1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Catania
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Urbanhort Catania
Short description of the intervention
The municipality of Catania, in collaboration with the University of Catania promotes sustainable agricultural practices in specific areas of the city with the project “Urbanhort” (Uban Horticulture systems for Resilient, Efficient and Sustainable cities). The main focus of the project was placed on biological, indoor and vertical gardening. The main goal of the intervention is to give value to the territory, to increment tourism, culture and the environment. What wanted to be tested was the efficiency of the practice in terms of price, health outcomes and the promotion of a correct diet. (Ref.1.)

The project might still be ongoing, however, no information was found on the website of Catania's municipality or on the website of the University of Agriculture of Catania for a later date that can show the current stage of the project (as of July of 2020).
Address

95121 Catania
Italy

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2017
End date of the intervention
unknown
Present stage of the intervention
Unknown
Goals of the intervention
The goal of the intervention was to experiment with new practices for urban agriculture in the city of Catania, namely biological, biodynamic, indoor and vertical farming. The aim was to reach goals such as better quality food provision, and higher quality green spaces usage. In addition, the environmental impact was planned to be assessed as well, by respecting the principles of sustainable production and consumption (Ref.1.)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Implementation activities
In order to reach the goals, the University of Catania in collaboration with the municipality identified specific areas for the intervention where to start cultivating the products. The choice of the products will be respecting the seasonal cycle of cultivation, by promoting at the same time local practices of cultivation - cultivation is carried out by local citizens willing to participate in the project -. (Ref.3.)
Regarding the status of the project: The project might be ongoing, however, no information was found on the website of Catania's municipality or on the website of the University of Agriculture of Catania for a later date that can show the stage of the project (as of July of 2020).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Transformation of previously derelict areas
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Community gardens
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
Unknown
Vegetation Type
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Inspiration for culture, art and design
Recreation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Researchers/University
Citizens or community groups
Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)
Young people and children
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Researchers, university
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The EU offered funds for its own project, named "Horizon 2020 SFS48-2017" for the practices of efficient urban agriculture. The University of Catania (agriculture section) proposed the initiative Urbanhort to get funded by the EU programme, with the approval of the municipality of Catania which provided the land for cultivation. Volunteer citizens, trained by experts and university professors, were assigned to land areas for cultivation. (Ref.4.)
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Researchers/university
EU body
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Researchers/university
EU body
Land owners
No information found
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
The EU strategy "Eu Horizon 2020 SFS48-2017", with a specific strategy concerning resources and efficient urban agricolture for multiple benefits (contribution to the Eu- China Urbanisation Partnership) with a multi-sectoral project for urban agriculture. (Ref.4.)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
The intervention was influenced by the national plan of the Italian ministry, named "Schema di decreto ministeriale recante approvazione del piano triennale per il rilancio e la razionalizzazione delle attività di ricerca e sperimentazione in agricoltura" (Ministerial scheme of approval of the triennal plan for the regeneration of sperimentation and research activities in agriculture), which establishes the criteria for urban agriculture practices (Ref.5.)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
The initiative was the result of the willingness of the University to participate to the EU announcement, and not a result of a specific guidance (Ref.2.)
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
Please specify other vegetation type
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The university of Catania will implement a research project - named Urbanhort as the initiative - on the effectiveness of the intervention when it will be completed. It will be assessed the biological quality of vegetables, the success of the practice (in terms of relation demand/supply of products) and environmental impact on the land of the production process (Ref.2.)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The EU offered funds for its own project, named "Horizon 2020 SFS48-2017" for the practices of efficient urban agriculture (Ref.4)
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?
Unknown
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
EU funds
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Vacant space model
Green education model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Social
Economic innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Considering the new type of cultivation which results in new types of urban gardens introduced, it can be considered as a product innovation as well (Ref.1&2)
Please specify social innovation
The city and university are using a new approach for introducing these gardens, which consists in retrieving land not used in city areas and use innovative techniques such as vertical gardening and biological agriculture to give value to the land. C
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
Description of environmental benefits
The project represents the opportunity to regenerate land that was previously not used, by increasing the surface of green areas at the city level (Ref.2.).
Economic impacts
More sustainable tourism
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Please specify other socio-cultural impact
Aesthetical improvement (Ref.2.)
Description of economic benefits
The NBS is expected to create possibilities to produce and consume biological products in a sustainable way (Ref.2.). Finally, the project represents also a way to improve and increase tourism at the city level, especially for tourists interested in those practices (Ref.2.).
Social and cultural impacts
Other
Description of social and cultural benefits
The visual impact of more green can produce positive effects on the liveability of the whole area as well (Ref.2.)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
- m2 of available land for cultivation (Ref.2.)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Inclusive governance
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Increased access to healthy food for humans and/or animals
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
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
http://www.di3a.unict.it/sites/default/files/files/Di3A%20%20-%20verbale%20n_%2…
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 evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref.1. Il comune di Catania aderisce al progetto multisettoriale di agricoltura…
Ref.2. UNICT – “Urbanhort”, il progetto di agricoltura per valorizzare il terri…
Ref.3. Comune Catania, piu' orti urbani per promuovere territorio
Ref.4. Agricoltura, Catania aderisce al progetto Urbanhort
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Ref.5. Ministry of agricultural and urban policies (Italian ministry) (2.79 MB) 2.79 MB
List of references
Ref.1. Comune di Catania (2017). Il comune di Catania aderisce al progetto multisettoriale di agricoltura urbana, Urbanhort. Available at http://www.comune.catania.it/informazioni/cstampa/default.aspx?cs=57296 (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref.2. LiveUnicit (2017). UNICT – “Urbanhort”, il progetto di agricoltura per valorizzare il territorio. Available at http://catania.liveuniversity.it/2017/02/23/unict-urbanhort-il-progetto-di-agricoltura-per-valorizzare-il-territorio/ (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref.3. T&G MondoAgricolo (2017). Comune Catania, piu' orti urbani per promuovere territorio. Available at http://www.ansa.it/canale_terraegusto/notizie/mondo_agricolo/2017/02/21/comune-catania-piu-orti-urbani-per-promuovere-territorio_8804ebd9-37a8-4afa-9be9-3f997e429f8c.html (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref.4. MetroCT (2017). Agricoltura, Catania aderisce al progetto Urbanhort. Available at http://www.metroct.it/agricoltura-catania-aderisce-al-progetto-urbanhort/ (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref.5. CAMERA DEI DEPUTATI (2016). N.332 ATTO DEL GOVERNO SOTTOPOSTO A PARERE PARLAMENTARE. Roma: pp. 1-181 (Attached)
Comments and notes
Comments
I wasn't able to find proper information past 2017, so at this point it is rather unclear to me if the NBS was actually implemented.
Pictures of the NBS
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