A new collaboration aimed at improving urban cleanliness and decor has been established between the Rome Metropolitan City and Retake Rome. The protocol of understanding, signed on Saturday, March 7th, outlines a framework for supporting and facilitating the activities of the volunteer association, which has been dedicated to promoting the care of common goods and active citizenship for over fifteen years. This partnership will streamline administrative processes, provide funding for materials and equipment, and involve municipal waste management companies, urban police, and other communal structures. Training courses for volunteers are also part of the agreement.
Details of the Agreement and Its Objectives
The agreement was formally signed at Palazzo Valentini by Rocco Ferraro, Delegate Councillor for Environment, Protected Areas, and Animal Protection for the Metropolitan Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, and Cristiano Tancredi, President of Retake Rome. The signing was attended by representatives from various institutions and associative networks committed to protecting and enhancing local territories. The primary goal of this protocol is to strengthen the collaboration between institutions and civil society, fostering interventions for the care and valorization of the Metropolitan City’s vast territory, which encompasses 121 municipalities and boasts an extraordinary environmental, historical, and landscape heritage.
Rocco Ferraro expressed pride in the new partnership, stating, “We are proud to initiate this collaboration that strengthens the relationship between institutions and the third sector. Investing in civic and environmental education means believing in the possibility of building more sustainable territories and more aware communities, where every citizen can contribute to the protection of common heritage. In a vast and complex area like the metropolitan one, the active involvement of local communities represents a fundamental resource.”
Training and Support for Active Citizens
Through this protocol, the Rome Metropolitan City will leverage the technical and administrative expertise of its Department III – Environment to support the development and implementation of initiatives promoted by Retake in various areas. A key aspect of the agreement is the promotion of training programs for active citizens and local groups interested in participating in the care of common goods. These training activities will cover, in particular, the methods for activating and managing active citizenship projects, the use of collaboration tools between administrations and local communities, techniques for light maintenance and requalification of public spaces, and organizational and safety aspects related to civic volunteering. The programs will also focus on sharing best practices and building replicable intervention models across the diverse territorial contexts of the Metropolitan City.
Retake Rome’s Perspective and Initial Interventions
Cristiano Tancredi, President of Retake Rome, highlighted the significance of the protocol for his organization: “For Retake Rome, this Protocol represents a particularly significant step because it strengthens an institutional collaboration that has already produced concrete results on the ground over the years. The objective is to accompany and support the commitment of local communities, favoring the spread of shared care practices for common goods and contributing to the construction of increasingly solid civic networks.” The meeting also reaffirmed that the association’s actions are based on the principle of horizontal subsidiarity, where citizens and institutions collaborate while respecting their respective roles to promote the protection and enhancement of public spaces.
Currently, ten territorial volunteer groups of Retake are active within the Metropolitan City area, and over 1400 initiatives for territorial care have been implemented in recent years. These activities range from cleaning streets and paths to requalifying green areas and public spaces, repainting benches and vandalized surfaces, and caring for flowerbeds and small urban gardens. Among the first interventions planned under this collaboration are the requalification of a playground in the San Paolo district of Rome, which includes the installation of a protective fence, and an urban valorization project in the Municipality of Tivoli, involving the creation of vertical gardens on some city walls. This signed Protocol of Understanding marks a further step in strengthening a model of collaboration between institutions and active citizenship, aimed at promoting civic responsibility, enhancing territories, and building more aware and participatory communities.
Source: https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_marzo_08/pulizie-e-decoro-si-parte-da-san-paolo-e-tivolinell-accordo-tra-citta-metropolitana-e-retake-c8310796-3ec6-4f72-9813-96cb924b5xlk.shtml
