At the Science and Technology Campus of the University of Parma and at the Valserena Abbey, the management of greenery is changing, in particular of lawn spaces.
The University of Parma, similarly to other European and Italian cities, is also launching a new meadow management program aimed at increasing sustainability by increasing biodiversity and the accumulation of carbon in the soil. This comes after a 4-year experiment, designed and conducted by Alessandro Petraglia, professor of Botany and Plant Biodiversity and Rector’s Delegate for environmental sustainability, and by the research team in Geobotany and Plant Ecology of the Department of Chemical, Life and Human Sciences. Environmental Sustainability, with the collaboration of the Botanical Garden and the technicians of the University’s Construction and Infrastructure Area.
The new protocol provides for a lower number of mowings than what has been put into practice to date and the maintenance of some areas which will be periodically left to freely evolve. In correspondence with these areas, a regularly mown strip of at least 2 meters will be guaranteed, to avoid inconvenience to people near walkways, sidewalks, buildings and car parks. The interventions will lead to the creation of large islands of vegetation in areas not used by people and subjected to mowing in the months of April, May, June and September, with different and modifiable frequencies in the event that specific monitoring highlights any specific complications.
Near the most frequented areas, signs will be displayed by the University Botanical Garden intended to illustrate the initiative, also raising awareness among visitors and occasional visitors. In fact, the intervention seeks to promote the best possible balance between the naturalistic component and enjoyment by all the people who frequent the University’s green spaces. The choice is based on the same scientific indications in support of biodiversity that many institutions are putting into practice and is part of the initiatives activated by the Sustainable University Group to progressively reduce the environmental and climate impact of the University.
From an environmental point of view, this management of meadow spaces favors the spontaneous formation of native species and the increase in biodiversity, facilitates the presence of pollinators, reduces emissions caused by cutting vehicles and the water demands of the soil, helping to retain greater humidity , it also increases carbon sequestration in soils and mitigates the effect of heat islands. The intervention will allow a small saving which will be quantified at the end of the first year and can be invested in the management of trees and in the setting up of street furniture or in other activities that can contribute to improving the use of the University’s green spaces.
The areas with reduced mowing and free evolution will become open-air classrooms for the educational activities that the Botanical Garden carries out for the city schools and will also be used as field laboratories where students of naturalistic, environmental degree courses and landscaping will be able to observe how the principles of ecology, which they learn in class, can be applied to carry out interventions aimed at managing ecosystems in a more sustainable way, including those in which people and nature must find a balance of coexistence.
“These choices also go in the direction of sustainability, which constitutes one of the priority lines of action in recent years for the University. I would like to underline that in this way too the University looks not only at itself and its academic community but also at the city and the territory, trying to be an example and aiming to reduce pollution and environmental impact”, explains the Rector Paolo Martelli, who adds: “My heartfelt thanks go to all the people who have worked and are working on this project, with commitment, dedication and passion: Prof Alessandro Petraglia and the Sustainable University Group, the research team in Geobotany and Plant Ecology of Department of Chemical, Life and Environmental Sustainability Sciences, prof. Renato Bruni with the staff of the Botanical Garden, the technicians of the University’s Building and Infrastructure Area. Thanks to each and everyone.”
