From Rome to Bologna on citizen participation: Field notes from the Advanced Cooperation Mission

Rome and Bologna (Italy) | 25— 28 May

The IURC–LAC Community of Practice on citizen participation methodologies and nature-based solutions reunited in Italy for an intensive stretch of exchange between Latin American and European cities.

Over the course of two visits — first in Rome and then in Bologna — delegations from Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina), engaged with institutions, researchers and municipal teams working at the forefront of participatory urban transformation.

Rome | A living laboratory for climate adaptation

The first stop was CITERA, the Interdepartamental Research Centre of the Sapienza University in Rome, where a working session with the research team opened a substantive exchange on methodologies, tools and participatory pathways for integrating nature-based solutions into the strategic planning of public spaces.

Salvador de Bahia’s UNESCO-recognised urban and architectural heritage gave the exchange a distinctive dimension: a city where participatory approaches to climate adaptation and green regeneration can be tested in one of the world’s most historically layered urban environments.

By the end of the day, both partners had begun outlining a scientific and cultural cooperation agreement between Salvador’s Fundação Mário Leal Ferreira and CITERA, designed to structure long-term exchanges of knowledge, tools and good practices to strengthen urban climate resilience. Among the concrete steps already in view: students and teachers from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) will participate in the International Summer School coordinated by CITERA in Rome in July 2027, focused on innovative digital tools for urban and architectural heritage.

Bologna | Where participation meets the street

A delegation from Buenos Aires joined Salvador de Bahia in their visit to Bologna, the European lead city of the CoP. The agenda moved between institutions, libraries and neighbourhood labs, tracing the arc of how Bologna has made citizen participation a structural part of its approach to urban transformation.

The meetings with the Comune di Bologna and Fondazione IU Rusconi Ghigi unfolded across some of the most emblematic spaces of the city’s approach to this topic: Palazzo d’Accursio, the Salaborsa Library, Parco della Montagnola, and the participatory budgeting lab in Borgo Panigale, alongside several ongoing transformation sites in the city centre. Each stop illustrated a different dimension of a core conviction: that active community participation can improve public spaces while rebuilding trust between citizens, neighbourhoods and institutions.

About the IURC LAC Advanced Cooperation Missions

IURC Latin America and the Caribbean, part of the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme, connects cities and regions from Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe to co-create sustainable, inclusive, and innovation-driven solutions. Through peer-to-peer exchange and partnerships, the programme contributes to improving citizens’ quality of life while strengthening global cooperation.

Advanced Cooperation Missions are on-site technical visits that build on the IURC programme’s collaborative and knowledge-sharing approach. They provide cities and regions with the opportunity to further develop the themes explored during the online meetings of the Communities of Practice, refine their cooperation action plans and gain first-hand experience of best practices implemented by the hosting city or region.