The final event of “Acqua in circolo” was held on Friday June 13, 2025. “Acqua in circolo” is the NiCE pilot created by ENEA in Bologna (Italy) to promote circular and efficient use of water among citizens and students.
The event was hosted by Serra Madre, a space within the Giardini Margherita in Bologna, the result of an urban regeneration project and dedicated to events and environmental promotion activities.
The event was an opportunity to tell the story of the journey made and the results obtained since the inauguration of the pilot in June 2024, as well as to experiment with some solutions adopted in the pilot to use water more efficiently and circularly to cultivate in the city.
The event opened with greetings from Daniele Ara and Antonella Di Pietro of the Municipality of Bologna, an associated partner of the NiCE project, and with a welcome from Cristian Chiavetta, head of the Laboratory Tools for Sustainability and Circularity of ENEA.
Following this, Sara Cortesi (ENEA – Laboratory Tools for Sustainability and Circularity) and Simone Busi (ENEA – Laboratory Technologies for the Circular Management of Water and Wastewater) presented respectively the NiCE project and the activities carried out during the Urban Living Lab and the School Living Lab of “Acqua in circolo”.
The event continued with a roundtable with some of the citizens participating in the Urban Living Lab: Daniela Tura from the Porta Saragozza municipal gardens where a wicking bed, a self-contained garden bed with a water reservoir at the bottom where water is drawn up by capillary action, was installed, Maria Elena Bini from DICAM – University of Bologna where a tower for hydroponic cultivation was tested, and Federico Palmas from the Porto15 co-housing, where a cistern for rainwater collection was positioned with an integrated phyto-depuration system.
At the end of the event, Aquaponic Design, which supported ENEA in the creation of “Acqua in circolo”, guided the participants in the construction of a wicking bed and were able to ask questions about how to reproduce that and other solutions adopted by the “Acqua in circolo” pilot, even building them themselves by reusing everyday objects.
For more on the “Acqua in circolo” pilot: https://www.acquaincircolo.enea.it