Last updated: October 2021
"MiColtivo, Orto a Scuola" promoted by Fondazione Riccardo Catella, aims at involving children with horticulture with the aim of educating them on the importance of a correct diet and environmental issues. The first pilot project was launched in local schools in 2012. The project was developed in the concept of the imminent EXPO 2015, as the main topics were nutrition and the environment. (1)
Mi Coltivo: Community Gardens in Schools
Chiara Graziola (Fondazione Riccardo Catella), retrieved 09/11/2018
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Community gardens and allotments
- Community gardens
- Other
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental education
- Environmental and climate justice
- Social interaction
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Enabling opportunities for physical activity
- Improving physical health
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
- Sustainable consumption
- Sustainable production
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Project objectives
- Re-qualify, through the installation of educational gardens, courtyards and gardens of public schools in the city in order to enhance and make them available to the child.
- Ensuring children's right to healthy and safe nutrition and promoting child nutrition education.
- Involve the area around the schools (families, grandparents, associations, ...) in the design and subsequent management of gardens (maintenance, food education, food consumption, ...)
- Developing manual skills and scientific knowledge in children and teaching them to "take care" of a common good in collaboration with others in order to bring them into civic sense
- Encourage multicultural integration between children and families through the knowledge and sharing of different food traditions
- Raising the awareness of the operators and institutions responsible for the management of school meals on the importance of proper feeding of children
- Creation of an educational program in public schools (1).
Implementation activities
MiColtivo started as a pilot project in the 2012-2013 school year in 2 schools:
• Comprehensive Institute "Renzo Pezzani" in Via Martinengo
• The Italo Calvino Comprehensive Institute in Via Frigia
In the school year 2014-2015 MiColtivo is being launched in two other schools:
• The "Ilaria Alpi" Institute of Via San Colombano
• "Maffucci" Inclusive Institute of Via Guicciardi
For the school year 2015-2016, two new schools were included:
• "Educated Emanuela Setti Carraro from the Church" of Via Passione
• Comprehensive Institute "F.S. Cabrini "of Via Armed Forces (4).
In 2018 the MiColtivo institutes reached are 8:
-institute "Renzo Pezzani" in Via Martinengo
-“Italo Calvino” institute in Via Frigia
-"Ilaria Alpi" institute of Via San Colombano
-"Maffucci" inclusive institute of Via Guicciardi
-"Educated Emanuela Setti Carraro from the Church" of Via Passione
-institute "F.S. Cabrini "of Via Armed Forces
-school "Tolstoj" in Via Scrosati
-school "Sant'Ambrogio" (1, 6)
Main beneficiaries
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- Public sector institution
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Dissemination of information and education
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The Riccardo Catella Foundation plays a general coordinating role in the project, with an active part in the creation of educational didactics related to the gardens. Design and implementation of green areas within the courtyards of the public schools of the city is implemented in collaboration with the Parks and Gardens and the Technical Field Schools of the Milan City Council and with the involvement of the Reference Area Councils The Horticulture Association of Lombardy, which has been active since 2010 on the theme of the gardens in the city with the "Urban Horticulture" project, is co-promoter of the project (1,2,4).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
No
... a national policy or strategy?
No
... a local policy or strategy?
No
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Donations
Non-financial contribution
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)
- Other
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased opportunities for social interaction
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Increased access to healthy/affordable food
- Health and wellbeing
- Improved physical health
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Type of reported impacts
No impacts reported
Presence of formal monitoring system
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
References
1.Fondazione Riccardo Catella (no date), Project Website, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
2. Project info: Source link (Website not available in 2020)
3. Comune di Milano (no date), Municipality of Milan Webpage, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
4. Adgruffini Blog (2013), MI COLTIVO, ORTO A SCUOLA: ECCO INFORMAZIONI E BROCHURE, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
5. SlideShare (2013), Project Presentation, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
6. La Repubblica (2016), News on the project, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
2. Project info: Source link (Website not available in 2020)
3. Comune di Milano (no date), Municipality of Milan Webpage, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
4. Adgruffini Blog (2013), MI COLTIVO, ORTO A SCUOLA: ECCO INFORMAZIONI E BROCHURE, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
5. SlideShare (2013), Project Presentation, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
6. La Repubblica (2016), News on the project, Available at Source link (Accessed 9-9-2020)
Mi Coltivo: Community Gardens in Schools
Chiara Graziola (Fondazione Riccardo Catella), retrieved 09/11/2018