Changes at "Reclaiming Urban Sealed Soils for Ecosystem Services (REUSES)"
Title (English)
- +Reclaiming Urban Sealed Soils for Ecosystem Services (REUSES)
Body (English)
- +Summary of the challenge
- +Urban sealed soils are one of the most degraded and overlooked environmental matrices in European cities. The REUSES initiative (REstore Urban Sealed soil for alternative Ecosystem Services) tackles this issue by regenerating sealed urban soils to restore their ecological, social, and productive functions. Through community-led de-sealing and agroecological practices in pilot areas in the city of Ancona and in the village of Chiauci (both in Italy), REUSES could offer a replicable model of regenerative urban transformation. This challenge aims to democratize soil governance in very small and medium cities, reconnect citizens with urban land, and foster a new commons-based approach to soil as a living infrastructure for climate resilience and social well-being.
- +Detailed description
- +In contemporary urban landscapes, soil is often reduced to a passive surface—paved over, sealed, and removed from ecological and social life. This sealing compromises critical ecosystem functions, exacerbates the urban heat island effect, increases flood risks, and reduces biodiversity and community well-being. The REUSES initiative addresses this systemic issue by transforming sealed soils into hubs of regeneration by restoring the functionality of long-compromised soils in urban environments. By reversing soil sealing through participatory, interdisciplinary interventions, the initiative seeks to turn environmental liabilities into shared resources. Pilot actions are currently taking place in two urban areas in the city of Ancona (Torrette and Vallemiano), where de-sealing processes are being tested with the involvement of local communities, schools, institutions, and stakeholders and the idea is to involve in the same loop also a small village to make the same action. The sites are being reimagined as urban gardens using sustainable agroecological methods that enhance biodiversity, improve carbon sequestration, and contribute to microclimate regulation and social cohesion. A core innovation of the project is its participatory methodology. REUSES brings together academic researchers, civil society actors, and public sector institutions to co-design and test de-sealing approaches. The process includes field trials, public workshops, and co-creation of an open-source operational toolkit for other cities to replicate. This challenge proposes to expand and refine the REUSES methodology within the SoilTribes Bootcamp ecosystem. Our ambition is to adapt the toolkit collaboratively with other European actors, explore cross-sector models of policy integration, and co-develop advocacy tools and participatory processes that support soil democracy and commons stewardship. By positioning sealed soil as a terrain of urban transformation, this challenge contributes to a broader shift: from extractive urbanism to regenerative, inclusive, and community-rooted land stewardship.
- +Which SoilTribes priority area(s) does your challenge address?
- +Soil Democracy
- +Territorial Justice
- +Regenerative Transitions
- +How does your challenge respond to the selected SoilTribes priority area(s)?
- +We aim to re-use urban soil sealing by creating participatory planning tools and awareness in small and medium cities—addressing Soil Democracy.
- +Which EU Soil Mission goal(s) does your challenge contribute to?
- +Reduce soil sealing / reuse urban soils
- +Reduce soil pollution / enhance restoration
- +Conserve soil organic carbon
- +Enhance soil biodiversity
- +Reduce EU global soil footprint
- +Challenge typology
- +Roots (deep structural transformation)
- +Expected outputs / actions
- +Awareness-raising / communications
- +Creative or cultural events
- +Capacity-building (training, guides, mentorship)
- +Policy or advocacy initiatives
- +Participatory processes
- +Prototyping or technical testing
- +Who is involved or affected by the challenge?
- +The challenge directly involves: -Local communities and residents in the pilot areas of Ancona, particularly those affected by environmental degradation and urban exclusion, then it will involve the small community of Chiauci village and rescale the intervention; -Youth environmental organizations, engaged through soil education activities and garden co-design processes; -Municipal authorities and urban planning departments, involved in permitting and scaling potential interventions. Academic and research institutions, including soil scientists, urban ecologists, and social scientists contributing to design, monitoring, and evaluation; -Civil society organizations and grassroots movements, supporting outreach, facilitation, and cultural programming. -Social economy actors, such as cooperatives and local farmers’ groups interested in agroecological practices and urban food production. More broadly, the challenge speaks to any urban population living in regions affected by land sealing, climate risks, or lack of access to green infrastructure.
- +Where is your challenge located?
- +Ancona city (Torrette and Vallemiano areas) and Chiauci village
- +Which SoilTribes pillar(s) are you connected to?
- +Public Sector
- +Academia, Education & Research
- +Civil Society
- +What public policies or institutional frameworks does your challenge engage with or seek to change?
- +This challenge aligns with and seeks to influence several local, national, and European frameworks: -EU Soil Strategy for 2030, especially objectives related to “stopping soil sealing and increasing re-use of urban soils,” “improving soil structure and biodiversity,” and “enhancing soil carbon stocks.” -Nature-Based Solutions frameworks, promoting the integration of ecological design in urban areas. -Urban resilience and climate adaptation strategies, at the municipal and EU level, by contributing to temperature regulation, flood mitigation, and carbon sequestration. -Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan, by fostering resource efficiency and regenerative land use. -Local land use and zoning regulations, through pilot actions that challenge conventional planning paradigms and promote participatory land governance. -Educational and environmental awareness policies, by embedding soil literacy in school programs and public learning initiatives. Through collaborative experimentation, REUSES aims to inform and co-shape new institutional tools that enable the participatory de-sealing of urban soil and its recognition as a shared ecological and cultural commons.
- +How do you imagine the Bootcamp will benefit your initiative — and others?
- +We hope to develop our community soil lab and share our governance model with others. We bring local knowledge and are eager to test a co-design toolkit for small villages.
State
- +Accepted
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