“The Paths That Unite Us” is a project by the social cooperative 5ENTE, which began in 2015 and continues to this day.

It focuses on the exploration, clearing, marking, and maintenance of the old paths that our ancestors once used for their daily movements whether to the fields, their work, or to connect with neighboring villages and settlements.

We consider this one of our most important undertakings for many reasons.

First, during the exploration phase, which is perhaps the most difficult and demanding, we come into contact with local residentsmainly the elderly, but also anyone who still holds memories of these paths. This phase feels like a beautiful “journey.” We connect deeply with people, listen to their stories, learn about the uniqueness of each place, the small everyday incidents tied to these paths, and even the great historical events that unfolded along them.

Next comes the clearing phase from plants and rocks. We initially seek funding, but if we don’t succeed, we rely on our friends, our volunteers or often just on our own personal effort. This is the creative stage, full of satisfaction. There’s something special about looking back and seeing the results of your hard work those few or many meters of trail you’ve just cleared.

Then follows the organization of the trail: how it will be integrated into an existing network or how it can stand on its own. We usually choose to create circular routes to make them more manageable for small groups, or we incorporate them into larger networks.

The final stage is promoting the completed trails a step that might actually be the easiest, since many clubs and hiking groups trust us and always look forward to our next project.