POLITECNICO DI MILANO CONVIVIAL GARDEN, ITALY
January 2012 – Present

In the Italian spirit, the Coltivando "Orto Conviviale", or convivial, Community Garden is a place for meeting and joyous occasions at Politecnico di Milano, a world leading design university in Milan, Italy. Emily Samuels-Ballantyne, director of Urban Reforestation, assisted the university in creating the beautiful Coltivando Community Garden.  This garden aims to provide educational programs that support not only exploration and academic inquiry but also engage the local community in sustainable lifestyles. This garden is a catalyst for related projects both locally and internationally.

Coltivando is a project co-designed by local residents and the POLIMI DESIS (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) research lab through workshops conducted to decide the rules and layout of a community garden. The POLIMI DESIS lab is part of the university's INDACO department, a world leading hub for sustainable design. Students working in the project are highly motivated and are creating some brilliant models and ideas to activate community gardens in many more places around the world.