BTOlium is the climate-proof agricultural park surrounding the historical Villa S.Teresa, the cultural heart of Bioglio. It reconnects the abandoned agricultural past with resilient future visions for small villages. The orchard of local varieties of apple trees, the aromatic herbs for the Vermut (invented by Biogliese Antonio B. Carpano), a colorful oasis of biodiversity for pollinators, and the birch plants, the symbol of the village, become a dynamic common treasure for the entire community.
Local
Italy
Bioglio (Biella), Piemonte, Italia
Mainly rural
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-09-18
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): COMUNE DI BIOGLIO Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: STEFANO Last name of representative: CEFFA Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: MAYOR Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Vittorio Emanuele 5 Town: BIOGLIO Postal code: 13841 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 347 246 4751 E-mail:ceffa.stefano@gmail.com Website:https://www.comune.bioglio.bi.it/it-it/home
Name of the organisation(s): POLITECNICO DI TORINO Type of organisation: University or another research institution First name of representative: MAICOL Last name of representative: NEGRELLO Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: ARCHITECT - PROJECT MANAGER Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: VIA FIORIO BELLETTI 41 Town: BIOGLIO Postal code: 13841 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 347 246 4751 E-mail:maicol.negrello@polito.it Website:https://www.polito.it/personale?p=maicol.negrello
Name of the organisation(s): ASSOCIAZIONE ARTIERI Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: GIULIA Last name of representative: CERRATO Gender: Female Nationality: Italy Function: FOUNDER- ARCHITECT Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: CORSO REGINA MARGHERITA Town: TORINO Postal code: 10125 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 329 202 1435 E-mail:associazione.artieri@gmail.com Website:https://artieri.org/
Name of the organisation(s): ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI RICERCA E SVILUPPO Type of organisation: University or another research institution First name of representative: AMIR Last name of representative: FARIDHOU Gender: Male Nationality: Iran Function: ARCHITECT Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: VIA PRINCIPE AMEDEO 12 Town: TORINO Postal code: 10125 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 347 246 4751 E-mail:amir.faridkhou@isires.org Website:http://isires.it/index.php/it/
Name of the organisation(s): CENTRO EURO-MEDITERRANEO PER I CAMBIAMENTI CLIMATICI Type of organisation: University or another research institution First name of representative: GUGLIELMO Last name of representative: RICCIARDI Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: CONSULTANT- RESEARCHER Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Torino Town: Torino Postal code: 10125 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 347 246 4751 E-mail:guglielmo.ricciardi@cmcc.it Website:https://www.cmcc.it/
URL:https://www.instagram.com/btolium/ Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #btolium #villasantateresa #biogliocrearte #bioglio
The BTOLIUM Project, realized thanks to Compagnia di San Paolo funds, concretizes the start of a territorial regeneration program through a nature-based approach, aimed at enhancing and preserving Bioglio's environmental heritage, traditional local crops, and biodiversity from climate change by offering a new green space to citizens. The experimental park at Villa Santa Teresa in Bioglio is a place of well-being open to the community and an oasis of peace immersed in a natural and agricultural/forest landscape. Conceived also as a productive botanical garden, citizens can learn about local species and be inspired to activate agricultural activities by proposing traditional crops, as has been the case in recent years thanks to the opening of small farms family-run that safeguard the agricultural culture and the territory.
The project also narrates the importance of the botanical oasis for pollinators within the ecosystem, thanks to the signs present, as well as tells the story of Antonio B. Carpano, the Biogliese inventor of the famous Piedmontese Carpano vermouth.
The space features self-constructed natural wood furniture, which is immersed among herbs and plants. This allows a direct experiential connection between smells, colors, and sensations. The larch wood stage provides a dynamic space for various cultural activities and is also a privileged vantage point from which to admire the mountains and the Oasi Zegna. The park has become the new cultural center that has activated various events related to sustainability, in particular, the art project "Piano Terra" and the exhibition on climate change "The Only Planet", with works exhibited in the park.
This project gave rise to a series of climate change education activities and also research, including analysis of critical climate issues, climate and rainfall prediction models, and risks to agriculture and inhabitants in the coming years.
rural regeneration
nature-based solutions
adaptation
biodiversity hotspot
biophilia
Btolium is the park that enhances the heritage of local biodiversity and responds adaptively to the challenges of climate change, ensuring a resilient space that connects man and nature. The park is a demonstrator of a replicable approach to sustainable regeneration of alpine and marginal territories such as through Nature-Based Solutions and organic farming practices. The space was previously abandoned to decay, inaccessible, and unsafe. The intervention saw the creation of an agricultural park divided mainly into four usable productive areas with also educational functions: the apple library, the vermouth garden, the pollinators' oasis, and the climate-resilient space. The area is irrigated by a drip system to minimize waste, and the lawn consists of clover varieties, flowering areas, and other grasses resistant to water stress.
The apple library was created to valorize and preserve 20 ancient and local varieties of apple plants, cultivation of excellence that characterized these areas until the 1970s. The vermouth garden, on the other hand, collects officinal essences for the production of vermouth, an ancient liqueur created by the Biogliese Antonio B. Carpano, demonstrating how the cultivation of essences can generate a micro-economy. The pollinators' oasis is a habitat with 15 different varieties of flowering plants that bloom from March to November, an ideal place to increase biodiversity. In spring, beehives will be placed for honey production and beekeeping. Finally, the area features new plantings of birches, a local plant, and a symbol of the village, dogwoods, and junipers. These increase the shaded area along with the existing plants, providing cool spaces during heat waves. A rain garden collects water from the park and the rainwater from the nearby villa to reduce the risk of flooding. The park is equipped with self-built furniture made from naturally treated larch wood purchased from a local producer within the village.
The project has been designed using a biophilic approach to encourage a greater sensory experience immersed in the greenery, enhancing the views of Biella's forests and pre-Alps. The park presents sinuous, organic forms that accompany the user through a sensorial journey, where the five senses can be reactivated: the colours of the blossoms, the scents of the medicinal herbs, the materiality of the textures of the elements, the sounds of the birds that inhabit the park, the taste of the flavours of the apples and edible herbs.
The park furniture designed and self-built with citizens is made of natural woods that tell the natural ageing through changing colours, also indirectly educating on the processes of natural change. Benches, walkways, and terraces are inserted within the different planted areas, allowing immersion in nature and direct contact with the plants. The park represents a new hub for the village community, which has reclaimed it after 50 years of abandonment. The park attracts visitors for its beauty and also thanks to cultural activities linked to the Agenda 2030 (such as PianoTerra project), organic festivals, and theatrical nature-based events set on the new wooden stage, also designed as an observation point over the park, the villa, and the mountains. In addition, this place has become a space for open-air art exhibitions and events related to the world of sustainability, food and wine, such as the vermuth festival, which attracts tourists from outside the province as well.
The park offers ever-changing views as the scents, colours, and sensations change with the passing of the seasons: in fact, the park has been agronomically designed to present colours that enliven each season. It is precisely these characteristics that make the park also used by schools as an educational space.
The design of the BTOLIUM park was developed through a participatory approach between different actors involved in the project, including a scientific team of experts (architects and agronomists) and facilitators who allowed the co-design of the park's furnishings, including the community in the transformation of this place.
The park expresses the concept of 'design for all' and has been built without architectural barriers, allowing access for everyone. Slopes are limited and allow access to wheelchairs or baby prams.
The park represents a hub sensitive to inclusive themes, for this two benches have been inaugurated: the first, pink, created in collaboration with LILT (Lega Italiana Per La Lotta Contro I Tumori) supports the fight against female breast cancer, the second - red - to support all women in the battle for rights and against all forms of violence, donated by the twinned municipality of Valcourt(France) as a sign of brotherhood between the communities.
The open character of the public property regained after years of neglect, also dedicated to art and culture, makes this park an inclusive and intercultural place: culture has no barriers.
The forms used, the activities carried out, and the furnishings included all contribute to creating a space that becomes an example for future interventions within the village and neighboring towns.
The citizens of Biogliese benefit from the re-purposing of an abandoned 2000 square meter space that becomes a new space for biodiversity, and personal well-being thanks to direct contact with nature, and culture represented by the free events that take place in the park.
The benefits in environmental terms are recorded as the area is enriched with local species that were disappearing, thus creating a library of tree species that can once again be part of the economy thanks to their cultivation. Citizens can benefit from this agricultural/botanical park free of charge all year round.
In detail, 14 local apple trees of different varieties, 10 varieties of medicinal herbs, and 3 types of plants (birch, dogwood, juniper) were planted. The first apple harvest (1 year) produced approximately 75 kg. The same plants favour the production of very high-quality honey due to the quality of the air, which benefits the current local growers and beekeepers. From a recognisability point of view, the project, having been developed with the Turin Polytechnic and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change and Isires, also benefits from an indirect quality certification given by the scientific partners. Furthermore, the project becomes a showcase for the municipality's ability to intercept private and public (Compagnia di san paolo) funding for the regeneration of the area for the benefit of local communities.
This has led to an influx of tourists thanks to the various cultural activities carried out in the new park during the first year of the project, amounting to an estimated 2300 people.
The project has also become an educational and recreational space that hosts the Bioglio primary school and kindergarten for weekly immersive lessons.
From next spring, people will also be able to benefit from free apitherapy treatments in the park, thanks to the installation of a special facility for the treatment of stress and asthma.
The municipality of Bioglio collaborated with a group of scientific partners (the Polytechnic of Turin, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici, and Istituto Italiano di Ricerca e Sviluppo) and from the third sector (Artieri association) to realize this project, which was financed by a private stakeholder Fondazione di Compagnia di San Paolo, through a call for funding.
At the local level, different stakeholders (such as citizens, local producers, and municipalities) contributed to the initial analysis part with the scientific team, to also understand the interests of the various population groups.
In the implementation phases, only the partners of the initiative and a segment of the population concerned with the co-design were involved.
In the post-implementation phase, the resonance of this project brought a great deal of interest in the idea of territorial regeneration that BTOLIUM stands for, activating new connections between local bodies and associations.
The project was appreciated locally and also regionally, in fact, patronage was obtained for the presentation of the project from the Province of Biella, the Piedmont Region, the Order of Agronomists and Forestry Doctors of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, and the National Union of Mountain Authorities and Communities.
The Project is the result of a fundamental interdisciplinarity between architectural, agronomic, social, and co-participation skills. The project involved: 1 architect/project manager, 1 technical architect, 1 landscape agronomist, 2 architects/cultural facilitators, 1 atmospheric physicist, 3 consultants/engineers/data analysts, 2 municipal technicians/administrators.
In particular, the first phase involved direct collaboration between agronomic and botanical knowledge (Istituto Italiano di Ricerca e Sviluppo) with the landscape design (Politecnico di Torino) and co-participation skills(Associazione Artieri and Politecnico). In this case, the union of knowledge led to the creation of a successful space, where a new environmental balance was built, achieved also through an inclusive approach of the population and associations (Pro-Loco) and volunteers already active in the village.
The fundamental role of the Politecnico (architect/project manager) was to mediate between the different disciplines, architectural and technical skills, but also as an intermediary with suppliers and accountants. The multifaceted figure was able to dialogue at the different stages of the project with all stakeholders. The skills in data analysis and the creation of predictive climate models were useful in defining future climate scenarios for the village and implementing climate change risk-inclusive spatial planning (CMCC). The role of the CMCC was to create a document easily understood by the municipality to provide a basis for resilient planning.
Another indispensable soft skill was scientific dissemination and education activities to local schools carried out by Politecnico di Torino and CMCC.
BTOLIUM was a detonator project that brought attention to the need for adaptation to climate change even in the small rural realities of the Biella pre-alps. This stimulated municipalities to undertake actions to safeguard their natural heritage in order to act through adaptation and mitigation measures for the benefit of the entire community.
The project resulted in the redevelopment of 2000 square meters of abandoned area and increased biodiversity through the planting of more than 260 trees, including trees, perennial shrubs, and medicinal herbs belonging to 38 different species, which contributed to the protection of some ancient local apple species and the restoration of abandoned land. The new trees will provide shelter from heat waves for those who use the park for various recreational activities. At the same time, the rain garden, on the other hand, ensures more extraordinary biodiversity and prevents flooding of the area.
The park has become the new cultural hub related to environmental issues. During its first year of operation, it saw 51 days of cultural activities of various kinds, attracting more than 2500 visitors during the events alone.
The park has also become a multifunctional space that benefits the nearby primary school for experimental outdoor educational activities to convey the concepts of sustainability, ecology, and belonging.
The direct benefits for the inhabitants are related to the new attractiveness of the place, a space of connection with nature, capable of attracting discreet, sustainable tourism that can find refreshment and hospitality in the network of activities in the area (indirect benefits).
The municipality of Bioglio has also seen its importance and popularity grow thanks to the project and dissemination in the major newspapers.
Moreover, benefits will also accrue to future generations, who can enjoy a botanical park that will keep local species alive.
The innovative character of the BTOLIUM project, implemented in a municipally owned area, is reflected in the combination of interdisciplinarity, research and development, tradition, culture, biophilia, and a bottom-up approach.
The project was created as a concrete response to climate change in disadvantaged and pre-alpine contexts to economically, environmentally, and socially regenerate the area. To achieve this goal, a team of experts, architects, landscape architects, agronomists, engineers, and meteorologists was formed to develop a historical analysis of the types of cultivation and then a climate analysis to understand which species could best respond to climatic stresses and soil conditions.
The innovation, and the success, are to include in a regeneration project of marginal villages great expertise that is not normally included in local municipal administrations. Furthermore, nature-based solutions have been experimented with in rural contests, when normally the application is often limited to urban ones. A very interesting aspect that has enriched the project is the storytelling about the project to illustrate these interventions and to educate the different targets about climate change, adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable rural development.
The methodology applied in the first part of the project provided for the analysis and cataloging of the different morphologies recurring in the area subject to intervention (sloping, terraced, flat). The second part envisaged which architectural, NBS, agronomic and inclusive choices to adopt for each type of morphology. In the case of the BTOLIUM park (typology flat), an initial soil reclamation operation was carried out, in parallel with a landscape design made through a biophilic, symbiotic approach, choosing species suited to the site and recovering rare and local varieties of apples.
The furniture design was done through a two-week workshop with the Artieri association. The furniture was then constructed thanks to the support of the entire citizenry (directly through construction, indirectly through alternative forms of participation).
Once the project has been realised, the cultural and educational part was activated. Educational paths were set up with schools and cultural activities that transformed the park into the new cultural centre of the village. The project also included a climate criticality analysis carried out by the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change, which indicated the risks to agricultural pastoral activities and tourism to provide adaptive responses for new interventions.
The project has been presented at the “Oltre i margini” conference with the participation of local authorities, funders (Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation), and foundations for urban regeneration, private and university research centers. This promotional event aims to catalyze attention toward the regeneration of marginal territories to attract new sustainable economic flows.
The replicability and scalability of the intervention are the basis of the project. In fact, BTOLIUM was born as a regeneration model applicable to all territories characterised by a pre-alpine/hilly morphology such as the Biella area, but not only.
At the basis of this project, there is the need to rethink regeneration through the activation of sustainable and biological agricultural economies, and the application of nature-based-solutions both for productivity and to reduce the impacts of climate change (heat islands, flooding phenomena, periods of drought, extreme events, etc.). Having identified the area of analysis, it is crucial to understand the characteristic of the site and apply NBS for greater resilience of the area.
The process is based on: increasing quality green capital, increasing biodiversity, enhancing the resources present (e.g. water, including rainwater) and the environmental and cultural heritage, choosing natural and local materials that respond to the genius loci of the place, and local traditions.
The design part must always take into account the cultural context and include the population in a process of co-participation.
The outcome of the project is a management model of territorial regeneration interventions through natural resources, which become an aesthetic, functional, and productive element to increase the resilience, also economic, of social fabrics.
The project is addressed to respond concretely to some of the SDGs and global challenges relevant to the context, providing a regeneration model for marginal rural territories of the pre-alpine areas of northern Italy. In particular, the main challenge is to create resilient territories and communities to climate change and economic stresses in a fragile environment from a climate/hydrological and economic point of view, as it has suffered depopulation due to the crisis of the Biella wool industry. The solutions applied on a local scale for reaching the main goals (13,15,11,12, 8, 3) are:
- realization of a pilot green space, previously abandoned, under participatory management (SDG 11) with recreative and organic production areas, such as the apple orchard and the area of aromatic herbs for vermouth, to encourage the cultivation of these varieties to activate micro-economies (SDG 12, 8) and restore the use of different species in favour of greater biodiversity to safeguard the local environmental heritage (SDG 11, 15).
- tree-covered areas to reduce overheating of the area during the summer period and provide a climate-resilient, open to all, and inclusive space (SDGs 13, 15, 11). New trees help to store co2 while improving air quality and the citizens' well-being(SDG 3)
- Raingarden for collecting rainwater to reduce direct runoff into watercourses and urban drainage infrastructure.
- Area for pollinators and to encourage hyperlocal honey production (SDGs 12, 15, 8) and for teaching local schools.
-Creation of infographics for tree species education, climate change awareness, and communication of the historical vermouth tradition.
- Co-design and self-construction of garden furniture elements to integrate the community and associations in the design and management process (SDG11)
- Climate change educational events with citizens, and schools, held by Turin Polytechnic and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (SDG 15)
