Cambiamo Messina dal Basso (CMdB) is a civic-political movement, consisting of ordinary citizens, associations, left-wing parties and movements based around the ideas of participation and the Commons.
CMdB emerged in 2013, building upon previous movements' experiences in Sicily, with the aim of running for local elections. Unexpectedly, CMdB won the elections in June 2013, becoming the first civic-political movement to run a major city in Italy.
In September 2015, some representatives from the movement came to the Transeuropa festival in Belgrade to hold a workshop on their experiences running a city while staying true to their social movement ethos. One of their members, Federico Alagna, spoke to us.
