In the hot summer of 2024, I was among the participants of the CoPED (Community Planning and Ecological Design) action-research summer school, where planning scholars and graduate students collaborated with members of the San Paolo-Spitali Vecchio community, a historic neighbourhood in one of the fastest depopulating mid-sized Sicilian cities, Lentini (SR). This initiative was part of a long-term partnership aiming to formalize a strategic development plan for the neighbourhood, empowering its distressed residents to co-develop innovative strategies to tackle issues that are part of broader global dilemmas. How to promote ecological democracy while addressing urban shrinkage, protecting cultural heritage, ensuring ecological sustainability, and fostering social equity and inclusive governance? This manuscript shares the lessons learned in Lentini through my personal experience as an active participant in an action research process. It connects these insights, as well as my background as an environmental engineer, to the broader scholarly debate on ecological democracy, contributing to the search for planning approaches that address humanity’s most pressing challenges. Ecological Democracy in Practice. The concept of ecological democracy played a pivotal role in this initiative. Rather than treating San Paolo’s residents as passive beneficiaries, they were engaged as active co-creators in shaping their neighbourhood’s future. Through workshops, participatory design sessions, and open forums, community members were encouraged to articulate both their problems and aspirations and envision how they could be achieved. This approach ensures that not only sustainable and ecologically sound but also socially equitable and effective, respecting the deep connections between people and their landscape. Following the insights of Anne Whiston Spirn, landscapes should not be seen merely as visual or aesthetic spaces but as complex palimpsest/texts to be read, interpreted, and understood—revealing layers of history, ecological dynamics, and socio-political interactions. Spirn’s perspective highlights the landscape as a product of both natural and cultural forces, shaped by geological, hydrological, vegetative, climatic, and human processes. Such landscape literacy is not limited to planners and designers but extends to local communities, promoting an education that empowers individuals to become active readers of their landscape. This understanding is crucial for planning strategies that go beyond the mere technical resolution of problems, embracing a democratic and participatory approach to environmental challenges. Ecological democracy asserts that environmental and urban challenges are not merely technical problems, but fundamentally democratic ones. By fostering co-designed decision-making processes, this approach ensures that solutions are rooted in the lived experiences of affected communities, making them not only more just but also more sustainable. Lentini’s project, shaped by the collaborative efforts of its residents and the Action Research summer school, stands as a testament to how ecological democracy can transform neglected urban areas into beacons of possibility for a more inclusive and ecologically conscious future. A key inspiration for this research was the work of Anne Whiston Spirn in West Philadelphia, where she uncovered the hidden role of buried rivers affecting marginalized communities. Although the cultural and spatial contexts differ, the landscape tells a similar story: in both cases, the invisible hydrological system directly impacts the urban fabric and its inhabitants. Restoring the Water Cycle as an Ecological Democratic Strategy. This realization led to the core project of this thesis: the water cycle semi-closure, aiming to mitigate the water potability issue in San Paolo. The proposal focuses on the semi-closure of the water cycle at a neighbourhood scale, integrating ecological, social, and infrastructural perspectives into a renew vision of urbanistic tools.
Nella calda estate del 2024, sono stata tra i partecipanti della scuola estiva di ricerca-azione CoPED (Community Planning and Ecological Design), dove studenti di pianificazione e dottorandi hanno collaborato con i membri della comunità San Paolo-Spitali Vecchio, un quartiere storico di una delle città siciliane di medie dimensioni che si stanno spopolando più rapidamente, Lentini (SR). L'iniziativa faceva parte di una partnership a lungo termine che mirava a formalizzare un piano di sviluppo strategico per il quartiere, mettendo i suoi residenti in difficoltà in grado di co-sviluppare strategie innovative per affrontare questioni che fanno parte di dilemmi globali più ampi. Come promuovere la democrazia ecologica, affrontando al contempo la contrazione urbana, proteggendo il patrimonio culturale, garantendo la sostenibilità ecologica e promuovendo l'equità sociale e la governance inclusiva? Questo scritto condivide le lezioni apprese a Lentini attraverso la mia esperienza personale di partecipante attivo a un processo di ricerca-azione. Collega queste intuizioni, così come il mio background di ingegnere ambientale, al più ampio dibattito scientifico sulla democrazia ecologica, contribuendo alla ricerca di approcci di pianificazione che affrontino le sfide più urgenti dell'umanità. La democrazia ecologica nella pratica. Il concetto di democrazia ecologica ha avuto un ruolo fondamentale in questa iniziativa. Invece di trattare i residenti di San Paolo come beneficiari passivi, sono stati coinvolti come co-creatori attivi nel plasmare il futuro del loro quartiere. Attraverso workshop, sessioni di progettazione partecipata e forum aperti, i membri della comunità sono stati incoraggiati ad articolare i loro problemi e le loro aspirazioni e a immaginare come realizzarli. Questo approccio garantisce non solo la sostenibilità e l'ecologia, ma anche l'equità e l'efficacia sociale, rispettando le profonde connessioni tra le persone e il loro paesaggio. Seguendo le intuizioni di Anne Whiston Spirn, i paesaggi non dovrebbero essere visti solo come spazi visivi o estetici, ma come complessi palinsesti/testi da leggere, interpretare e comprendere, che rivelano strati di storia, dinamiche ecologiche e interazioni socio-politiche. La prospettiva di Spirn evidenzia il paesaggio come prodotto di forze naturali e culturali, modellato da processi geologici, idrologici, vegetativi, climatici e umani. Questa alfabetizzazione paesaggistica non si limita ai pianificatori e ai progettisti, ma si estende alle comunità locali, promuovendo un'educazione che mette gli individui in condizione di diventare lettori attivi del loro paesaggio. Questa comprensione è fondamentale per strategie di pianificazione che vadano oltre la mera risoluzione tecnica dei problemi, abbracciando un approccio democratico e partecipativo alle sfide ambientali. La democrazia ecologica afferma che le sfide ambientali e urbane non sono solo problemi tecnici, ma fondamentalmente democratici. Promuovendo processi decisionali co-progettati, questo approccio assicura che le soluzioni siano radicate nelle esperienze vissute delle comunità interessate, rendendole non solo più giuste ma anche più sostenibili. Il progetto di Lentini, nato dalla collaborazione tra i residenti e la scuola estiva di ricerca-azione, è una testimonianza di come la democrazia ecologica possa trasformare aree urbane trascurate in fari di possibilità per un futuro più inclusivo ed ecologicamente consapevole. Un'ispirazione fondamentale per questa ricerca è stato il lavoro di Anne Whiston Spirn a West Philadelphia, dove ha scoperto il ruolo nascosto dei fiumi sepolti che interessano le comunità emarginate. Sebbene i contesti culturali e spaziali siano diversi, il paesaggio racconta una storia simile: in entrambi i casi, il sistema idrologico invisibile ha un impatto diretto sul tessuto urbano e sui suoi abitanti. Il ripristino del ciclo dell'acqua come strategia ecologica e democratica. Questa consapevolezza ha portato al progetto centrale di questa tesi: la semi-chiusura del ciclo dell'acqua, che mira a mitigare il problema della potabilità dell'acqua a San Paolo. La proposta si concentra sulla semi-chiusura del ciclo dell'acqua a scala di quartiere, integrando prospettive ecologiche, sociali e infrastrutturali in una visione rinnovata degli strumenti urbanistici.
The courtyards of San Paolo, Lentini (Siracusa, Italy). A new model of local governance based on Action-research practices
Frusca Braga, Tommaso
2024/2025
Abstract
In the hot summer of 2024, I was among the participants of the CoPED (Community Planning and Ecological Design) action-research summer school, where planning scholars and graduate students collaborated with members of the San Paolo-Spitali Vecchio community, a historic neighbourhood in one of the fastest depopulating mid-sized Sicilian cities, Lentini (SR). This initiative was part of a long-term partnership aiming to formalize a strategic development plan for the neighbourhood, empowering its distressed residents to co-develop innovative strategies to tackle issues that are part of broader global dilemmas. How to promote ecological democracy while addressing urban shrinkage, protecting cultural heritage, ensuring ecological sustainability, and fostering social equity and inclusive governance? This manuscript shares the lessons learned in Lentini through my personal experience as an active participant in an action research process. It connects these insights, as well as my background as an environmental engineer, to the broader scholarly debate on ecological democracy, contributing to the search for planning approaches that address humanity’s most pressing challenges. Ecological Democracy in Practice. The concept of ecological democracy played a pivotal role in this initiative. Rather than treating San Paolo’s residents as passive beneficiaries, they were engaged as active co-creators in shaping their neighbourhood’s future. Through workshops, participatory design sessions, and open forums, community members were encouraged to articulate both their problems and aspirations and envision how they could be achieved. This approach ensures that not only sustainable and ecologically sound but also socially equitable and effective, respecting the deep connections between people and their landscape. Following the insights of Anne Whiston Spirn, landscapes should not be seen merely as visual or aesthetic spaces but as complex palimpsest/texts to be read, interpreted, and understood—revealing layers of history, ecological dynamics, and socio-political interactions. Spirn’s perspective highlights the landscape as a product of both natural and cultural forces, shaped by geological, hydrological, vegetative, climatic, and human processes. Such landscape literacy is not limited to planners and designers but extends to local communities, promoting an education that empowers individuals to become active readers of their landscape. This understanding is crucial for planning strategies that go beyond the mere technical resolution of problems, embracing a democratic and participatory approach to environmental challenges. Ecological democracy asserts that environmental and urban challenges are not merely technical problems, but fundamentally democratic ones. By fostering co-designed decision-making processes, this approach ensures that solutions are rooted in the lived experiences of affected communities, making them not only more just but also more sustainable. Lentini’s project, shaped by the collaborative efforts of its residents and the Action Research summer school, stands as a testament to how ecological democracy can transform neglected urban areas into beacons of possibility for a more inclusive and ecologically conscious future. A key inspiration for this research was the work of Anne Whiston Spirn in West Philadelphia, where she uncovered the hidden role of buried rivers affecting marginalized communities. Although the cultural and spatial contexts differ, the landscape tells a similar story: in both cases, the invisible hydrological system directly impacts the urban fabric and its inhabitants. Restoring the Water Cycle as an Ecological Democratic Strategy. This realization led to the core project of this thesis: the water cycle semi-closure, aiming to mitigate the water potability issue in San Paolo. The proposal focuses on the semi-closure of the water cycle at a neighbourhood scale, integrating ecological, social, and infrastructural perspectives into a renew vision of urbanistic tools.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/235687