, politicians, economists, urban planners, scientists, environmentalists, psychologists, religious people, and institutions abound. However, educational poverty increases, relationality is often perverse, human degradation is constant, the sense of emptiness and abandonment prevails, and the frustration of the accomplished persists.

Happy islands of optimistic industriousness, though paradigmatic, cannot feel fulfilled. So, we want to give a contribution. La Valle del Tempo and its underlying Rete dei Saperi are our responses.

Our unity of intent is determined by the desire to perform cultural and social service in various formal and organisational forms. First, we aim at publishing paper books, e-books, educational multimedia products, playful-pedagogical films, magazines, theatre scripts for adults and children, workshops, aids for schools and communities. Secondly, we aim at organising conferences and round tables on legal, environmental, scientific, literary, historical, theological, and religious issues. All these initiatives ensure that culture, even in a popular, agile, and low-cost form, reaches places it would never reach. It is there that the challenge is most keenly felt.

Our main axes, reference coordinates, and thematic guidelines are Time, Space, and Humanitas. Based on these macro-areas, we envision articulating specific themes according to the different disciplinary sectors. These themes will be gathered in economical, attractive and straightforward pocketbooks, characterised by distinctive formats (colour, format, images, etc.).

Essential values to which we feel firmly anchored are the Italian Constitutional Charter of 1948, the Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Other more challenging publications will be included in series or texts out of series. Everything will be entrusted to specialists, experts, and undisputed experts. At the core of our initiative will be the combination of high-quality content, limited costs, sustainability of materials, work ethic, agility, and aesthetic gracefulness of the product, not for the founders’ ambition but for the joy of those who previously had no access to culture.

We are supported in this endeavour by necessary ambition, sacrifice, determination to pursue declared goals and the willingness to interface with the real world. Because we understand the challenge, what we are launching is not a war against someone or something but simply a continuous confrontation with the realities surrounding us.