Verona, the èVRgreen project is underway to improve the city's ecosystem

What is the state of health of the Verona ecosystem? And what actions can be implemented to improve it? He will answer these questions the project is VRgreen, under the guidance of Prof. Linda Avesani, professor at the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Verona, financed by the Cariverona Foundation as part of the Natural Capital call which involves, in addition to the University of Verona, the Municipality of Verona and the University of Padua.

During the two years of work a network of indicators and bioindicators aimed at evaluating the health of the ecosystem of the city of Verona. The objective is to guide the implementation of a green city infrastructure, aimed at improving the well-being of citizens and contributing to the city's resilience to climate change.

In fact, green infrastructures, which include trees, ecological corridors, shrubs, but also vertical forests and green roofs, are able to offer a whole series of ecosystem services - services that natural systems generate for man – very precious in urban areas.

Among these, the ability to absorb carbon dioxide and other polluting gases, the creation of barriers against fine particles (pm10 and pm2.5), the lowering of air temperature to counteract the phenomenon of heat islands stand out. Further benefits are then generated by the increase in biodiversity and the improvement of people's psychophysical well-being.

In the context of the project èVRgreen, the activities of the first year will mainly focus on assessing the current state of the city. This will include mapping urban heat islands, assessing air quality, monitoring certain bioindicators, such as lichens and bees, as well as collecting information on biodiversity and quantifying leaf area. Scientific research activities will also be conducted with participatory methods through actions “citizen science”.

During the second year we will proceed with specific forestation interventions, which will be planned in the areas identified as priorities thanks to the data collected, with the aim of maximizing their potential benefits. Finally, the last year will be dedicated to measuring the impact of these actions compared to the established indicators.

The key element of the èVRgreen project, in addition to scientific research, is the collaboration of the numerous local associations already at the forefront of environmental protection in initiatives which also citizens will be asked to participate.