Developing a Participatory Process for Soil Fertility: A Case Study in an Urban Area of Italy

Laura Criscuolo (), Gloria Bordogna, Lara Barbara, Alice Benessia, Caterina Bergami, Elisa Calastri, Valentina Capocefalo, Andrea Caretto, Chiara Cavallo, Anwesha Chakraborty, Christian Colella, Laura Colucci-Gray, Stefano Crosetto, Amelia De Lazzari, Sara Di Lonardo, Enrico Ercole, Rita Giuffredi, Francesca Grasso, Valentina Grasso, Lucia Laurenza, Salvatore Mallardo, Francesco Nigro, Alessandro Oggioni, Fabio Piccolin, Flavia Pizzi, Beatrice Serini, Raffaella Spagna, Giorgio A. Ubbiali, Pompilio Vergine and Alba L’Astorina
Additional contact information
Laura Criscuolo: CNR IGG—Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, National Research Council, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Gloria Bordogna: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Lara Barbara: FINO—Northwestern Italian Philosophy Consortium, 10124 Turin, Italy
Alice Benessia: Fondazione Pianpicollo Selvatico ETS, 12070 Levice, Italy
Caterina Bergami: CNR ISMAR—Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council, 20126 Milan, Italy
Elisa Calastri: DISAA—Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Valentina Capocefalo: Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Andrea Caretto: Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
Chiara Cavallo: CREA—Vegetable and Ornamental Crops Research Centre, 18038 Sanremo, Italy
Anwesha Chakraborty: Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, 40125 Bologna, Italy
Christian Colella: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Laura Colucci-Gray: Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK
Stefano Crosetto: SEAcoop STP, Corso Palestro 9, 10122 Turin, Italy
Amelia De Lazzari: CNR ISMAR—Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council, 30122 Venice, Italy
Sara Di Lonardo: CNR-IRET—Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Enrico Ercole: SEAcoop STP, Corso Palestro 9, 10122 Turin, Italy
Rita Giuffredi: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Francesca Grasso: Department of Computer Science, University of Turin, 10149 Turin, Italy
Valentina Grasso: CNR IBE—Institute for the BioEconomy, National Research Council, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Lucia Laurenza: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Salvatore Mallardo: CNR IPCB—Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council, 80125 Napoli, Italy
Francesco Nigro: Group of Agroecology, Center of Plant Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Alessandro Oggioni: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Fabio Piccolin: ENEA—S. Teresa Marine Environment Research Center, 19036 La Spezia, Italy
Flavia Pizzi: CNR IBBA—Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy
Beatrice Serini: Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Raffaella Spagna: Fondazione Pianpicollo Selvatico ETS, 12070 Levice, Italy
Giorgio A. Ubbiali: HUME Doctoral School, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Pompilio Vergine: CNR IRSA—Water Research Institute, National Research Council, 70132 Bari, Italy
Alba L’Astorina: CNR IREA—Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council, 20133 Milan, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-24

Abstract: Approaches that are transdisciplinary and participatory can help to address complex socio-ecological issues by integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives while taking into account the different needs and experiences of community members and other stakeholders. Despite this promise, such approaches are rarely applied within the scientific community, as researchers and public actors often lack the training, practice and reference cases required to handle the working relationships and translations of terminology, ideas and values across multiple bodies of knowledge. A case study described in this manuscript depicts a group of researchers, artists and citizens consciously engaged in the construction of a transdisciplinary process as part of a 40-day ‘citizen science’ experiment focussed on assessing soil fertility in the urban area of Milan, Italy. The group drew from recognised scientific approaches, applied agronomic methodologies, artistic practices and technological tools, integrating them into a hybrid process of collective and participatory inquiry. As a quantitative outcome of the experiment, a dataset of bio-chemical parameters was generated, which was enriched by agronomic interpretations but also by artistic and reflective materials. Importantly, the process developed transdisciplinary and participatory skills, as it created a potentially replicable procedure of engagement, analysis and presentation for use in other citizen science settings. This article presents the context, the multiple objectives of the research and the applied approach and its timeline. Described in detail are the process of designing and conducting the experiment by involving an extended research community—including both junior and senior researchers—in progressive steps. Quantitative and qualitative results are provided. The findings are meant to contribute case material and methods to inform the advancement of transdisciplinary research approaches within the scientific community as well as examples of ways to transcend the boundaries of science to include artists and community stakeholders. The aspiration is to inform and inspire concrete application of transdisciplinary and participatory methods in concert to address complex socio-environmental challenges.

Keywords: transdisciplinary research; citizen science; urban soil; citizen involvement; local knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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