ENEA organized the kickoff event of the Bologna pilot initiative “Acqua in Circolo”, part of the Interreg Central Europe NiCE project that will see the collaboration of ENEA and the Municipality of Bologna together with citizens in order to identify new solutions for saving and circular use of water resources.
The area identified for the activities of “Acqua in Circolo” pilot project is the Porto-Saragozza district where researchers and institutions will involve citizens and students and all possible stakeholders adopting an Urban Living Lab approach.
The event took place on June 19 in Bologna at the Casa di Quartiere Centro Costa (Porto-Saragazza District Center) in the presence of the Councilor Daniele Ara of the Municipality of Bologna, Lorenzo Cipriani, president of the Porto-Saragozza District, Alessandro Rossi, Director of Energy and environmental policies – ANCI Emilia-Romagna and also other local stakeholders working on the circular management of water resources issues, including Metropolitan City of Bologna, Pietro Giacomo Rusconi Foundation, Villa Ghigi, for Urban Innovation, the Municipality of Monte San Pietro, Hera Group, the University of Bologna, Dei Mignoli Teatre Association, Aquaponic Design, BackBO Association.
The objective of the event was to present the participatory process that will involve citizens on the topic of circular economy with a focus on water resources.
The event opened by presenting and describing some of the initiatives related to the circular management of water resources already underway in the city of Bologna and selected by ENEA as NiCE project good practices.
In the second part of the event there was an active involvement of citizens who interacted directly, through participation in discussion tables, with representatives and experts of some of the initiatives already mapped by ENEA including:
– “Il Porto Verde di Bologna”, a participatory project leaded by citizen associations of Porto-Saragozza district
– “Terracini in Transizione”, the Living Lab of University of Bologna School of Engineering
– “La Serra Aquaponica”, aquaponic greenhouse in Margherita Gardens by Aquaponic Design
– “RECiProCo”, Bologna Urban Living Lab with focus on circular water consumption
– “Impronta Blu” water resource saving solutions designed by the HERA Group.
Finally, ENEA presented how to participate in workshops activities that will start next Autumn aimed at encouraging the transition towards more sustainable and conscious lifestyles and consumption of water resources. During the workshops, citizens will allow the self-construction of do-it-yourself solutions for the collection and reuse of rainwater.
Citizens were directly involved both by filling out a Survey on circular economy habits and by directly writing post-it notes at the end of the visit to the stands. They answered the questions “what have I discovered” and “what would I like to find in my territory”.
The analysis of the responses revealed the desire to delve deeper into Nature Based Solution (such as green roofs), circular water consumption and co-design approach.