URBAGRI Project: a European MOOC on urban agriculture

Urban agriculture takes various forms, ranging from the management of public green spaces and urban allotments to the planning of policies on food, social cohesion and the ecological transition of local areas. With the aim of analysing these dynamics, EStà – Economia e Sostenibilità hosted its international partners Les Cols Verts (France) and RUAF (the Netherlands) in Milan and Rome.

The working meeting took place as part of URBAGRI+, a project co-funded by the European Erasmus+ programme. The aim of the collaboration is both scientific and operational: to develop a MOOC (a free online course open to all) on urban agriculture at European level, based on the analysis and adaptation of a training programme already in place in France.

Why is there a need for European training on urban agriculture?

The URBAGRI+ project was launched to address specific regional differences. Urban agriculture exhibits distinct characteristics across different regions of Europe, depending on climatic conditions, national regulatory frameworks and varying socio-economic contexts.

In this initial study phase, the partnership is working to understand how to tailor the training content to two main target groups:

• Citizens, to deepen their understanding of the environmental and social benefits associated with agricultural practices in cities.
• Public decision-makers and local technical experts, who require knowledge-based and planning tools to integrate agriculture into local policies.

By comparing different European contexts – from north to south, from east to west – the aim is to map training needs, gather significant local experiences and establish a network for scientific cooperation (as a precursor to a future Erasmus+ KA220 partnership) that makes training accessible at a transnational level.

EStà’s contribution: from theory to local practice

Within the project, EStà is responsible for the scientific and methodological aspects. Our role consists of collaborating on the design of the course content and acting as a link between European theoretical models and the field analysis of the Italian context.

During the Milan sessions, we guided the partners on an observational tour to illustrate how agriculture in Milan has deep-rooted historical origins and specific social functions, which can be analysed in particular through the system of farmsteads.

The stages of the study tour:

• Cascina Cuccagna: an example of historic restoration, urban regeneration and social farming within the urban context of Milan. This site holds direct methodological value for our research group, as it houses EStà’s offices, providing daily insight into the dynamics of integration between the city and agricultural practices.
• Cascina Nascosta: the meeting with Elena Grandi, Councillor for the Environment and Green Spaces at Milan City Council, and with representatives from Legambiente Lombardia, enabled us to analyse the strategies of Milan’s public administration regarding urban agriculture and afforestation.
• Cascina Campazzo: situated in the peri-urban agricultural park, where Andrea Falappi outlined the management of traditional peri-urban agriculture, the protection of the agricultural landscape and local dairy production on the outskirts of the metropolitan area.

Agroecology and institutions: from Milan to Rome

The fieldwork in Milan also included a visit to Soulfood Forestfarms, a project focused on urban agroforestry and agroecological practices. This serves as a useful case study for the scientific analysis of land use and biodiversity, with the data to be incorporated into the MOOC modules.

The tour continued in Rome, where, together with Les Cols Verts and RUAF, we visited the FAO. The discussion with Guido Santini provided an opportunity to broaden the analysis to include urban food policies on a global scale. Finally, we analysed the social farming project ‘Vivere in’, which operates on the outskirts of Rome.

Future developments

The data collected, the interviews and the video footage recorded during the visits will form the documentary basis for the online course modules. For EStà, URBAGRI+ represents a key component of its research activities focused on lifelong learning, the ecological transition and the dissemination of innovative teaching methodologies.

The analysis of local policies and the mapping of data aim to structure a MOOC that offers both a rigorous theoretical framework and useful methodological guidance for different European regions.