WAVE Living Lab in Bacoli, Italy
From September 18th to September 27th, students from universities around Europe gathered in Bacoli, just north of Naples, Italy, to design a development plan for Lake Fusaro as part of the WAVE (Water Areas Vision for Europe) Erasmus+ Project. Lake Fusaro is the largest lake of the Phlegraean Fields and, as we quicky discovered, is far from meeting its full potential.
The students were divided into five groups, each tackling a different section of the lakefront. After touring the area and discussing with various stakeholders, students brainstormed challenges and potentials for the lake, each group taking its own approach to problem analysis. It became apparent that, from an urban planning and design perspective, there are many issues in the area – poor accessibility, lack of pedestrian infrastructure, illegal & unplanned urban development, high levels of pollution, and poor ecosystem management, to name a few.
From these analyses, students came up with solutions, each group creating a vision for their section of the lakefront area. These visions were communicated through comprehensive designs, using a variety of different artistic, mapping, and design methodologies. They were then able to share these visions with various stakeholders, resulting in a very successful project overall.
It was a privilege that the ISOCARP Institute was able to participate in this inspiring event, and we look forward to future Labs.
For an overview of the outcomes, check out the dissemination video (a mix of English and Italian) below, as well as the gallery of photos (photo credit: Didier Vancutsem, Antonio Acierno, & Taliah Dommerholt).
