Day 1, Monday: 23.09.2024
The exciting visit to Rome began with a meeting with the rest of the group after a pleasant flight. We got to know each other and exchanged views over dinner, and were able to see the diversity of purposes that led us there.
Day 2, Tuesday: 24.09.2024
The day began with an early visit to Rome’s environmental offices. It was an idyllic site that represented what the city was meant to be. A harmonious reconciliation of green spaces and buildings.
Sabrina Alfonsi received us there, very kind and attentive to the questions we were able to ask her. It was very interesting to us that official bodies were looking at the importance of urban community gardens with the right dimension.
After a brief and intense meeting we went to Garbatella and visited the community gardens in the park. In the afternoon, we went to the gardens of Valle de Casali and ‘Arvalia’. The latter are very close geographically and separated by the difference in the nature of the soil on which they are developed. ‘Valle de Casali’ is built on public land and “Arvalia” on private land. It was curious to discover that under the conditions of the community garden regulation this activity can also take place on private land..
Day 3, Wednesday: 25.09.2024
Wednesday morning was entirely taken up with a visit to the FAO headquarters. It was a very interesting visit, as normally the general population does not take into account the number of people working and the dimension that global development work and diplomacy between nations takes on. It is clear that in the design of the headquarters they wanted to make this dimension clear and they succeeded in doing so. Both the building and the staff who served us conveyed the priority of collaboration between nations for global sustainable development to try to ensure that the right to proper nutrition is realised for all the world’s citizens. Great work.
In the afternoon we headed to the northern part of the city to visit the orchards ‘Monte Ciocci’ and ‘via della Consolata’. Both orchards were in exceptional condition. Everything was very well cared for and cooperative between the members of the community, although, in very different styles, both were interesting in this respect.
Day 4, Thursday: 26.09.2024
The day started near the accommodation with a visit to the Comissione Ambiente. There we were able to see how official bodies and representatives of the people’s voice are working together to shape a new and updated regulation for urban community gardens. Then we went to ‘Ort-9’.
This time the garden had a large amount of materials and infrastructures thanks to a higher collection model than the gardens we are used to. It was interesting how they organised the use of community goods and spaces.
In the afternoon we visited the ‘Valle dell’Aniene’ and ‘Aguzzano’ allotments. The first one seemed to us to be located in an idyllic space. It did not at all give the impression of being in a city as big and bustling as Rome. The second one, personally, was the one I was most interested in because of its community syntrophic garden. They were very kind to us and attentive to our questions.
Day 5, Friday: 27.09.2024
All the places were interesting on this visit, but without a doubt, because of its social work, the Garibaldi Cooperative was one of the projects with the most content that we visited. We went early and spent the morning there. They explained to us all the infrastructure they had aimed at visualisation and coexistence with autistic people. Afterwards, they offered us a delicious lunch in their restaurant.
In the afternoon we visited two more orchards, ‘Orti Urbani della GRU’ and ‘Tor Tre Teste’. It was normal that after the whole week and the visit to the Garibaldi co-operative the tiredness was already starting to show. Even so, we enjoyed the spaces and the stories of the people who participated in the communities.
Day 6, Saturday: 28.09.2024
In the morning we had an interesting evaluation session, followed by a guided tour of the centre of Rome. It was a great day.
Conclusions
It has been a very enriching experience with a great organisation. The coexistence with the companions was magnificent and without a doubt, I return to Seville full of ideas and motivation to continue working on the improvement of our urban community gardens and environmental education for citizens.
Thanks to Mattia, Carlotta, Andrea and the organisation of the Andalusia project.
