1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Bologna
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Orto Comune in Via Gandusio
Short description of the intervention
Via Gandusio is a social housing complex in the North of Bologna that was originally built for hosting workers that migrate from South Italy in the 60s. Nowadays, it hosts two different communities: advanced-age Italians and current international immigrants. The differences create some conflicts and limits relationships among the community. In 2010 a group of researchers tried to implement a community garden that was designed with the aim of setting a meeting point for the community where food production is the link between neighbours to exchange knowledge, culture and experiences. The 250 m2 roof garden started in 2011 becoming the first of the city of Bologna and of Italy (Ref. 7 and 8).
Over the years the project has undergone changes and variations, has seen the end of funding and known voluntary management (2013). Since 2013 there is an urban vegetable garden cared for by some residents with the support of the Biodiversity association. (Ref.10)
Address

Via Gandusio
40128 Bologna
Italy

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
250.00m²
NBS area
250.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Building
Website of the intervention
https://laltrababele.it/lorto-sul-tetto-gandusio/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2011
End date of the intervention
2013
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
The community garden was designed by the Municipality of Bologna, the association BiodiverCity and the RESCUE-AB (Università di Bologna) with the aim of setting a meeting point for the community where food production is the link between neighbours to exchange knowledge, culture and experiences (5, 7 and 8).
Quantitative targets
No particular quantitative targets were set, as the main aim was the creation of a space for local communities to meet and grow local organic food in a sustainable way. After the success of the first garden, other 3 buildings were added, involving a total of 160 families (5). It was possible to observe that through the application of the hydroponic garden, between 25-30% of water was saved in food production (3 and 4).
Monitoring indicators defined
number of families involved; % of water saved in the hydroponic garden
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Waste management
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Inclusive governance
Effective management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social cohesion
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Improving mental health
Improving physical health
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
Promotion of cultural diversity
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Implementation activities
Residents were involved since the design and experimentation phase of the project (2010). A meeting was held to present the nature of the project and those residents who were interested in participating were given a key to access the roof. Project staff provided the material for the building of the hydroponic garden, meaning that the plants grow in plastic bottles filled with pumice stone and coconut fiber that replace the earth, an irrigation system distributes water through a closed circuit pump, recovering excess water. This approach was successful for two main reasons: 1) it guaranteed great results with minimum waste and effort; 2) getting the materials was highly cheap, as most were recycled materials. Residents learned the planting and maintenance techniques to grow different kinds of plants together (no subdivision or space). A manual on best practices and rules for the respect of the plants and others were provided, as well as a sheet to record activities (6 and 7).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature on buildings (external)
Green roofs
Community gardens and allotments
Community gardens
Green areas for water management
Sustainable urban drainage systems
Type of Green Roof
Extensive Green Roof: depth 3 - 5 inches; plants: Mosses, Sedums, Succulents, Herbs and few Grasses; Low maintenance and costs
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
The number of plots is not mentioned but most of the gardening is done with recycled plastic but also proper garden beds or allotments (Ref. 4)
What is the level of innovation / development of the NBS related to water management?
Low: Simple rain water collection intervention (rain garden, local seepage pit) or simple permeable areas
Vegetation Type
Grass
Garden beds
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Social and community interactions
Other
Please specify "other cultural service"
Community involvement and sustainable agriculture (5 and 6).
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Researchers/University
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Elderly people
Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants
Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Researchers, university
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Main roles involved the education of users and cultural involvement. This was done by creating a Facebook page called "Gandusio Green Project" and by organising social activities. Starting from spring 2011, a series of community social events, dinners and aperitifs were organised. Different local and European associations participated as well and enjoyed the pleasant evenings with a beautiful view of the city of Bologna. During these events, the residents and people from BiodiverCity cooked the products of the community garden and offered it to the guests. The exchange and sharing of food, as an element of cultural communication, has facilitated the encounter of so diverse people, overcoming the divisions of geographic, geographic and racial diversity (4, 6 and 7).
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Researchers/university
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Non-government organisation/civil society
Researchers/university
Citizens or community group
Land owners
No information found
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Co-management/Joint management
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
The project is part of the Green Housing Project, a local initiative launched by the Bologna Municipality with the goal of bringing different communities living in the city closer together while implementing strategic solutions for a more sustainable city. This action is part of a series of intercultural interventions together with various sectors of the Municipal Administration, the Home Sector, and DISTA (Department of Science and Agro-environmental Technology) (5). The project is part of the larger project called "Green Housing", which aims at bringing together communities while making urban areas more sustainable (5, 7 and 8).
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Community involvement and sustainable food production (5, 6, 7 and 8).
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
This NBS is the result of a cooperation between the Municipality of Bologna, the non-governmental organization BiodiverCity and local residents (3, 4, 5 and 6).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Communiti Garden in Via Gandusio is currently a case study of the project "SustUrbanFoods: Integrated Sustainability Assessment of Social and Technological Innovations Towards Urban Food Systems", developed by Esther Sanye-Mengual, Postdoctoral Researcher of the Center for Agricultural and Biodiversity Research and Research (ResCUE-AB) of the University Of Bologna, and coordinated by Professor Unibo Giorgio Prosdocimi Gianquinto (8).
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Municipality of Bologna has obtained financing by the Emilia Romagna Region for the implementation of "Intercultural Intercultural Interventions in Bologna: Mediation, Learning and Promotion of Social Cohesion", within this design involving various sectors of the Municipal Administration, the Home Sector, in collaboration with DISTA (Department of Science and Agro-environmental Technology). The "Green Housing" initiative (and therefore the community garden in Via Gandusio received financing until 2013 (3 and 5).
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Set up for multiple NBS interventions, including this one
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Public regional budget
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of land
Provision of labour
Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Green densification model
Local stewardship model
Green health model
Green education model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify social innovation
The intervention focused on merging different communities (elderly Italian people migrated from Southern Italy in the 60s with current international immigrants from Africa and Asia. The project encourages residents to share common spaces and grow together local organic food with minimum costs and environmental impacts. The initiative has been really appreciated by the residents, who have been handling the garden by themselves with the assistance of BiodiverCity since 2013 (6, 7 and 8).
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) with substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The project was stimulated by the example led by projects in other cities, such as the community garden built in the ex-airport Tempelhof in Berlin (5).
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The garden has been expanded to other three buildings. The planting techniques were adapted to the available space on each roof (from large boxes to small plastic bottles attached to the walls (5).
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Water management and blue areas
Improved stormwater management
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
From an environmental point of view, this NBS was unique in the sense that most plants were cultivated in plastic bottles recycled from the waste collected by the citizens involved. The garden has been referred to as an innovative example of sustainable planning by the European Gazette Science for Environmental Policy and has been featured in several documentary films, including the internationally awarded documentary "God Save The Green". (Ref. 11)
The University of Bologna calculated that circa 25-30% of the water has been saved thanks to hydroponic techniques and thanks to the care and commitment by local residents. The cultures are completely pesticide-free and exclusively use organic compost as nutrients for the plants (5).
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved social cohesion
Fair distribution of social, environmental and economic benefits of the NBS project
Improved access to urban green space
Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
Increased opportunities for social interaction
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Increased access to healthy/affordable food
Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Increased sense of place identity, memory and belonging
Education
Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
Since 2010, the Gandusio rooftop garden promotes social cohesion and intercultural dialogue in the social housing buildings of via Gandusio (Bologna). Over the years, gardeners have contributed to growth, in this unused common space, an intercultural and cohesive community, open to the whole public through the realization of various cultural initiatives open to the public. (Ref.11)
The project has definitely had a positive impact in bringing communities together. (Ref. 5)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Waste management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social justice and equity
Social cohesion
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Promotion of cultural diversity
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Positive distribution of NBS benefits
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of July 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Not applicable
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Interview
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Several videos are available on the official webpages of the project, of the municipality of Bologna and of BiodiverCity showing residents participation and interviews on their perspectives. Everyone seemed very happy and enthusiast about the initiative. It was great to see people of different ages and cultural backgrounds sharing a common good and common duties together (6 and 7).
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
No
Please specify
The analysis was informal, several videos and pictures were taken throughout the development and application of the entire NBS (6 and 7).
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
No
Please specify
Residents were given freedom to use the community garden with the assistance of people from BiodiverCity (3 and 5).
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Official webpage of BiodiverCity
Description of the launching of SustUrbanFood project
Bologna University webpage on the Green Housing - Community Garden project
Bologna Municipality Page on the project
Community Garden in Via Gandusio official page
SustUrbanFood Official Page
Article on the faith of the gardens
L’orto sul tetto di Gandusio
Salviamo l'orto sul tetto di via Gandusio Save the Gandusio Rooftop Garden
List of references
Ref.1 Kabish, N. et al. (2016). Nature-based Solutions to climate Change mitigation and Adaptation in urban Areas. Bonn: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, 1-60, Available at https://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/BfN/service/Dokumente/skripten/Skript446.pdf (Accessed 19-6-2020)

Ref. 2 Orsini, F. et al. (2014). Exploring the production capacity of rooftop gardens (RTGs) in urban agriculture: the potential impact on food and nutrition... Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and International Society for Plant Pathology, Available at https://www.slideshare.net/marco.garoffolo/02-search (Accessed 19-6-2020)

Ref. 3 Official webpage of BiodiverCity (Website not available in 2020)

Ref. 4 Bologna Today (2016), „Agricoltura urbana, agricoltura sostenibile: parte il progetto Susturbanfoods“, Available at http://www.bolognatoday.it/green/unibo-agricoltura-urbana-sostenibile-susturbanfoods.html (Accessed 19-6-2020)

Ref. 5 Bologna University webpage on the Green Housing - Community Garden project, Available at https://site.unibo.it/susturbanfoods/en/case-studies/viagandusio, (Accessed 10-7-2020)

Ref.6 Bologna Municipality Page on the project (Website not available in 2020)

Ref. 7 Community Garden in Via Gandusio official page (Website not available in 2020)

 Ref. 8 SustUrbanFood Official Page: https://susturbanfoods.com/category/case-study/

Ref. 9 Corrierre di Bologna (2017), “La ristrutturazione del condominio li farà sparire
«Acer e Comune non dicono nulla sul futuro», Available at https://corrieredibologna.corriere.it/bologna/notizie/cronaca/2017/12-maggio-2017/addio-orti-tetti-via-gandusio-petizione-prof-salvarli--2401571179505.shtml (Accessed 19-6-2020)

Ref. 10 L’Altra Babele (no date), L’orto sul tetto di Gandusio, Available at https://laltrababele.it/lorto-sul-tetto-gandusio/, (Accessed 10-7-2020)

Ref. 11 Change.Org (no date), Salviamo l'orto sul tetto di via Gandusio Save the Gandusio Rooftop Garden, Available at https://www.change.org/p/comune-di-bologna-salviamo-l-orto-sul-tetto-di-via-gandusio-bologna-city-council-save-the-gandusio-rooftop-garden (Accessed 10-7-2020)
Additional comments
n/a
Interview comments
Waiting on the response from the lady from SustUrbanFood I contacted.
Comments and notes
Comments
While researching, I came up with an article published on May 2017 saying that the buildings in via Gandusio will be soon restructured and the faith of the community garden is at risk, since the local authorities are not explicitly stating what they will do about it. A petition launched by BiodiverCity is currently going on and more news will come up. This is the link to the article:

http://corrieredibologna.corriere.it/bologna/notizie/cronaca/2017/12-maggio-2017/addio-orti-tetti-via-gandusio-petizione-prof-salvarli--2401571179505.shtml

They told me the new person in charge is Giovanni Bazzocchi (00393341042338), who did not pick up my call.

Note (July 2020): I can confirm the existence of the petition which I incorporated in the new sources. I would also like to add that many primary links related to the project have been either deactivated or are protected in Wordpress and therefore it's not possible to reach the information.
Additional insights
There is definitely an emotional attachment to these community gardens. Even though the project focused on the cultivation of local sustainable vegetables and fruits, the involvement of communities was a highly successful factor. Residents were brought together by this initiative and developed a sense of connection with their own food and among each other.
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/gandusio_project_bologna.jpg
Public Images
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
License: Francesco Orsini (UNIBO), retrieved 07/20/2018
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
License: Francesco Orsini (UNIBO), retrieved 07/20/2018
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
License: Francesco Orsini (UNIBO), retrieved 07/20/2018
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
Community Garden of Via Gandusio (2012)
License: Francesco Orsini (UNIBO), retrieved 07/20/201