Imola Verde – Green map over Imola

The ‘Imola Verde’ (Green Imola Map), is a map that indicates 46 green spaces in the municipality. These spaces are united by more than 90 km of bicycle and pedestrian paths. The map illustrate the richness and diversity of the green spaces of the municipality, from the large historic parks to the small gardens, the riverside park, the
newborn forests, sports areas, vegetable gardens, community centers and bicycle paths, highlighting how this entire ecosystem is reachable and within walking and cycling distance. The map also describes which activities citizens can do in these green public spaces.

The aim is to raise awareness and stimulate the use of bike lanes of the municipality. The starting point for this good practice was the lack of knowledge by citizens about the sustainable mobility infrastructure, like cycle path infrastructure available within Imola. It couples also with the lack of awareness of the public green spaces, like public
gardens, natural reserves and forests located in the municipal area, and everything they can do in those spaces. This resulted in the misuse and under-usage of the cycling paths by citizens, who prefer opting for less sustainable solutions, like the use of private cars. In fact, only 10% of the citizens are aware of and use this infrastructure. Moreover, the network of the bicycle and pedestrian paths of Imola is part of the bicipolitana that connects the metropolitan city of Bologna to the other surrounding municipalities by bike paths, enclosing Imola in a larger territorial context.

The innovative element of the practice is that it combines the map of sustainable mobility (pedestrian/bike pathways) with the map of public green spaces in one place, and not separately.

In order to implement the practice, the municipality has taken four steps:

Step 1: The Sustainable Development and Environmental Office collaborated with the Municipality’s Mobility Office in order to obtain an up-to-date and accurate map of all cycling and walking infrastructure in the Municipality.
Step 2: The Sustainable Development and Environment Office worked with the Public Green Office to obtain an accurate map of all green areas (parks, nature reserves, etc.) in the municipality.
Step 3: The maps was handed over to the illustrator who was commissioned by the municipality to take care of the design of the map.
Step 4: After the map was approved it was printed and uploaded on the municipal website to make it accessible to all citizens and local associations

The Imola Verde map resulted in many positive impacts (some examples):

Independent bookshop organized an event called Bicircle, i.e. a reading club in the city parks that ride their bikes along Imola’s cycle paths and parks, meeting with authors and chat about their books. A unique opportunity to meet an author and talk about his books, but also discovering Imola’s cycle paths and parks. You may find more information here:

Meeting with ASL to organize disease prevention related activities: use of the map to highlight all disease prevention activities: the Agency also asked for the further implementation by including outdoor gyms located in the public parks to stimulate active mobility of the citizens.

Experimental Bicibus project with the Istituto comprensivo of Imola: the project involved promoting the use of bicycles for children’s school/home routes. In addition, the project’s activities are varied and include both the definition of specific home/school routes that children can use to go to school, accompanied and in groups, and activities for teaching the use of bicycles to go to school.

Public shops frequented by families, tourists and young people have asked to enhance the map and to have it to spread among their customers.

Sport and trekking associations that have developed specific training circuits based on the map.

Since the map also was included as a good practice in the National Association of Italian Municipality website, many other Italian municipalities have asked for Imola’s counselling for transfer it to their local contexts.

Bike Italia – cycling network promoting good practices of sustainable mobility has published the map on its website.

If you find this practice interesting you may read more about it in the Background analysis (pp. 56).