Expert article
Modifier 19 February 2021
by Daniela PATTI UIA Expert

A Junglathon to imagine your urban forest

Junglathon
Illustration Macrolotto 0 © Elisa Viglianese
The City of Prato is experimenting urban forestation strategies through the Prato Urban Jungle (PUJ) project . The project foresees three pilot areas where the forestation strategies have been discussed with local inhabitants through a series of Junglathon participatory workshops. Under the current social distancing conditions the methodology has proved to be a courageous effort to ensure civic engagement in the discussion over the future of the city.

Nature takes care of us, and we take care of nature

Arch. Valerio Barberis, Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning and Environment of the City of Prato.

 

Prato Urban Jungle (PUJ) project placed itself along this blueprint, and aims to re-naturalize three diverse districts of the city in a sustainable, inclusive and participatory way by introducing areas with high green density – urban jungle – in the built environment. Urban jungles will be developed in three specific areas of the city of Prato.

Associated media

Partager

Consortium

The partnership of Prato Urban Jungle is complex and heterogeneous, with the Municipality of Prato as the lead member. PNAT and Boeri Associates have taken care of the design phase. Particularly, PNAT is composed by designers and plant scientists that use the comprehension of plants patterns and behaviours to inspire innovative design concepts and products, and this project will be involved in the designing phase of the urban jungles and in testing their green benefits. While Boeri Associates operate in the fields of architecture, urban design and urban planning all around the world with a focus on the use of green in architecture. Legambiente Toscana enhances awareness and educates the new generations towards a healthy and sustainable environment. The institute of Bioeconomy of the National Centre of Research, known for their innovative environmental monitoring system, will be collecting environmental data, and ESTRA will be managing all of the data. Then, Treedom and Greenapes will get involved; two enterprises that aim for a green and sustainable society by planting plants around the world and giving rewards for eco-friendly behaviours. And lastly, Co-design Toscana, a cultural association with experts of design, architecture and citizen engagement and participatory processes will develop new ideas with citizens to be implemented through co-creation sessions.

Consortium
Figure 4. Partnership of Prato Urban Jungle © author's elaboration

 

JunglathonLAB

The Junglathon represents a fundamental path of the Prato Urban Jungle project, dedicated to the participation and involvement of citizens. The core focus of the Junglathon is the co-design workshops held from the 25th to 27th of September. Co-Design Toscana, through an innovative approach applied to a design thinking process, involved the citizens of the Soccorso and Macrolotto 0 neighbourhoods in the Junglathon path, aimed at raising awareness, citizen participation, civic imagination and co-planning of sustainable urban futures.

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