Emanuele SalminDear All,
We would also like to express the interest of the Municipality of Mantua (Italy) in joining the partnership being developed for Interreg Euro-MED Call 8 Green Living Areas.
The Municipality of Mantua has extensive experience in European projects and transnational cooperation, including projects focused on urban regeneration, sustainability, climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. For example, Mantua has participated in the Horizon 2020 Urban GreenUP project, developing and applying approaches for urban renaturalisation and nature-based solutions, and is currently involved in several European initiatives related to sustainable urban development. Our dedicated Project Development and Fundraising Office also works actively on the preparation and management of European projects and on European networking and exchange of good practices.
We see a particularly strong connection between the proposed project and our local context because Mantua already has several urban community gardens and cultivated green spaces that are actively used by local residents. We would be interested not simply in creating a new pilot from scratch, but in using the project to improve, strengthen and potentially expand these existing spaces, introducing new solutions related to biodiversity, climate resilience, water management, accessibility, community participation and environmental education.
This could provide a very concrete pilot experience for the consortium: starting from existing community gardens and testing how they can evolve into more multifunctional green community spaces, combining food production, social interaction, biodiversity, wellbeing and climate adaptation.
Mantua has a particularly interesting territorial setting for this purpose. The historic city is closely connected to the Mincio River and is surrounded by three interconnected lakes, which form a distinctive blue-green system around the urban area. The city therefore has a strong relationship between its historic urban fabric, water, peri-urban landscapes and natural areas. The Municipality is also already working on climate adaptation, urban greenery and nature-based solutions, including interventions around the lakes and activities aimed at increasing citizens’ awareness and involvement in climate-related issues. We believe that the Mantua pilot could complement the experiences already emerging in the partnership, bringing an Italian urban and peri-urban perspective and, in particular, the opportunity to work on existing community gardens and transform them into more resilient, inclusive and multifunctional green spaces.
We would therefore be very interested in discussing how Mantua could contribute to the consortium, both as a pilot territory and as a partner bringing experience in European project management, stakeholder engagement and urban sustainability.
We would be pleased to exchange further and explore possible synergies with the other partners.
Best regards,
Emanuele Salmin
Eu project coordinators
Municipality of Mantuva e-mail progetti@comune.mantova.it
