ORTO WOW - Pollinator friendly garden

Area characterisation:

The district of Mirafiori South, a peripheral area of Turin, is a part of the city famous because here FIAT was born and all the area was design and developed to host its workers. Today the area suffer from post-industrial heritage such as high seniority of population, great unemployment, loss of relational fabric.

Orto Wow was implemented in the courtyard of an abandoned building named WOW in the Living Lab in Mirafiori Sud. The area hosts a weekly farmers market organized by the farmer association Coldiretti. The idea is based on creating a “green square”, by placing the boxes in the courtyard to facilitate public activities open to all (such as educational activities, public talks, convivial activities, etc.).

Orto WOW is composed of 15 garden boxes with aromatic plants and other melliferous plants that attract pollinating insects. The NbS borders to the south on the Colonnetti Park, suitable for placing bee hives given the biodiversity green corridor. The garden boxes were placed at the entrance, close to the public part of the courtyard.

Objective:

This NbS aims at improving the usability of the area:

to recover an abandoned and underutilized former industrial lot and to return it for public use;
to favor the transition of pollinating insects, following the directions of the ecological corridors identified by proGIreg;
to activate local inhabitants in taking care of the new green installations, by stimulating them through citizens-science activities;
to favor a collaborative setting of different stakeholders, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the intervention in the future

Actions:

Planning and preparatory activities (administrative/technical procedures)

In the planning phase, OrtiAlti, in cooperation with the City of Turin, identified the NGO Fondazione di Comunità Mirafiori as the key stakeholder and partner for co-designing with local community engagement. Among others, Fondazione di Comunità Mirafiori was also involved in planning the apiary installation with Coldiretti and Parco del Nobil (e.g. cleaning the green area where the beehives are located).
During planning, the green roof design (same budget for both actions) and the number and shape of wood boxes changed. Coordinating both projects by OrtiAlti collaborators resulted in saving cost by reusing wood axes from other construction sites. Hence, circular economy aspects becoming a planning element.
Orti Alti also implemented infrastructural interventions (e.g. water access at the courtyard) in preparation of the site for installing the boxes.

Co-design and engagement activities

A temporary collaboration agreement was signed between the Municipality and OrtiAlti, granting permission to initiate the worksites and handing over keys to the property. The co-design activity coincided with drafting the collaboration pact for the management of the NbS. In October 2020, Associazione Parco del Nobile, Fondazione Mirafiori, Coldiretti, Rete degli Impollinatori metropolitani, and the City of Turin signed a Pact of Collaboration as the key management tool.

As part of the social analysis, OrtiAlti carried out a preliminary stakeholder assessment, together with Fondazione di Comunità Mirafiori to understand the needs of the local communities. Co-design activities included the decision on layout of the garden boxes in cooperation with Coldiretti as the main actor using the space for the local produce market. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed community engagement. Once personal meetings resumed, a plan was drawn up for engaging citizens in co-designing the space to raise citizens’ interest in the NbS.

The public meetings focused on communication, animation and education activities about key objectives of the proGIreg project, taking place every Friday afternoon for 6 weeks in the summer 2021 (each Friday involving a different stakeholder, already engaged in the NbS) and during the Coldiretti farmers market. The community engagement process has been organized together with Fondazione Mirafiori, Coldiretti, UNITO,
Associazione Parco del Nobile and other informal groups (e.g. “metropolitan pollinators network) and Centro Scienza (an educational center, that works at City scale).
The same initiatives were replicated in summer 2022 with the same partners.

Potential impacts/benefits:

Major achievements are listed below:

Stakeholder engagement, in particular of Fondazione di Comunità Mirafiori (as main local actor able to facilitate citizens participation in future); Coldiretti, as main guardian of the space
Creating a community engagement method (communication plan, social and cultural entertainment plan of the space, organising training activities for the management group, and initiating a Pact of collaboration)
In August 2020, holding laboratories with children together with Centro Scienze
In summer 2021 and summer 2022, holding laboratories with children together with Centro Scienze for more than 6 weeks
Since spring 2021, the garden is opened to the public for many educational, recreational, training and therapeutic activities, thanks to the cooperation between parties who signed the collaboration pact and a number of other local groups (associations, cooperatives, citizens), see https://fondazionemirafiori.it/spazio-wow
Requalification of the outdoor area in front of the building with the “pollinator garden” has allowed renovating two small rooms inside the building for indoor activities in support of the garden’s management.
The location has been renamed in “spazio wow”
Land management issues and accessibility to green spaces for citizens have returned the space to collective use. leading to greater social cohesion and improved public health. The produced honey builds local value chains while fostering biodiversity in urban areas and improves the overall green infrastructure network in the Mirafiori district.

NbS benefits