On the hottest day ever in Rome according to forecasts, Tuesday 18 July at 6.30 pm, the inauguration ceremony will be held for one of the first initiatives designed and directly implemented by associations and citizens to support suburban regeneration and combating climate change. (the entrance is at 82, via del Casale di San Basilio).
The project “From landfill to urban wood” was designed and implemented by Associazione Casale Podere Rosa – APS, in partnership with Parsec Agri Cultura. In 2022 they launched an ambitious challenge: removing a large garbage dump that had been occupying a part of the Aguzzano Regional Park for decades and requalifying the area by planting trees and placing new benches and tables.
The project was financed with 8×1000 funds from the Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai, which recognized its value and decided to support
it.
The project implementation stemmed from an important participative initiative involving citizens, associations and the local public administration (Assessorato Ambiente Roma Capitale, Municipio IV). This innovative method allowed them all to collaborate, contribute to the implementation of the project and support the park managing authority, RomaNatura.
The challenge has been met: the area will soon be given back to citizens, school children and all those who want to use it. Those two hectares were long viewed as unusable, abandoned, dangerous and not for public use. Now they can be considered part of the park once again. They also provide a pedestrian and bike path to go from San Basilio to Rebibbia. This area will now be entrusted to Roma Capitale, Municipio IV, and to the park managing authority RomaNatura, in the hope that they can appreciate the citizens’ effort to take care of their environment.
This is a small yet important contribution to suburban regeneration; we are also well aware of the symbolic and teaching value of woods as regards climate change. Here, without a radical policy change, the recent heat record will soon be broken, and the consequences for the environment and the citizens are already dramatically evident.
In the framework of the project, the area that was used as an inert waste dump in the past – which even caused a change in its topography – was decontaminated; 200 trees and shrubs were planted, furniture and information boards were added and a trail was built.
However, it does not stop there. Now maintenance work has to begin through a number of “small” interventions over time: grass-mowing at the most ecologically adequate times, tree irrigation, pest control, furniture care, surveillance, replacing the trees that will dry out, keeping the area clean, organizing guided visits, environmental workshops, scientific research and ecosystem services assessment activities. Now it’s time for a true collaboration among the local administration, the park management authority, the local community, and the scientific community… BECAUSE THE PARK MATTERS!
