RU:RBAN Final Event in Rome

Partners at the Final Event in Rome in November 2022

 

All good things come to an end…and it couldn’t be any different for the RU:RBAN Second Wave network project. Rome was the setting for the final event and all partners met at the oustanding venue of the Casa del Giardinaggio (“Gardening house”) on November 9th and 10th for a two-day gathering marked by a sense of fulfillment in the air.

Representatives and ULG members of all five partner cities participated in the event that focused on the presentation of the final results and the evaluation of the transfer journey, results that were illustrated by the Lead Expert and the representatives of the cities themselves: the added value or working in a transnational URBACT network, the highlights of the journey, the main learnings, the next steps after RU:RBAN. While all partners agreed on the intense work required in a very limited time, they also agreed upon the increased citizens’ awareness that charged existing stakeholders with new purposes: municipal authorities, city councils and social movements have embraced the phenomenon of urban gardens.

The event was also the opportunity for the ULG members of Rome to introduce to Ms Sabrina Alfonsi, Councilor of the City of Rome for Environment, Agriculture and Waste cycle, the new draft of the Regulation for the Management of Urban Gardens. Ms Alfonsi will work on the document and follow the process for its final approval. This is indeed an outstanding result for Roman urban gardeners reached thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the ULG.

Particularly interesting and eye-opening was the “World Café” session held by the ad hoc experts: participants were divided in three groups to discuss the impact of urban gardens on citizenship, on local public authorities and what are the future steps for setting up urban gardens. Very interesting outcomes were obtained from this session: RU:RBAN has built communities at local level that feel part of a bigger community (EU) with common goals working towards social inclusion; the ULG is a very successful tool to bring together citizens and local authorities; cities have gained the trust of their citizens and must now continue to work in this direction; in terms of governance the project has been the engine to make the phenomenon of urban gardens grow and to set out a working methodology that can be applied to many other urban fields; in future, local stakehoders can put to great use their passion and knowledge to virtuously influence the local authorities in creating new alliances between active citizens and local authorities.

Finally, partners were asked to evaluate from 1 to 10 their transfer journey in terms of success, methodology, policy instrument and networking with peers from other cities…the score was 9.2!!

Without a doubt an extraordinary and successful transfer journey.

 

Data ultimo aggiornamento: 21.02.2024