our November 21st park
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
November 21, 2020 – National Tree’s Day: about 40 people from the “Voce degli Alberi” and other environmental groups, manage to plant more than 70 trees: they provide supporting rods, tie the tree labels and put meshes around the young trunks, stretch fertilizer, cover with mulch. Even local Environment Councilor bring his own spade and dig some holes. April 23, 2021: Carlo – entrepreneur, friend of us – come up with a great idea: an automatic watering system. “XXI November Park" was born!
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Last October 2020, representative members of our environmentalist association struck a deal with the local Ferrara Council administration in order to locate a piece of land suitable for housing a new plantation of native trees – mainly Yews (Taxus Baccata), Oaks (Quercus Robur Farnia), Narrow-leafed Ashes ( Fraxinus Angustifolia), Blackthorns (Prunus). … We – the “Voce degli Alberi” (literally, The Voice of the Trees) – were looking for an area in the southern part of our Town, as we strongly want to protect it. Concrete is threatening to spread through Ferrara in that area. Eventually, we were given the chance to reforest a portion of land, just in front of the Mercatone Uno Store, a task we were really proud of. Then the “Voce degli Alberi” started searching for other supporters, and we did easily find them: “Friday for Future”, “Fare Verde”, “Plastic Free”, all decided to join us. On one occasion, even the local Councilor for the Environment brought his own spade and dug some holes. In November 21, 2020 – National Tree’s Day - about 40 people managed to plant more than 70 trees, provided supporting rods, tied the tree labels around the young trunks, put meshes around those young stems, stretched fertilizer, covered with mulch, … all done with great love and care. Emilia Romagna dept. provided the trees. Ferrara local administration supplied all needed materials but they were not able to ensure the maintenance of this new park. Nevertheless, our team members did not resign. We afforded the time to find a good solution! In fact, in April 2021 we had already come up with some new ideas but we needed some sort of clever finishing: we got hold of tanks and water cans but six people had yet to work for two hours in order to take care of 70 small trees! Later in May, our friend Carlo – an environmental businessman - managed to set up an automatic self-watering system: almost perfect! A video shot of Carlo's first attempt shows such a smart job
Key objectives for sustainability
1) begin reforesting the city of Ferrara: for the first time, people have been taking care of replacing concrete with trees in the southern edge of the town; 2) put people, local – Ferrara - and Regional department– Emilia Romagna - administration and private entrepreneurs working around together and creating some green breakthrough: all actors were involved in making a good job, not for money but for environment; 3) enhance the effectiveness of multiple free time donation: different capabilities and power nuances added worth and found out synergies; 4) make volunteering associations working together without chauvinism: the different environmental groups started to work together, developing a new vision of participated democracy. This is still going on and on, now that the “rete giustizia climatica” (literally. “climatic justice network”) has been formed
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The land we were given is almost a triangular sector along one of the main ring road of our city, so - basically - all trees will be seen from each point of view. The project area is located in a fringe area of the city, characterized by the presence of large compounds of large-scale retail trade and car parking. The new public park will serve as an aesthetic quality element in the large-scale retail trade landscape. Moreover, we had plenty of lavender tufts, they are a presents from Imperia, Liguria, and we're now planting them, in order to give a violet color spot, that catch the eye. A little plaque will be put up in our "XXI November, 2020 park": we will be proud of organizing a big celebration - local authorities, entrepreneurs, common citizens -, soon after the easing of pandemic restrictions, which is supposed to be imminent.
Key objectives for inclusion
We - the Voice of the Trees - published an inviting, engrossing, challenging and full-colored post on our Facebook page, where we invited all citizens to the allocated plantation field. No specific skills were required, just gloves, robust shoes and … plenty of good will and love for the trees! As a matter of fact, at the rendez-vous on November 21, 2020, we were honored to welcome people that we had never met before. They have now joined our association based on free membership. Dario, one of our most active planting men with strong gardening skills, taught the newcomers how to carry out the job at its best, in such a way that nobody was expected to perform the task on their own. All those who would like to improve our green area are now more than welcomed.
Results in relation to category
Right before the planting activity took place, some friends of ours, members of the P.F.A. (Plastic Free Association), went to the designated area in order to remove all waste from. Thus, they avoided that plastics and wastewater reach the sewer and eventually waterways and the sea. Now that the young trees are growing, our park is thriving amid the surrounding concrete, more and more, day by day. In a couple of years, residents of that town quarter will be able to enjoy better air quality. What's more, some plants turn out to be attractive for bees and for butterflies, so that the biodiversity will be considerably enhanced thanks to our XXI November Park, 2020. Finally, to sum up, a section of urban space in the outskirts of the town has been regenerated by a handful of volunteers who also managed to landscape a degraded area right next to an abandoned building, formerly a department store, waiting to be refurbished or demolished.
How Citizens benefit
Since December 2020, thousands of citizens have kept coming to a big Sars-Covid 19 Vaccination hub, very close to the newly planted field. What they have witnessed passing by is a park full of young trees in an area potentially prone to be overlooked and not cared for, because of abandoned former commercial buildings in a suburban part of the town. They have all spotted a nicely landscaped area instead of a degraded section of the town, a clean environment instead of waste and dirt. Dozens of citizens directly involved in the project and many more witnessing its progress have been made aware of an environmental improvement eventually leading to a greater environmental awareness , both in terms of urban quality and climate change tackling. A project which has also been mentioned and praised in the local press . So all in all we believe that the 21 November Park has contributed to raise environmental awareness in our town.
Innovative character
Honestly speaking, such a project had never been made before in Ferrara. A group of citizens asking to reclaim a decaying suburban area and turn it into a green area, giving it back to nature. Moreover, this initiative has directly involved the "R.G.C. Rete della Giustizia Climatica" (Climate Justice Network) , an environmental local network made of 19 different environmental associations , including The Voice of the Trees. We are all concerned about the threat of climate change. Furthermore, we believe in active, direct and participative democracy as a tool to score the goal of climate justice. The R.G.C. network allows citizens to share their choices, and aims at facilitating the local administration to take decisions. Towards the end of 2020, the R.G.G. network was granted recognition by the local Councilor for the Environment and in April 2021 a new public agreement dealing with rules and regulations of urban green areas and maintenance was approved by the city council. As far as we are concerned, we consider that a great achievement which will have an impact on the managing of green urban areas of our town in the future.
