Nature Based Solutions on the river environment: an example of cross-disciplinary sustainable management, with local community active participation and visual art as science transfer tool

An attempt to link phytomanagement, art and social involvement is presented. The “Remediation” Project started up from the search of sustainable solutions for the management of a riparian area in the city of Rome. With the participation of citizens, researchers carried out a preliminary survey on the presence of metals within the target ecosystem and a demonstrative experiment on phytoremediation. Several social and cultural events have been organized in connection with the scientific part of the project: a public debate, an art exposition, a performance and two workshops at the experimental field. The Project demonstrated that through art it is possible to raise curiosity on scientific issues; the participated survey on metal pollution highlighted the strict interconnection among environmental matrices (soil/water/bioma) and thus the risk of contamination transfer; the demonstrative experiment, even if very basic in order to be easily approached by citizens, showed the great potential of Nature Based Solutions.