Palermo, Italy
City population: 653586
Duration: 2006 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 10000 m2
Type of area: Residential
Last updated: October 2021

The association Codifas started its own initiative to inform citizens on the danger of practising traditional agriculture, and the advantages of sustainable agriculture. The initiative has been implemented by applying the concept of social inclusion, which means that young people from foreign countries (Ghana, Senegal etc.) were involved in the project and they helped to realize it. Together with the goal of social inclusion, the project has important benefits in terms of sustainable production and consumption. The whole area for cultivation has been divided into several plots, for those citizens who are willing to cultivate it. (Ref.1.)

Preparing the crops
https://www.ansa.it/sicilia/notizie/2014/03/31/a-palermo-va-di-moda-lorto-condiviso_a0b2bcaa-2ec1-44e8-845e-aa20d21b465b.html

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Allotments
  • Community gardens

Key challenges

  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social cohesion
  • Social interaction
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Sustainable production

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

The main goals of the intervention are the self-production of food (in order to not be dependent on suppliers and to minimize the environmental impact due to transport) and social cohesion, as people from different nationalities and social status are involved (this is a relevant problem, especially in southern Italy) (Ref.1.)

Implementation activities

The municipality approved the project of the association, which took care of preparing the available land, with the help of volunteers. After that, the whole surface was divided into plots available for those willing to cultivate it. (Ref.2.)

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups
  • Marginalized groups: Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Non-government organisation/civil society

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Codifas = NGOs that initiated the intervention. They are providing the land and experience for cultivation, as well as the products to be cultivated Municipality of Palermo = authorized the intervention, and generally supports agricultural interventions at local level Citizens and community groups = pratically implement the intervention Ref. (1&2)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (The EU regulation n.1303/2013 named European Agricultural fund establishes the criteria for intervention and funding for practices at rural level and community-based initiatives (Ref.4.))
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The Programma di Sviluppo Rurale Sicilia 2014-2020 (Rural development plan) has been implemented at the local level in order to support initiatives such as community gardens, horticulture, regeneration of green areas etc. (Ref.1.))

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds
  • Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of land
  • Provision of goods
  • Provision of labour
  • Provision of expertise
  • Exchange of services
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
  • Other

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

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

Ref.1. GreenMe (2013). ORTI URBANI: A PALERMO UN ORTO CONDIVISO PER L’INTEGRAZIONE SOCIALE. Available at Source link (Accessed 11-10-2020)
Ref.2. AnsaSicilia (2014) A Palermo va di moda "l'orto condiviso". Available at Source link (Accessed 11-10-2020)
Ref.3. Codifas (2006). Regolamento contratto orti urbani Codifas. Palermo: pp. 1-3
Ref.4. EU (2014). REGOLAMENTO DI ESECUZIONE (UE) N. 184/2014 DELLA COMMISSIONE. Gazzetta ufficiale Unione Europea. Bruxelles: pp. 1-15