Good practice:

GREENWAYS

Rural and peri-urban areas of Reggio Emilia often lack direct and sustainable connections either with core places of social life inside each village (parish, school, sports facilities, etc.), between nearby villages or with core urban functions located in the City centre.
The Municipality of Reggio Emilia identified solutions to the mobility issues affecting each village/neighbourhood through the so-called “Neighbourhood Labs” with local communities: the general objective that was shared was to complete/refurbish a dense network of rural tracks, comprising river/creeks levees, cart roads of farms and other paths and tracks in private properties, instead of planning investments in further road infrastructures.
This good practice addresses several needs:
- to identify solutions for a soft mobility and functional connection in peri-urban areas, while at the same time preserving their ecological values
- to stimulate social cohesion in more peripheral and rural areas through activities and initiatives geared towards the valorisation of local heritage
- to improve the liveability of peri-urban areas for both for residents and visitors/tourists
- to innovate city governance by engaging citizens and CSOs in city management and policy formulation through the signature of the “Citizenship Agreements”, detailing the commitments of the Municipality, CSOs, citizens and other public/private stakeholders willing to develop and share new model solutions for sustainable mobility.

Realization doesn’t involve large investments. An agreement was signed with the Italian Alpine Club of 4,000 € per year for major maintenance, the laying of signs and promotional activities on the paths and greenways of its competence. Minor maintenance activities are performed by CSOs, volunteers.

More than 80 km of alternative pedestrian and cycle paths refurbished and endowed with signage
• Increased number and type of users
• Improved cooperation networks between different CSOs of the area
• Engagement of individual volunteers, CSOs and associations in territorial management
• Lower costs and shorter intervention times for the public administration
• Constant monitoring and joint identification of problems
• Improved citizens’ awareness of the natural value of the area

Some challenges are link to architectural barriers and practicability problems due to weather conditions.
In addition, sometimes there are conflicts with overlapped properties and difficult to find an agreement with private individuals.
Withdraw of volunteers creates problem to the maintenance of

The key factors of this practice is the positive response of citizens and various stakeholders in participating in the creation of political actions for the management of the city.
As a first step, a citizenship agreement was formalised, i.e. a participatory process that would create involvement of all local actors in the creation and maintenance of greenways.
Without this process it would not have been possible to create more than 80 km of natural roads, nor would it have been possible to maintain them. In fact, the maintenance is currently carry out by the Municipality, volunteers and other local associations.
This good practice satisfies the sustainable mobility needs of citizens living in these peri-urban areas and represents a good model for the development and knowledge of the territory from a tourist and naturalistic point of view.