Matosinhos becomes the first UN Resilience Hub in Portugal
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
At least in some ways, Nature has made a return to the Italian capital
Could it be that while we are lost on our greening efforts to bring cities closer to Nature we might discover that we have already grown too distant to comprehend it? Point in case – the Italian capital of Rome. The Eternal City has seen it all through the millennia and to one of its newer experiences we can add roaming packs of boars on its streets.
The wild animals have been making regular inroads into the city, so much so that they even became a point of contention in the recent local elections. Now that we know the results, we can also speculate that, at least partially, the boars might have had a role in her dismal electoral performance.
Different media sources have been reporting on the increased sightings of wild pigs on the Roman streets. About two weeks before the elections a pack of boars, supposedly a mother and her already grown piglets, equipped with sharp tusks, coarse hair and brazen attitudes had no qualms on taking a walk among traffic on Via Trionfale, a busy road crossing the suburb of Monte Mario.
Onlookers were happy to film them and share the videos on social media, prompting jokes about the introduction of ‘wild boar lanes’ in the manner of cycling lanes, now that there was a need to share the road with these new residents.
The wild pigs have also been reportedly seen near the Foreign Ministry, and residents have shared stories about being followed by them while taking out the trash. The most chilling story, however, happened back in May when another gang of these creatures snatched the shopping bags from a woman at a parking lot in Formello (a town in Lazio) and proceeded to consume whatever they found inside them.
Speak of bad timing, in pre-election times many critics were quick to link the increased presence of the wildlife to the decay in the capital, defined by piling trash, potholed streets and numerous graffiti. In other words, a direct sign that Mayor Raggi failed to make the city ‘livable’ as she had promised in 2016.
She, however, lamented that the animals were unfairly used to take shots at her governance by claiming that the responsibility for the increase in boar population was the lax attitude of the Lazio region authorities. The surrounding countryside is apparently passionate about boar hunting and local cuisine is known about gourmet delights, such as pappardelle with boar meat or boar stew.
The mayor even went so far as to start legal proceedings against the regional authorities on that matter, but as the recent results showed it was to no avail and she placed third in the election results.
Peace and quiet in Baroque surroundings
The mayor of Stanz im Mürztal is building a renewable energy cooperative and it comes with a whole new economic model
The focus will be on solidarity, sustainability and green development, as well as on social development and security in the city
According to the Eurostat report, women are significantly more educated than men in the EU
The Irish Environment Protection Agency released an updated map of affected regions in the country
The story of Dortmund’s 2011 Science City Masterplan and how it grew in the new decade
It involves strategically placed pictograms on the pedestrian crossings
Never too early to fall in love with soft mobility
100 trees will take the place of 100 parking spaces in this Belgian town
According to the Eurostat report, women are significantly more educated than men in the EU
It involves strategically placed pictograms on the pedestrian crossings
The Irish Environment Protection Agency released an updated map of affected regions in the country
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status