Problems and Purpose

In 2022, following the selection of Bologna among one of the 100 cities participating in the European Mission aimed to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, the city administration launched the “Bologna Climate Mission” [2]. This policy seeks to accelerate the path towards climate neutrality by stipulating a Climate City Contract that outlines the actions that public and private actors are going to undertake to achieve neutrality [3]. In line with Bologna’s strong tradition of civic engagement, and following the request of a network of social movements and civic organisations led by Extinction Rebellion, a Citizen Assembly on Climate (CAC) with 100 randomly selected citizens took place, between May and November 2023, to determine local climate policies in a collaborative manner [4].

Within the framework described above, the project “PHOENIX” [1] (a research and innovation project funded by the European programme Horizon 2020) provided the opportunity to further experiment with participatory strategies and advance the city’s environmental agenda, creating stronger links and a more systemic perspective between some of the participatory channels and devices already in use in the municipal territory. The project aimed at co-designing, enriching and pilot-testing institutionally-led participatory processes dealing with environmental issues across Europe, supporting some local and regional policies during its life, with the ambition of helping to enrich their methodologies and tools, and thus consolidating their impact-capacity.

As part of this effort, the PHOENIX project (through some of its representatives) supported the ongoing organisational effort of the CAC assembly, and – furthermore – it sidelined the Municipality and the foundation dedicated to designing and implementing participatory processes on behalf of the Municipality: Fondazione Innovazione Urbana Rusconi Ghigi (FIU). PHOENIX’s research team cooperated with FIU and the Municipality exploring how, and to what extent, the network of publicly owned buildings and known as “Case di Quartiere” (hereinafter CdQs) [5], could contribute to the implementation of the Climate Mission. The gradual construction of a network of such spaces (previously self-managed by elderly associations) had gradually started in 2018, but still required an additional effort to maximise its operational effectiveness and a proactive dialogue with other types of participatory devices undertaken or supported by the Municipality.

The network of CdQs comprises, today, 33 public spaces: mostly buildings with adjacent open green spaces and vegetable gardens. While these spaces play a key role in neighbourhood life, hosting everyday activities, local events, and grassroots initiatives, their linkages to climate and environmental stewardship are limited to isolated experiences. For this reason, the initiative promoted by PHOENIX intended to enhance and expand the collaboration on climate goals between the CdQs, the social groups revolving around these spaces, and the Municipality.

Background History and Context

Bologna has an extensive history of commitment to sustainability, having joined the ICLEI organisation in 1993, signing the Covenant of Mayors in 2008 and the Mayors Adapt initiative in 2014, and being selected in 2022 as one of the 100 cities joining the “EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities” [6]. With the commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2030, there was an increasing need to enhance decarbonisation efforts by fostering collaboration between citizens, community-based organisations, private actors, and institutions [2].

Traditionally, consideration of environmental issues has gone hand in hand with a strong focus on social vulnerabilities and a deep commitment to open spaces for public participation, which makes Bologna a pioneer and a reference in civic engagement for Italy and beyond. Already during the postwar period, the city was among the first to establish decentralised forms of governance through small sub-municipal authorities called Boroughs (Quartieri or Circoscrizioni). Although the number of Boroughs has been progressively reduced (also due to national legislations aimed to cut expenditures of decentralisation systems), during the last decades, the Municipality promoted numerous participatory policies which actively involved these proximity structures. Among them the Participatory Budgeting (Bilancio Partecipativo) [7], the Neighbourhood Labs (Laboratori di Quartiere) [8], and the Shared Administration (Amministrazione Condivisa) [9].

Introduced in 2014, the Shared Administration stands out for granting civil society the power to self-manage and/or co-manage urban assets such as buildings and parks, following the issuance of a public call that allows to sign a collaboration pact between the town hall and groups citizens or civic organisations. The CdQs fell within such a set of urban commons. They were established at the end of the 1970s as recreational spaces for elders and have been gradually transformed into community self-managed mixed-use spaces serving diverse social groups and functions.

In light of these dynamics, the CdQs presented an untapped potential for promoting environmental and climate stewardship, suggesting their possible role as engines of public and citizens-based initiatives to be framed within the Bologna Climate Mission.

In a context of structured collaboration with Bologna’s participatory system, the PHOENIX consortium, in partnership with the local administration and the public-private foundation Fondazione Innovazione Urbana Rusconi Ghigi (FIU), decided to focus on the network of CdQs interpreting them as ideal places for enhancing citizens’ engagement and raising environmental awareness. Consequently, the participatory process developed by PHOENIX consisted of an institutionally-led initiative focused on how the CdQs could support the Climate Mission call to action and foster more sustainable behaviours, in dialogue with the other participatory channels listed above.

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

The Horizon 2020 project PHOENIX is the founder and promoter of the initiative developed in collaboration with the Bologna Municipality and FIU. Council members and FIU civil servants actively collaborated throughout the process with the research group of the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, which was in charge of the Bologna pilot. While PHOENIX covered all direct costs, the expertise provided by local actors has proven valuable to successfully implementing the initiative. In addition, the Municipality provided access to physical spaces, while FIU was responsible for aligning the process with the municipal agenda, reaching out to participants, moderating and facilitating the meetings and advertising public events. The funding for the proposals collected during the participatory events will be covered by the national programme called “Programma Operativo Città Metropolitane” (PON metro) within 2027 [10].

PHOENIX project supported and side-lined the Municipality of Bologna in two simultaneous ways: (1) on one side, some project members supported the evolution of the local Participatory Budgeting (PB) and the Citizens Assembly for Climate (CAC), to grant that elements of major alignment and convergence (referred to issues related to green transition) could gradually be integrated. On the other side, (2) PHOENIX mainly focussed on co-designing and implementing a participatory initiative aimed to explore and define a new role for CdQs in the implementation of the ecological transition efforts expressed in the Bologna Climate Mission.

Participant Recruitment and Selection

The recruitment of participants took place in two steps. First, the co-design phase required forming a local committee. This preliminary step – a common feature of all PHOENIX pilots across Europe, called Territorial Commission of Co-Design (TCCD) – was deemed necessary to ensure that the design and monitoring of the participatory initiative would meet local needs and expectations.

In the Bologna case, the composition of the TCCD stemmed from the already existing “Coordination Table” of the CdQs but also included other institutional and non-institutional actors. In the Bologna case, the composition of the TCCD stemmed from the already existing “Coordination Table” of the CdQs, but also included other institutional and non-institutional actors. In fact, in addition to 4 UNIFI researchers, 2 delegates of the municipal government, 3 civil servants and 2 FIU employes, the Commission recruited six representatives of CdQs (one for each neighbourhood), and a group of 6 self-selected citizens among those randomly-selected who had been taking part in the Bologna Climate Assembly. In total, a group 23, with men and women distributing equally, participated in the preparation of the public events together with UNIFI researchers, both online and in-person.

Once the co-design phase had concluded, and the public meetings were planned, a second recruitment step started. The two events were publicised through the communication channels at the disposal of FIU and the CdQs, which included posts on the internet and social networks, as well as flyers placed inside and outside the CdQs and their adjacent spaces. This has led to a broadened participation of citizens that were not explicitly involved in the preliminary project phases.

Methods and Tools Used

The methodological proposal was initially developed by PHOENIX researchers and then scrutinised by FIU, which retained some activities while omitting others. FIU then presented a revised version to the TCCD, which further refined it to better align with the needs of the CdQs and the city’s climate agenda. The first phase (1) consisted in a co-design process that took place over a one-year period, beginning with an intensive phase from October 2023 to February 2024. During this phase, TCCD members engaged in monthly meetings, which were held both in-person and in hybrid formats to maximise participation without overburdening. FIU and UNIFI facilitated the discussions, using presentations and digital workspaces in online meetings.

The meetings culminated in the creation of a collaborative proposal for a participatory process planned for March to June 2024. The structured process was divided into three main stages, each with distinct goals: (a) identifying successful practices within the CdQs and selecting one CdQ from each district for deeper involvement; (b) participatory mapping attitudes, practices, needs, and resources related to climate change within the selected CdQs [11]; and (3) consulting to identifying potential services for the ecological transition that could be incorporated into CdQ activities, with funding provided directly by the Municipality through the National Metro Plus Program 2021–2027 (funded by both European and national sources).

The second phase (a) supposedly focused on setting the agenda and organizing six workshops, one in each of the city's neighbourhoods, to select one CdQ from each area to host the following phases. The third phase (b) of self-diagnosis supposedly included various activities both inside and outside the selected CdQs, aimed at understanding the current actions of the CdQs in relation to the goals of the “Bologna Climate Mission”. The proposed tools to achieve these objectives included collective transects and participatory mapping [11], combined with participatory workshops, to create a 'collaborative map' for each CdQ. This map would highlight habits, practices, needs, and resources. The fourth and final phase (c) of the process supposedly focused on sharing the findings from the self-diagnosis phase and then co-designing potential activities and services that the CdQs could host to support the ecological transition.

Given some adjustment in the timeline, as outlined in the section 'What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation,' the second phase (a) was overcame because instead of focusing on just six CdQs, the Municipality and FIU decided to engage all 33 CdQs. Phase three (b) was condensed into a single participatory workshop, centred around a peer-to-peer discussion between representatives of the Citizen Assembly on Climate (CAC) and those from all 33 CdQs. The workshop began with a presentation of the results and recommendations provided by the CAC, with a particular emphasis on those relevant to the CdQs. This was followed by a world café session [12] to map the activities already being carried out by each CdQ in areas such as water management, sustainable mobility, energy consumption, recycling and reuse, farm-to-fork initiatives, and the management of green spaces. Phase four (c) saw the participation of representatives of both CAC and CdQs that, divided in small groups, engaged in roundtable discussions [13] around the topic of potential services to be implemented within the CdQs to meet the objectives of the Bologna Climate Mission.

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

The PHOENIX project supported and worked alongside the Municipality of Bologna in two simultaneous ways: (1) On one hand, part of the project team helped advance the local Participatory Budgeting (PB) and the Citizens Assembly for Climate (CAC), ensuring that elements related to the green transition were gradually integrated to achieve greater alignment and convergence. (2) On the other hand, PHOENIX focused on co-designing and implementing a participatory initiative aimed at exploring and defining a new role for the CdQs in supporting the ecological transition outlined in the Bologna Climate Mission.

These dual efforts worked together to gradually transform and align the various participatory processes in Bologna, fostering a clearer convergence between them while promoting a complementary approach that prioritizes ecological transformation.

In this regard, some members of the project were integrated into the FIU’s working group, which was responsible for organizing the 2023 Participatory Budgeting edition. They contributed by supporting the alignment of specific PB phases (such as the one engaging with Neighborhood Laboratories) with the goal of increasing the number of proposals with a specific focus on "green actions". Additionally, PHOENIX partners played a significant role in supporting the organizing committee of the CAC and the emerging network of citizens that began to form during the final month of the CAC’s work. Their aim was to imagine the legacy of the CAC as a bridge for ongoing dialogue with other participatory processes in Bologna. In this context, the alignment between the CAC and the CdQs found a key point of convergence within the TCCD.

As far as it regards the latter, the TCCD co-design phase involving researchers, politicians, practitioners and citizens, spanned over several months: from October 2023 to February 2024. The co-design activities culminated in the creation of a jointly developed proposal for a participatory process planned to take place from March to June 2024. However, the agreed-upon schedule experienced delays due to a mismatch between the participatory timeline and the Municipality’s internal and administrative processes, which required internal decisions on funding allocations before proceeding with the participatory initiative. As a result, the Municipality, through FIU, opted not to convene the Territorial Commission for Co-Design TCCD to formally notify participants of the delay. Instead, individuals were informed informally upon request. In September 2024, the Commission was officially reconvened, the delay was explained, and a revised, simplified participatory process was presented. The participants accepted the new plan, and the process resumed in the following month, now implemented through two public meetings. It must be noticed that the request to merge and simplify the agreed upon process was well received by the representative of the CdQs and CAC who repeatedly highlighted during the co-design phase the risk that the “burden” of taking part in too many events could reduce the attractiveness and commitment of potential participants.

The two public meetings took place in November 2024. Each event brought together approximately 40 people and lasted about 3 hours. While the main focus was the role of CdQs in contributing to the Bologna Climate Mission, the discussion took place through small-group workshops dealing with the following themes: urban greenery, energy, sustainable mobility, farm to fork, water saving, recycling and reuse. Each topic was discussed to explore how, and to what extent, the network of publicly owned buildings known as “Case di Quartiere” (CdQs) could foster more sustainable behaviours.

It particular, the goal was to identify a) how the CdQs can favour citizens’ engagement in relation to the Bologna Climate Mission, b) what are the constraining and enabling factors at play, c) who are the actors that might be involved, and d) how to set an adequate timeframe. The first event was about the screening of existing initiatives, while the second one collected new proposals. All proposals were organised under the six above-mentioned categories (i.e., urban greenery, energy, sustainable mobility, farm to fork, water saving, recycling and reuse). Ultimately, these contributions have been summarised in a final document that will be used to inform upcoming municipal policies.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The final product of the public meetings consists of a list of proposals related to how the CdQs can collaborate with the Municipality to provide services that may contribute to the Bologna Climate Mission. The goal was to foster the relationship between the CdQs and its surrounding territories, spread best practices, and conceive new ways to enhance the climate and environmental stewardship of CdQs. These contributions will be taken into account by the Municipality when deciding the distribution of the 2021-2027 PON metro funds, partly dedicated to CdQs.

In addition to this final document, two other aspects can be viewed as a novelty in the context of Bologna. The first one concerns the methodology that was applied. Co-designing the process together with citizens and associations’ representatives is in fact usually a preparatory phase discussed within Fondazione Innovazione Urbana (FIU) and not shared with the public. Although co-designing the participatory process was not exempt from difficulties, the experimentation of this method eventually enhanced the effectiveness and outreach of the final proposal. Not only it brought inside the participatory initiative’s planning some important points of view of citizens (for example, those related to the “burden” and the “fatigue” of participating), but it also enhanced the chances of self-reflection among the involved civil servants.

The second novelty lies in the connections established between different municipal programmes and assets: the governance of CdQs (linking representatives of 33 CdQs to 6 borough-level committees and 1 city-level committee), the Bologna Climate Mission, the Bologna Citizen Assembly on Climate, and the PON Metro funding programme. Within this broader framework, PHOENIX has served as a catalyst, helping these linkages to consolidate, expand, and gain momentum, and paving the way for future initiatives.

Analysis and Lessons Learned

The PHOENIX project operated under the assumption that short-term initiatives can serve as catalysts for identifying improvements in specific participatory channels. By assisting political and administrative institutions in adopting a more systemic perspective, PHOENIX aimed to support the interconnection of pre-existing participatory mechanisms with other community engagement initiatives. This case study demonstrates how institutionally-led participatory processes can strengthen collaborations with community-based organizations to promote environmental and climate stewardship. It also shows how a central, unifying topic—such as the ecological transition—can gradually align various participatory channels and foster more integrated, cross-sectoral dialogue.

Key Insights from the Bologna Experience:

Co-design and Participation Challenges:

The co-design phase presented both challenges and opportunities. By providing an open platform for discussion, institutional actors gained direct insights from CdQ representatives and citizens, which helped lay the foundation for a more informed and responsive process. However, balancing bottom-up perspectives with municipal goals and maintaining a focus on a broader, meta-level approach proved to be difficult. The process was constrained by the pre-existing structure of the TCCD, which had its own timelines and methods. As a result, while the process fostered meaningful and in-depth engagement with already active and experienced participants - notably from the CdQ communities and the Citizen Assembly on Climate (CAC) - outreach beyond these already-involved groups was limited. This constrained the overall breadth of participation, making it more challenging to engage marginalised or less active groups. Nonetheless, the depth and quality of contributions from those involved remained high.

Organizational Challenges:

The initiative revealed the importance of allocating sufficient resources, establishing realistic timeframes, and balancing flexibility with control. Bologna’s participatory system often struggles with disconnected processes and a lack of continuous funding, undermining long-term participation. In this context, the balance between ad hoc processes and periodic ones is fragile, due to resource scarcity, which risks creating false expectations among citizens and leading to disappointment. Furthermore, the complexity of managing such a participatory process added to the challenge. While the initial commitment to co-design was strong, translating this into a sustained and coordinated effort across different sectors proved difficult. The complexity and lack of coordination also made transparency challenging, requiring significant communication efforts to maintain clarity around goals and timelines.

The Limits of Inclusion and Empowerment:

While initially, the TCCD’s establishment as a branch of the existing Comitato di Impulso e Monitoraggio (CIM) seemed beneficial, it ultimately constrained opportunities for genuine inclusion and empowerment. The pre-established structure and timeline of the CIM commission limited engagement with a broader range of citizens participation as pre-existing power dynamics and already established relational patterns weighted on the process’ inclusive capacity. However, PHOENIX project by placing emphasis on the participatory process co-design created an important space for reflection around the topic of empowerment and popular control both on the citizens and institutional sides. The first ones perceived the process as top-down as it was asked to them to participate while being already overstimulated in terms of participation asked, while the latter faced difficulties in opening the design phase that is usually fully managed within the public administration – and related bodies – offices.

The Role of CdQs in Ecological Transition and The Need for Systemic Change:

The project also highlighted the potential of CdQs as vital assets for advancing Bologna’s ecological transition. Their ability to mobilize citizens and community organizations across the city’s neighbourhoods is an invaluable resource. However, a significant challenge is the tendency to romanticize the role of CdQs as local catalysts for bottom-up actions. While they are seen as potential showcases for ecological transition practices, the reality is that their conditions are highly unequal with some facing structural deficiencies that limit their ability to effectively showcase and implement ecological transition solutions. Some CdQs are better equipped to adopt sustainable practices, while others are not. Addressing these disparities through targeted funding could empower the CdQs to become more effective hubs for community-driven innovation. This would not only help increase their practical impact but also enhance their symbolic value as a key element in the ecological transition. Even if the main objective of the participatory process was to collect ideas regarding which services could be hosted within the CdQs; PHOENIX project was the occasion for CdQs representatives to voice their concerns related to the infrastructural problems that could hinder their capacity to become good examples, in terms of sustainable practices, for their respective communities. For example, being the most pressing problem related to the energy efficiency of the building, CdQs identified as fundamental services the provision of targeted help to collect public funds for such infrastructural enhancements.

Multilevel Governance and Future Opportunities:

The project also demonstrated the potential of multilevel governance in connecting local participatory efforts with broader regional policies. However, the lack of coordination with regional processes in Emilia Romagna limited the full potential of the initiative. Looking ahead, PHOENIX’s legacy could provide valuable insights for improving coordination and scaling up participatory processes. The lessons learned from Bologna can help shape future governance models that foster better collaboration across levels of government and civil society. With upcoming funding opportunities from the Region, Bologna could incorporate these lessons, transforming its participatory system into a more cohesive and sustainable model.

Transparency and Complexity:

The issue of transparency was heavily influenced by the complexity of the process. As the co-design process unfolded, significant challenges arose in managing internal and external communication. Early phases of the design and resource allocation process that are usually confined to the public administration, were instead supposed to be openly discussed and directly communicated within the TCCD meetings. This definitely proved difficult, but at the same time created a learning space for the involved civil servants. Ensuring transparency in such a complex process is a delicate balancing act, and future efforts should prioritize clearer communication channels - not only one to one informal communications but also collective communications through official channels - to gain better coordination among participants.

European Dimension and Cross-Pollination:

PHOENIX also fostered dialogue between different European cities, providing a platform to share experiences and discuss citizen participation in climate decisions. Notably, a citizen involved in Bologna’s CAC was selected to participate in the “Democratic Odyssey,” a pan-European project aimed at creating a permanent European citizens’ assembly. This project offers a valuable opportunity to scale up local participatory experiences to a global context, fostering collaboration between citizens and institutions. PHOENIX’s experiences in Bologna can contribute to cross-pollination and replicability across different regions and scales, improving participatory governance worldwide.

See Also

References

[1] Phoenix. The rise of citizens voice for a greener Europe https://phoenix-horizon.eu/ accessed May 10, 2025

[2] Bologna Missione Clima https://www.bolognamissioneclima.it/ accessed March 3, 2025

[3] Climate City Contract Bologna https://www.comune.bologna.it/notizie/bologna-missione-clima-contratto-climatico accessed March 3, 2025

[4] Assemble Cittadina per il Clima https://www.comune.bologna.it/partecipa/percorsi/assemblea-cittadina-per-il-clima accessed March 3, 2025

[5] Case di Quartiere Bologna https://casediquartierebologna.it/ accessed March 3, 2025

[6] EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities https://netzerocities.eu/mission-cities/ accessed March 3, 2025

[7] Bilancio Partecipativo https://www.comune.bologna.it/partecipa/percorsi/bilancio-partecipativo-23 March 3, 2025

[8] Laboratori di Quartiere https://www.comune.bologna.it/partecipa/laboratori-quartiere accessed March 3, 2025

[9] Ammistrazione Condivisa https://www.comune.bologna.it/partecipa/patti-di-collaborazione accessed March 3, 2025

[10] Programma Nazionale Metro Plus 2021-2027 https://www.pnmetroplus.it/home-2/pon-metro-plus-21-27/ accessed March 3, 2025

[11] Participatory Mapping Methodology https://participedia.net/method/mapping May 20, 2025

[12] World Cafè Methodology https://participedia.net/method/the-world-cafe accessed March 21, 2025

[13] Round Table Discussion Methodology https://participedia.net/method/roundtable-discussion May 20, 2025

[14] Comitato di Impulso e Monitoraggio https://partecipazione.regione.emilia-romagna.it/news/normali/notizie-anno-2023/a-bologna-nasce-il-comitato-di-impulso-e-monitoraggio-per-l2019amministrazione-condivisa

External Links

PHOENIX https://phoenix-horizon.eu/

Comune di Bologna https://www.comune.bologna.it/

Fondazione Innovazione Urbana https://www.fondazioneinnovazioneurbana.it/

Notes