First Osservatorio La Goccia plenary workshop at Boscoincittà, Milan

Today we held the first plenary workshop of the Osservatorio La Goccia. We met at Cascina San Romano in Boscoincittà (Milan), welcomed by the resident community and by the foresters from Italia Nostra’s Center for Urban Forestry (CFU): Gianluca Vargiu, Paola Pirelli, and Lorenzo Guerci.

Throughout the morning, the group worked hands-on to review the ongoing PNRR project and to prepare the next steps for the upcoming European initiative EUI-GOCCIA. It was a practical session, with everyone contributing to align priorities, actions, and the way forward.

In the afternoon, our CFU colleagues led a guided visit to Cava Ongari, where Italia Nostra has been carrying out a long-term effort focused on environmental preservation and local ecological enhancement—an on-the-ground reminder of what consistent stewardship can achieve over time.

In between, we shared a warm lunch of pizzoccheri and wine with the community. For a few hours, it hardly felt like Milan—yet this is Milan too: lived-in green spaces, relationships, and care for the landscape.

Did you know? Urban forestry is increasingly used in European cities as a nature-based solution to reduce heat stress, improve stormwater management, and support biodiversity.