The final event of the European project was held on 11 June 2026, in Brussels, at the Lazio Region's headquarters URWAN, entitled “Democratic water landscapes: co-creating inclusive green spaces with water at the core”.
URWAN - Urban Regenerative Water Avant-garde(N) is a European initiative co-financed by the Interreg Euro-MED 2021-2027 and coordinated by ANCI Lazio. The project promotes innovative nature-based solutions for sustainable water management and urban regeneration, with the aim of strengthening the resilience of Mediterranean cities to water scarcity and climate change, involving local communities and territorial stakeholders in the co-design of concrete and replicable interventions. In Lazio, the pilot area is’Matteo Ricci Comprehensive Institute in Rome It represents an urban laboratory for experimenting with sustainable water management strategies, enhancing green spaces, and promoting active citizen participation, towards more resilient, sustainable, and liveable cities.
A delegation of mayors intervened to represent the Lazio territories: Domenico Alfieri (Paliano), Angelo Mattoccia (Pofi), Daniele Mioni (Vallepietra) and Piero Rossi (Graffignano), accompanied by Andrea Vignoli, project coordinator. The presence of the municipal administrators underlined the link between the European dimension of the project and the practicality of local policies, reaffirming the role of Municipalities as central players in the experimentation and future adoption of the solutions developed by URWAN.
The opening of proceedings was entrusted to Paolo Alfarone, Regional Director for Economic Planning, European Funds and Natural Heritage of the Lazio Region. A video message from Antonella Sberna, Vice-President of the European Parliament, officially opened the event. In his speech, Paolo Alfarone framed URWAN within European programming, defining it as “a plan that contains new solutions and new resources”. He recalled two keywords of the project: the democracy, understood as shared responsibility and inclusion, and the’Water, an element with cultural, environmental, and social value, capable of bestowing identity and shaping territories. The Director stressed how Lazio's great environmental diversity requires integrated policies, capable of bringing together economic planning and social cohesion, and indicated co-creation as the heart of the project: the involvement of professionals and local stakeholders in protecting natural capital and ensuring public investments generate concrete benefits for citizens. Finally, he thanked the project technicians, pointing to the construction of inclusive communities and resilient landscapes as a future challenge.
During the morning, the main results of the project were presented, including the NbS Catalogue, the Integrated Decision Support System, and the co-design tool. Start Park, also used in a practical exercise for the design of an urban green area. A round table dedicated to continuity and the transfer of experiences then brought together cities and agencies from the different partner countries on the theme of green living areas.
The URWAN final event confirmed ANCI Lazio's commitment to consolidating experiences and tools developed at the European level, translating them into concrete opportunities for the Municipalities of Lazio: from sustainable water management to the regeneration of urban spaces, to strengthening citizen participation in building more resilient territories.
