Integrating green and social infrastructure: the microforest social hub in Rome

1. Introduction In recent years, the ecological transition has increasingly shaped urban planning discourse, calling for a reorientation of design practices toward regenerative and nature-based models. This shift, often described as ecological urbanism, moves beyond traditional notions of sustainability by conceiving the city as a living ecosystem rather than a built environment. According to Clergeau [1], ecological urbanism is “a sustainable and resilient urbanism that envisions a new functionality,” integrating relationships among environment, nature, well-being, environmental quality, and equity. Such an approach promotes a regenerative framework inspired by ecological systems—grounded in multifunctionality, proximity, low-carbon objectives, and the integration of biodiversity into the urban fabric. The contemporary goal of urbanism is no longer confined to the physical construction of the city but to cultivating an urban ecosystem where nature operates as a structural, connective, and performative component within spatial organization and design [2–5].

This reconceptualization of urban nature is also reflected in contemporary imaginaries. According to the Observatoire des Usages Émergents de la Ville [6], the metaphor of the city as nature now occupies a more prominent place in the collective imagination than that of the dense, connected, or smart city. Bottom-up programs of urban renaturalization, such as Quartiers Verts in Brussels and Végétalisons Paris, exemplify the growing appeal of accessible, biodiverse, and climate-adaptive urban habitats that combine ecological and social inclusion. Within this framework, the concept of the Urban Oasis [7, 8] has emerged as a new component of contemporary urbanity—a network of multifunctional, small-scale spaces capable of responding to environmental challenges while fostering collective regeneration through locally grounded, participatory practices.

These oases—and, in the Roman context, the microforests—serve as laboratories where ecology, pedagogy, and community engagement intersect in tangible ways. The concept of the Urban Oasis proposed by Clergeau [1] can be reinterpreted through the microforest model, particularly when the latter transcends its purely ecological dimension to become a new component of urban infrastructure at the neighborhood scale. In this perspective, microforests not only restore biodiversity but also shape their surroundings by introducing complementary functions such as outdoor learning activities, areas for relaxation and study, and spaces for social interaction and play while providing climatic shelter within dense urban environments. Through this multifunctional character, microforests acquire the capacity to regenerate both the physical and relational fabric of the city, acting as agents of ecological awareness, social cohesion, and collective well-being [9].

As Morin reminds us [10], the responsibility for ecological transition lies in collective action—even at small scales—where citizens, researchers, and institutions collaborate to “build change now.” In this sense, microforests can be interpreted as urban oases of proximity: spaces for learning, interaction, and co-creation that embody the principles of ecological urbanism. By integrating green infrastructure, environmental awareness, and civic participation, they form a connective tissue that bridges ecology and community, fostering a renewed vision of the city as a shared ecological common good [11, 12].

This awareness has progressively developed and consolidated through a long-term research pathway that began in 2022 with a Sapienza University Third Mission project. The initiative led, in 2023, to the creation of the first Roman microforest in the San Lorenzo district and to the formal ratification of a collaboration agreement with Roma Capitale for the city’s Urban Regeneration Program within the framework of the 15-minute city model. This partnership enabled the development of five additional microforests across five of the fifteen municipalities of Rome, conceived as eco-pedagogical and community-based laboratories.

The Third Mission project also aims to advance a new microforest model capable of shaping and vitalizing physical space through the design of temporary outdoor furniture, play areas, and solutions that enhance microclimate comfort and the overall usability of open spaces. Central to this vision is the active participation of local schools, whose engagement transforms these environments into places of shared learning and ecological stewardship. These elements are conceived not only as functional additions but as drivers of social interaction and environmental awareness, supporting outdoor learning and fostering community well-being. In this sense, the project envisions microforests as adaptive and performative urban components that integrate ecological restoration with microclimatic regulation, everyday use, and spatial quality, thus reinforcing their role as living infrastructures within the urban ecosystem.

In this broader framework, microforests also resonate with Illich’s idea of conviviality [13], cultivating shared agency and mutual care between citizens and their environment. As noted by Orr [14], Sobel [15], and Bonney et al. [16], schools play a pivotal role in this process, acting as territorial agents of ecological literacy and citizen science—places where learning, participation, and stewardship converge to regenerate both environmental and social fabrics.

Building on these premises, the ongoing Third Mission initiative MiCS—Microforests Cultural Hub Sapienza: A Bridge Between Ecology and Community represents the latest evolution of the Roman microforest program. Conceived as an interdisciplinary platform for research, education, and civic participation, MiCS aims to consolidate the network of Roman microforests into a distributed cultural and ecological infrastructure that bridges environmental action with community engagement. The project promotes the transformation of each microforest into a Nature Classroom and Climate Refuge, integrating ecological monitoring, outdoor learning, and participatory design as complementary instruments of urban regeneration.

Beyond its experimental and educational dimension, MiCS positions the university as a catalyst of territorial innovation, fostering new alliances between research, policy, and community. It reaffirms that the ecological transition must be understood not only as an environmental challenge but as a cultural and pedagogical transformation, capable of nurturing a renewed sense of ecological citizenship and convivial urban life [13].

2.1. Background and theoretical framework This study is framed within the theoretical paradigm of ecological urbanism and nature-based solutions (NBS), which conceptualize urban nature as an active agent in spatial, social, and climatic transformation. Building on the works of Mostafavi [17], Beatley [4], and Clergeau [1], this framework interprets the city as a living ecosystem whose resilience depends on the integration of ecological and social systems, and on the capacity of nature to act as a structuring and connective element within urban form.

The microforest model, also known as the Tiny Forest, was pioneered by the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who, since the 1970s, has developed innovative afforestation experiments aimed at counteracting environmental degradation through the restoration of native forests composed exclusively of indigenous species [18–20]. Key features of the Miyawaki method include soil rehabilitation, the use of locally adapted species, stratification into functional vegetation layers, and high planting density (2–7 trees per m2). Several studies have shown that a Miyawaki forest grows faster than a conventional forest, is denser, and more biodiverse [21]. In the San Lorenzo pilot microforest in Rome, vegetation height increased from an average of 80 cm at planting to over 2 m in less than three years, confirming the accelerated growth performance reported in the literature.

Since 2011, Shubhendu Sharma and his organization Afforestt have adapted this methodology to small urban plots, giving rise to the Tiny Forest concept [22]. The model has since spread across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, promoted by organizations such as IVN in the Netherlands, Urban Forests in Belgium, and Earthwatch in the United Kingdom [21–26].

Within the contemporary discourse on ecological urbanism and nature-based solutions, microforests can be interpreted as tangible forms of a new paradigm of regenerative small-scale urbanism, grounded in proximity, community participation, and the incremental transformation of public space [27–29]. In this perspective, models such as the Urban Oasis [27] and the 15-minute city [29] configure a neighbourhood-based ecological approach in which dwelling is redefined through accessible spaces of ressourcement and sociability, rooted in everyday life. They belong to a new generation of micro-scale, high-performance green infrastructures that translate global sustainability frameworks—such as the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—into localized, experiential forms of urban transformation. In this sense, microforests act as operative ecologies: performative components of the urban metabolism that mediate between environmental restoration, social interaction, and spatial requalification.

Comparable to initiatives such as Végétalisons Paris and Barcelona’s Superilla program, microforests exemplify a rapidly implementable form of ecological urbanism with long-term strategic ambitions, bridging the immediacy of local environmental action with the broader objectives of urban resilience and sustainability [30]. Unlike temporary or tactical urbanism, which often emphasizes short-lived interventions or experimental prototypes, microforests pursue an ecological permanence strategy aimed at diffusing multiple “green pearls” across the built fabric of the city to mitigate urban heat island effects, enhance permeability, and reintroduce vegetative continuity within dense built environments. Conceived as a distributed urban infrastructure, the microforest operates as a network of small ecological nodes capable of reconnecting fragmented ecosystems and supporting biodiversity continuity and climatic regulation within the urban fabric [31].

In line with Schilthuizen’s theory on urban ecology [32], small-scale habitats can achieve a disproportionate ecological quality relative to their size, providing critical microhabitats and adaptive niches that contribute significantly to urban biodiversity. At the same time, these micro-scale interventions contribute to the social and spatial regeneration of everyday environments, fostering civic engagement, environmental awareness, and new forms of collective belonging. Their fast establishment and tangible ecological performance respond to citizens’ demand for visible change while activating long-term processes of urban transformation [33].

In this sense, microforests function as drivers of regenerative small-scale urbanism, combining short-term feasibility with lasting systemic impact within the evolving framework of nature-based and proximity-centered urban planning [34, 35]. From a methodological standpoint, the critical reading of the Roman microforests is articulated around four interrelated dimensions that reflect the project’s ecological, educational, and civic nature. The first, ecology, concerns the capacity of small-scale green infrastructures to enhance urban biodiversity, regulate microclimatic conditions, and contribute to the ecological connectivity of the city. The second, pedagogy, highlights the central role of schools and educational communities in fostering ecological literacy and outdoor learning, transforming the microforest into a living classroom. The third, civic engagement, encompasses participatory design, citizen science, and shared stewardship, emphasizing the collaborative dimension of environmental care. Finally, conviviality, following Illich [13], refers to the emergence of mutual care and cooperative agency between people and their environment. Together, these dimensions construct an integrated analytical framework through which the microforest can be interpreted as both an ecological and a social infrastructure—an adaptive landscape where environmental and civic processes coevolve within the urban ecosystem.

2.2. The Roman context: San Lorenzo as a pilot case The Roman case study of the San Lorenzo Microforest represents the first concrete implementation of the theoretical and methodological framework outlined above. Developed within the Sapienza University Third Mission program, the project tested the capacity of microforests to operate as eco-pedagogical infrastructures, integrating ecological restoration, outdoor education, and civic participation within a single experimental platform (Figure 1). Conceived as a living laboratory, the San Lorenzo Microforest translates the four analytical dimensions—ecology, pedagogy, civic engagement, and conviviality—into a coherent methodological structure guiding its design, implementation, and evaluation (Table 1).

From an ecological perspective, the project addressed one of the neighbourhood’s most critical challenges: the scarcity of public green space (only 2 m2 per inhabitant, compared to the 9 m2 recommended by Italian regulations) and the presence of urban heat island effects within a highly impervious urban fabric. Through the planting of 230 native Mediterranean trees and shrubs, the microforest aimed to enhance local biodiversity, improve soil permeability, and contribute to microclimatic regulation while establishing a small ecological node within the city’s fragmented green network.

The pedagogical dimension was central to the project’s design process. In collaboration with the local primary and secondary school, ICS Tiburtina Antica 25, teachers, students, and university researchers co-developed ten thematic modules on urban ecology, including soil quality, water cycles, air, vegetation, and biodiversity (Figure 2). The outdoor classroom thus became a space of direct observation and embodied learning, fostering ecological literacy and a tangible connection between education and territory [37–41].

The civic engagement component was implemented through participatory design workshops involving university students, local residents, and representatives of Municipio II. These sessions encouraged a shared vision of the microforest as a community resource, strengthening the sense of ownership and collective responsibility toward the site [42]. Activities of citizen science and ecological monitoring further reinforced this involvement, allowing participants to gather and interpret data on vegetation growth, soil health, and biodiversity [3, 42, 43].

Finally, the dimension of conviviality, following Illich [13], emerged through the practices of everyday use, care, and cooperation that developed around the microforest after its completion. The act of watering, maintaining, and inhabiting the space became a shared ritual through which the local community and the school collectively cultivated mutual care and a renewed relationship with the urban environment. In this sense, the San Lorenzo Microforest evolved from a single ecological intervention into a convivial infrastructure—an adaptive and regenerative space where learning, ecology, and community converge [9, 15, 17, 44–46].

Following the successful outcomes of the San Lorenzo pilot case, the project’s partners and local stakeholders expressed the intention to continue the process by transforming the microforests into micro-centralities and cultural hubs, designed to promote a green and socially cohesive neighborhood network. The first concrete outcome of this process was the formalization of a Collaboration Agreement with Roma Capitale to integrate the Microforest Project into the Urban Regeneration Program of the 15-minute city. Under this agreement, five Municipi—III, VII, XII, XIV, and XV—were selected to host new microforests, alongside the San Lorenzo pilot site, forming a citywide microforest archipelago that connects diverse urban contexts through shared ecological and social objectives (2024–2025).

Building upon the outcomes of the San Lorenzo pilot project, the following section expands the analytical framework to encompass the broader Roman network of microforests. It interprets their evolution as adaptive learning landscapes—spaces where education, ecology, and civic participation converge within diverse urban contexts.

2.3. From pilot to network: adaptive learning landscapes of the Roman microforests Roman microforest projects share a common educational foundation, refining and expanding the ten-step eco-pedagogical model first tested in the San Lorenzo pilot project [42]. Each initiative originated as an outdoor classroom designed to foster ecological literacy, participatory learning, and community engagement through direct environmental experience [37–40].

In this context, the concept of the adaptive learning landscape provides an interpretive framework for understanding the Roman experience. The term adaptive refers to the capacity of urban ecological systems to evolve in response to environmental and social dynamics while simultaneously supporting human learning and collective transformation. In the Roman context, adaptation operates on multiple levels: ecologically, through the integration of native Mediterranean species in fragmented urban environments; socially, through participatory processes that adjust to the needs and rhythms of local communities; and pedagogically, through an evolving educational model that connects schools, institutions, and civic networks. The Roman microforests thus embody a form of urban adaptability, where ecological regeneration and educational innovation co-produce new cultural and spatial values [14–16].

Viewed through the four methodological lenses guiding this study—ecology, pedagogy, civic engagement, and conviviality—the Roman microforests can be interpreted as living laboratories where environmental and social processes coevolve. Ecology manifests through biodiversity enhancement and microclimatic regulation; pedagogy emerges in outdoor learning and citizen science activities; civic engagement unfolds through participatory design and community stewardship; and conviviality, in Illich’s sense [13], arises from the shared agency and mutual care that bind people to their environment.

Building on this shared adaptive and educational premise, the Roman microforests can be grouped into three prevailing typologies, each expressing a distinct interaction between education, ecology, and urban regeneration. These categories are not rigid but complementary, illustrating how the microforest model adjusts to different urban contexts while maintaining its ecological and pedagogical mission [42, 45].

2.3.1. Educational microforests

Labaro exemplifies how a microforest can serve as a living educational environment for high school students, combining ecological restoration with practical training in environmental monitoring and citizen science [16, 44]. The site transforms a previously residual lawn into an outdoor laboratory, fostering ecological awareness, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility among young learners (Figure 3). The project was developed through collaboration among the local school, Sapienza University, the Municipality of Rome, the Municipio XV and the Lazio Region establishing a model of participatory environmental education that strengthens intergenerational ties and community stewardship [47, 48].

At Gregna (Municipio VII), the microforest mediates between the agricultural landscape and the school environment, immersing children in the sensorial experience of Mediterranean biodiversity while nurturing a spontaneous process of attraction toward nature and the living world (Figure 4). Through recurring outdoor activities, the site consolidates a pedagogical bond between school and territory, reinforcing the role of nature as a learning medium [37–41]. However, no structured civic engagement activities have yet been developed, and the site’s everyday use largely depends on teachers’ goodwill during pupils’ recreation time.

2.3.2. Revitalizing microforests

Monteverde (Municipio XII) transforms a neglected green enclave into a community-oriented microforest conceived as a small botanical garden, designed for inclusivity and multifunctionality through interpretive trails, outdoor classrooms, and open-air learning facilities yet to be realized. The project redefines residual public space as a social and ecological infrastructure that integrates education, recreation, and cultural expression (Figure 5) [15, 38, 45]. Although it promotes environmental awareness, civic engagement has not yet been activated due to the absence of associative stakeholders, and conviviality emerges mainly during outdoor lessons shared by students and teachers.

In Tufello (Casali di Faonte Archaeological Site, Municipio III), the microforest complements the European We-Z Project, which converted one of the existing Casali di Faonte into a neighborhood memory museum. Here, vegetation forms a new ecological enclave within a protected archeological site, enhancing its accessibility and interpretive value—the intended aim of the project (Figure 6). However, the mediation between ecological regeneration and heritage conservation remains complex due to strict protection constraints. Educational and participatory activities depend on administrative authorization for site access, and maintenance is limited to periodic checks. Conviviality is, therefore, occasional, although local schools have expressed a strong interest in using the site more frequently as an outdoor learning space. Nevertheless, one year after the planting of the microforest, Municipio III engaged Italian Civil Service volunteers to restart a process of reappropriation involving the school, the neighbourhood, and the microforest.

2.3.3. Microforest as a climate shelter Finally, Casal del Marmo represents Rome’s first de-paving initiative (Municipio XIV). The removal of impermeable surfaces enabled the creation of biodiversity terraces, establishing a green oasis where heat stress had previously prevailed. The reuse of construction materials and the application of circular design principles reflect a climate-responsive approach to urban planning, demonstrating how small-scale ecological interventions can mitigate urban heat and enhance environmental resilience [7, 21, 28, 31]. The project was developed through collaboration among local schools, institutions, and the project team; yet, maintenance currently consists mainly of reporting issues to the technical staff, as collective responsibility and shared stewardship have not yet been consolidated (Figure 7).

Each of these typologies can be interpreted through the four analytical lenses outlined in the methodological framework—ecology, pedagogy, civic engagement, and conviviality (Table 2). The educational microforests foreground the pedagogical and ecological dimensions, translating environmental observation into experiential learning. The revitalizing microforests emphasize civic engagement and conviviality, transforming residual public spaces into arenas of collective action and shared care. The climate shelter microforests highlight ecological adaptation while fostering civic and educational awareness of climate resilience. Together, these configurations demonstrate how the microforest model functions as an adaptive ecosystem where learning, ecology, and community interweave across multiple spatial and social scales.

These typologies collectively reveal how microforests evolve from isolated greening projects into adaptive learning landscapes—spaces of ecological restoration and social regeneration that lay the groundwork for the next phase of development, explored in the following section through the MiCS Project.

2.4. Post-developments: from microforests to educational micro-centralities At the conclusion of this implementation phase, in 2025, a World Café-style workshop [49, 50] was organized with institutional and community stakeholders to collectively outline the future direction of the project. The meeting served as a participatory tool to identify new cultural and educational objectives, paving the way for the formulation of a new Third Mission proposal by Sapienza University of Rome.

Building on this participatory process, the initiative evolved into the Third Mission project titled “Microforests Cultural Hub Sapienza: A Bridge Between Ecology and Community (MiCS)”. The project aims to transition from the implementation phase to a broader phase of cultural and pedagogical valorization of the microforests. This evolution marks a shift from creating ecological infrastructures to developing eco-pedagogical and community-based ecosystems, where learning, stewardship, and civic engagement become integral components of urban sustainability (Figure 8) [47, 48, 51–54].

In parallel, the results of the 240 questionnaires administered at the conclusion of the first stage of the 15 Microforests project revealed two key insights: the first concerns the need to invest in children, who are more receptive to the call of nature; from an educational perspective, the earlier the intervention, the stronger and more lasting the bond between individuals and the natural environment. The second aspect relates to adolescents—their growing environmental sensitivity, but also the sense of inadequacy they often express when assuming responsibility for nature care.

The MiCS Project addresses these findings by proposing an outdoor education pathway aligned with STEAM disciplines, integrating Citizen Science, culture, creativity, and digital tools. Through an experiential and participatory process, young participants acquire the skills needed to become urban naturalists [32]: they develop empathy toward nature, design communication and dissemination strategies through social media, and contribute to the transformation of the microforest into a Living Lab capable of revitalizing public space [55, 56].

In the shade of the microforest, an educating community is growing—one that promotes collective responsibility and care for the common good, in line with the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [57–59].

3. Results The case studies of the Roman microforests reveal a complex process of ecological, educational, and civic construction unfolding at different stages of maturation. While the San Lorenzo pilot project represents a consolidated experience—nurtured through two years of interdisciplinary collaboration between Sapienza University, local schools, and community organizations—the five subsequent microforests are in the early phases of implementation, where relationships among institutions, teachers, and local communities are still being defined.

From an educational and civic perspective, San Lorenzo demonstrates the transformative potential of sustained school involvement: teachers and students have become active custodians of the site, integrating ecological monitoring and outdoor learning into the curriculum. In the other five cases, participatory processes have so far focused primarily on the co-design and planting stages, laying the foundation for future stewardship activities. These early phases confirm that the success of microforest initiatives depends not merely on tree planting, but on the establishment of an ongoing program of educational and community activities capable of maintaining long-term attention, interest, and shared responsibility [60, 61]. These findings indicate that time constitutes a critical variable, with the San Lorenzo case achieving its outcomes only after three years.

From an institutional and governance standpoint, the Roman program has shown that microforests can function as key components of multi-actor collaboration among universities, municipalities, schools, and civic associations (Figure 9). However, the degree of cooperation varies across sites and depends largely on the presence of motivated teachers, supportive principals, and responsive administrations. This variability underscores the need for consistent frameworks that can sustain engagement beyond the initial phase of implementation.

In response to this need, the MiCS Project—Microforests Cultural Hub Sapienza: A Bridge Between Ecology and Community was conceived to introduce standardized protocols for ecological monitoring and participatory learning. Through the integration of citizen science and digital tools, MiCS seeks to ensure continuity between scientific observation, environmental education, and community stewardship, transforming each microforest into a Living Laboratory where ecological and social processes coevolve [55, 56].

Overall, the Roman microforest network demonstrates the scalability and adaptability of the model across diverse urban and social contexts. The experience suggests that the microforest can act as both a pedagogical infrastructure and a civic platform, capable of stimulating ecological awareness, collective action, and environmental care at the neighborhood scale.

Within the contemporary discourse on ecological urbanism and nature-based solutions, microforests can, therefore, be interpreted as tangible expressions of a new paradigm of regenerative small-scale urbanism, grounded in proximity, community participation, and the incremental transformation of public space [29, 54]. They belong to a new generation of micro-scale, high-performance green infrastructures that translate global sustainability frameworks—such as the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—into localized, experiential forms of urban transformation [55, 56]. In this sense, the Roman microforests act as operative ecologies [60, 61]: performative components of the urban metabolism that mediate between environmental restoration, social interaction, and spatial requalification.

4. Discussion The case studies of the Roman microforests reveal a complex process of ecological, educational, and civic construction that is still in an early stage of consolidation. While the San Lorenzo pilot demonstrates the transformative potential of continuous engagement among schools, institutions, and communities, the other five sites highlight the difficulty of maintaining the same level of coordination and commitment once the initial phase of implementation has ended. The Roman network thus represents a dynamic yet uneven system in which each site evolves according to the strength of local alliances and the continuity of educational and civic activation.

This process can be described as both delicate and sensitive. It is delicate because it depends on the persistence of human relationships—among teachers, students, administrators, and residents—that require ongoing care and mediation to remain active. It is sensitive because it responds to fluctuations in institutional attention, funding, and civic participation, meaning that even small discontinuities can alter its trajectory. These characteristics reveal an intrinsic vulnerability in nature-based and community-driven projects: while they are celebrated for their adaptability, their effectiveness relies on social and institutional ecosystems that must be continually renewed [62].

Within this perspective, the MiCS Project—Microforests Cultural Hub Sapienza: A Bridge Between Ecology and Community emerges as a strategic response to these structural challenges. Designed as a two-year Third Mission initiative, MiCS seeks to consolidate the educational and scientific dimensions of the microforest model through the establishment of standardized monitoring protocols, participatory tools, and shared management frameworks. By introducing digital platforms for ecological data collection and citizen science engagement, the project aims to transform each microforest into a Living Laboratory, where research, education, and civic participation continuously interact [55, 56].

From a pedagogical standpoint, MiCS reinforces the role of schools as territorial agents of ecological literacy [15, 43, 63]. By integrating outdoor learning, creative workshops, and environmental monitoring into the educational process, it seeks to cultivate a new generation of “urban naturalists” [32] capable of understanding and acting upon local ecological systems. This approach reflects the idea that ecological transition is not only an environmental challenge but also a cultural and educational transformation, requiring long-term investment in learning, awareness, and collective responsibility.

At the same time, the project aims to strengthen institutional collaboration among university, local governments, and communities, moving from a fragmented approach toward a shared governance model. The Roman experience demonstrates that the sustainability of small-scale ecological interventions relies less on material permanence than on the durability of relationships among actors. In this sense, MiCS functions as an operational bridge between research and civic practice, aligning the ecological, educational, and social dimensions of urban regeneration.

Ultimately, the Roman microforests illustrate that nature-based solutions achieve their full transformative potential only when embedded in stable networks of cooperation, care, and learning. Their success depends on a combination of scientific rigor, educational continuity, and civic engagement—dimensions that, together, can sustain the long-term vitality of these living infrastructures and anchor them within broader urban resilience strategies. However, these networks remain contingent and evolving, requiring continuous institutional learning and policy support to prevent the microforest model from becoming a transient experiment rather than a structural component of the urban ecological transition.

5. Conclusions The Roman microforests demonstrate how small-scale ecological infrastructures can serve as levers of environmental, educational, and social transformation. By combining afforestation with outdoor learning, civic participation, and collective care, these initiatives reinterpret the principles of ecological urbanism through concrete and locally grounded practices. The five new microforests confirm the scalability and flexibility of the San Lorenzo pilot model, adapting its eco-pedagogical framework to diverse spatial, institutional, and community contexts.

Their greatest strength lies in the integration of environmental and educational objectives, which has fostered collaborations among universities, schools, municipalities, and civic associations. This network-based approach demonstrates that microforests can act as connective social infrastructures, translating ecological restoration into processes of civic and cultural regeneration. Yet, the comparative reading also reveals the uneven distribution of engagement and care. Where leadership and institutional continuity are strong—such as in Labaro or Casal del Marmo—collective stewardship and educational activation are consolidated; where these conditions are lacking, the process remains embryonic and less resilient.

These observations underscore a key insight: planting trees alone is not enough. The long-term success of microforests depends on the establishment of continuous programs of education, monitoring, and community engagement that maintain attention, motivation, and shared responsibility over time. The challenge is, therefore, not only ecological but organizational and relational—requiring ongoing collaboration among schools, local administrations, and civil society.

In response to these challenges, the MiCS Project—Microforests Cultural Hub Sapienza: A Bridge Between Ecology and Community represents the next evolutionary phase of the experiment. By developing participatory monitoring protocols, digital platforms for citizen science, and shared governance frameworks, MiCS seeks to transform the network of Roman microforests into an adaptive learning ecosystem that connects research, education, and civic action. Through this approach, the project contributes to a broader understanding of nature-based solutions as operative ecologies—performative components of the urban metabolism that mediate between environmental restoration, social interaction, and spatial requalification [17, 28, 34, 42, 46, 53].

Looking ahead, the Roman experience highlights both the promise and complexity of scaling up regenerative small-scale urbanism. The microforest model can evolve into a structural component of urban ecological transition only if embedded in stable institutional frameworks that support continuous learning and policy innovation. Future research should, therefore, focus on the long-term governance of these living infrastructures, exploring how universities, schools, and communities can co-manage ecological processes and civic practices over time. Ensuring such continuity is essential to move from temporary experimentation toward the consolidation of microforests as permanent eco-pedagogical and convivial infrastructures within the urban ecosystem [34, 36, 42, 46, 51–54, 63].