P.eriferie in Milan. A football pitch. A basketball court, with a large patterned floor. A row of colorful seats to watch games and chat. A fence, to delimit the space and allow autistic children to play safely. Crepe embellished with golden resin, according to the kintsugi technique. And then swings and areas for free play. We are at Garden of wishes at the Corvettooutskirts of Milan: a space first dreamed of, then designed and created by the children ofComprehensive Filzi Institutewhich is right in front. Regeneration started with children but was shared and supported step by step, through a thousand efforts, by the adult community. And it has made livable, cheerful and safe what until a few years ago was an abandoned land on the edge of the city.
Milan: the regeneration of the suburbs starts with children. Here a Spaziopensiero laboratory. Photo Marco Menghi.
The Garden of Wishes, inaugurated in June, is one of the pilot projects of A small pacts carried out in the context of The city aroundthe Cariplo Foundation program which seeks to involve the inhabitants of fragile neighborhoods to redesign unused areas. From October, A piccolo patti restarts on a larger scale, involving a school in every Milanese municipality (with the exception of the first, the one in the center).
The model of collaboration agreements
The idea is to adapt the model of gods to children collaboration agreements that in Milan are giving good results (there are dozens of them, the list is on the Municipality website): «They are agreements in which the participants decide to take care of a common goodlike a square or a garden, and take responsibility for it»Explains Michela Latino of the association Labsus. «First a network of relationships is built between the institutions – Municipality, Municipalities, schools, neighborhood associations, families – then it is signed and it is carried out. The Garden of Wishes in Town Hall 4 and Porta Adriano, in Town Hall 2, were among the first in Italy to be signed, obviously in a symbolic way, by children ».
Not at all symbolic but completely substantial was their participation in the project. It was the little ones who guided the adults. “They are a great engine for adults, they stimulate them,” adds Latino. “It is not enough to create a garden for it to become a lived space. What makes the difference is the active participation of the community ». Even the most innovative project starts with a missing piece, if it is lowered from above. If, on the other hand, it starts from the bottom, and if it is gradually enriched with ideas and enthusiasm, then it can work and improve the quality of life in a neighborhood.
Milan: the regeneration of the suburbs starts with children but everyone does their part
The Secret Garden project was born at the Filzi institute during the workshops organized by Spaziopensiero onlus: «We involved some fourth grade classes» says the sociologist of childhood Maurizio Murino, «taking them on a patrol in the neighborhood, so that they could identify the area to be restored». The choice fell on the one in front of the school, where there was already a playground next to an uncultivated space. “Some activities were done with families, such as painting the fence, in others the associations helped us, for example to plant trees. Italia nostra arranged the ground for the soccer field, Cartoon Network made the drawings. In collaboration agreements, everyone does their part, citizens do not replace institutions. The Garden works because the area associations organize events, readings, and the school uses it for outdoor teaching ».
In this story, the school plays a fundamental role. At the Filzi institute, 90 percent of the children have non-Italian parents. Until a few weeks ago there was a Roma camp nearby, now dismantled. “We are in a neighborhood of strong immigration, we consider it a wealth,” says the manager, Claudia Giordano. Openness, participation, inclusion are the reference words in this multi-ethnic reality: «A little girl once asked me, almost incredulous: ‘Are you only Italian?’». Very little traditional teaching is done in the classrooms, replaced by more engaging, active laboratory activities. The teachers were immediately enthusiastic about A small pacts, they did training and transmitted their energy to the children.
Milan: the Spaziopensiero workshop with children who regenerate the suburbs. Photo by Marco Menghi.
From the pedagogical point of view, the positive effects were important: «By signing the collaboration agreement, we are committed to fulfilling the wishes of our students. At the same time, we have taught them to have faith in institutions and adults, ”continues the executive. Now the children know that in front of the school there is a space with rules, and they feel responsible for it. They go out to give us lessons or play after school. They developed a strong sense of belonging. A true experience of education for citizenship and democracy.
Milan: regeneration stops vandalism
Another positive consequence, even if indirect, has to do with early school leaving: “If adults make school live as an asset, a place where they have experiences that they would not otherwise have, children understand that it is important to attend it., which is a precious resource “. The most complicated and “not perfectly successful” part, according to the manager, was the involvement of the parents. “We have not always reached them, despite the support of the Institute Council, also because not everyone has the tools to follow their children. But we do not give up: we are carrying out specific projects for them, through the school library ».
Another problem, more difficult to solve, is that of vandalism: one of the two basketball baskets was stolen. The ladies of the Magliando neighborhood association had made with the children some knitted squares that had been hung on the fence for the inauguration, but even those could not resist. A bad blow, for the morale of adults.
Suburbs and children: never lose heart
Yet, this time too the answer came from the children. At Municipio 2, in the Adriano district, the other pilot project involved the refurbishment of a square and the creation of a pedestrian path towards the Bottego school. To protect pedestrians, the children had asked and obtained to put flower boxes. Unfortunately, the plants have disappeared. «The adults were unmotivated» recalls Michela Latino of Labsus. «The little ones, on the other hand, did not lose heart. They prepared flyers and went around the neighborhood asking adults, especially shopkeepers, to give away plants. The response exceeded all expectations. Everyone has done their utmost. In the end there were so many plants that the children brought them to school ».
Now in Municipalities 2 and 4 the project continues, while in the others it is starting. “We will involve 4/5 classes from each school, several hundred children. We will start with those of the fourth, leading them to explore the territory. Until December we will work to bring out their proposals. Then they will move on to projects, where they will express their ideas with drawings, with Legos, with photos, helped by the teachers »explains Murino. The schools that are joining are those that are located in the most delicate suburban contexts, with high school dropout rates.
Meanwhile, as each Collaboration Pact pulls another, the Path of Biodiversity is now in the works at Corvetto, to which the Polytechnic also collaborates, which should unite two schools, Filzi and Wolf Ferrari. In corso Lodi, thanks to the collaboration between inhabitants, associations and traders, a green oasis was born, the Mile of the butterflies. A virtuous circuit that works because things are done, relationships are mended. “We must look after the sparks that arise” concludes Murino. “Sometimes they go out, others light up. Those of children are the most precious, because they indicate a more inclusive and liveable city model ».
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED