The “Water in circulation” project is underway which will see ENEA and the Municipality of Bologna collaborate together with citizens to identify new savings solutions and circular use of water resources. The initiative, which falls within the scope of the European project NiCE, will be at the center of an event that will take place tomorrow June 19th Bologna in the presence of the ENEA researcher Francesca Cappellaro, the municipal councilor Daniele Ara, the president of the Porto-Saragozza district Lorenzo Cipriani and representatives of ANCI Emilia-Romagna, the Hera Group and the University of Bologna.
As an area of intervention for the pilot project the Porto-Zaragoza district has been identified where from September researchers and institutions will organize workshops aimed at citizens and students to encourage the transition towards more sustainable and conscious lifestyles and consumption, with a focus on water resources. “We will create participatory and citizen science paths for the co-design and self-construction of do-it-yourself solutions for the collection and reuse of rainwater that people can use in their homes, in private gardens but also in urban green areas such as, for example, example, urban gardens”, explains Francesca Cappellaro, ENEA researcher in the Support Section for the coordination of Circular Economy activities and responsible for the NiCE project for the Agency. “Our laboratories – continues the researcher – will strengthen an awareness already present among citizens; in fact, in Bologna, we have already identified several good practices for circular water management”.
Among the initiatives mapped by ENEA, for example, “Porto Verde di Bologna” (winning project of the Participatory Budget), “Terracini in Transition” (the living lab of the School of Engineering of the University of Bologna), “Serra Acquaponica” of the Giardini Margherita, “Urban Living Lab of Bologna” of Reciproco and “Impronta Blu” project of the HERA Group and the Municipality of Bologna.
“Water in circulation” – explains the note – is a pilot initiative of the project NiCE, which relies on EU funding of over 2 million euros and aims to implement circular business and water consumption solutions and models on a pilot scale in seven European cities. The EU project is coordinated by the German Environment Agency in collaboration with ENEA for Italy and eight other European partners (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, ENVIROS, StadtLabor Graz, Bistra, RIC Pro-Akademia, Creative Industry Košice and Municipality of Brzeg Dolny).
