Are you interested in the topics of Urban Gardening? “Utopic Urban Garden” is a Volunteering workcamp funded by European Solidarity Corps programme of the European Union, taking place in Rome from the 27th of May to the 11th June 2024
La Città dell’Utopia
“La Città dell’Utopia” (Utopia City) is a project of SCI Italy located in Rome (San Paolo neighborhood) inside the Casale Garibaldi, an old country house located on a green hill in the middle of modern buildings.
The project is an ongoing workshop on active citizenship and local development. There are different events, initiatives, courses and workshops organized around different main themes: interculturality, sustainable lifestyles, antifascism and active citizenship. In recent years, work has been done to improve accessibility to the garden areas to enhance the plant richness that surrounds the farmhouse and enjoy the green spaces.
La Città dell’Utopia entrance, 2023
Utopic Urban Garden
Urban gardening is the practice of growing plants, fruits, and vegetables in urban areas. There are an immeasurable number of benefits when it comes to urban gardening: reducing food miles, promoting healthy eating, improving air quality, and providing green spaces for communities.
The garden of La Città dell’utopia is a wonderful green space in the middle of the urban context, which has meant for many people social co-planning for the protection and preservation of the medium environment. In this small green island in the city, communities of people active on social and political issues coexist with animal species that find refuge where, in the urban environment, they are much more subject to urban impact.
The garden was built thanks to the passion and commitment of local activists, enriching itself with a botanical collection of Mediterranean and exotic plants. Even now a group of activists takes care of it by continuing to add new plants
Utopic Urban Garden Workcamp is part of a process of participatory construction through voluntary work with the aim of improving the accessibility of the garden. In addition to local activists, more than 50 international volunteers participated in this evolution.
The next step is to continue maintaining the trails and building facilities for community activities. Furthermore, the study of the botanical species present in the garden will also be important. With the aim of making the garden usable, it also means describing it through the creation of labels and a map of the plants.
The Workcamp
The Camp will be divided in two parts: a study part and a more practical one working in the garden.
Activities
During the workcamp, the volunteers will have a workload of around 6 hours per day. The main activities will be:
-Continue the build the path and sheet metal terracing
– Build boxes with the reclaimed wood
– Create labels for the trees and plants of “La Città dell’Utopia”
– Organizing a public event open to all the neighborhood
– Study visits: partners of SCI and “La Città dell’Utopia”
Study Part
The study part will be dedicated to naturalistic research in the garden to begin to build a collection of observations useful for reflecting on the importance of green areas in the city. Furthermore, a map of the botanical species present will be built and labels will be installed in the garden to identify them along the path.
At “La Città dell’Utopia”, the volunteers will also have the chance to meet the group of volunteers who take care of the garden and the farmers of the Terra Terra project. It will be an opportunity to learn the history of the garden and other projects present in the Rome area.
During the study part, there will be visits to agricultural cooperatives in which “La Città dell’Utopia” is a partner.
Requirements
- Interest in gardening
- Group working skills
- Interest in organizing and creating events
- Artistic and manual skills
- Motivation for cooking and gardening
- Basic cooking skills
- Being under 30 years old.
How to apply?
Read carefully the complete call: Call for participants
We ask you to fill out this form and send your and Motivation Letter to the mail formazione@sci-italia.it until the 28th of April 2024 . We invite you to apply as soon as possible (all applications will be processed on arrival order).