On 5th February 2020 an interesting meeting on Green Infrastructures was held in Rome in the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF) inside the suggestive room “Sala Cavour”. The meeting titled “Biocities towards establishing an EFI facility on Urban and Periurban Forests a high – level dialogue and positioning” brought together some of the most representative national and international personalities dealing with the urban green space.
The event was organised on the occasion of the opening of a European Forest Institute (EFI) office for urban forests in Italy. In this regard the Deputy Director of EFI Dr. Robert Mavsar deeply explained the important role played by EFI in Urban Forests in Europe. During the morning the speakers talked about the global change and the environmental pollution issues proposing possible solutions at these problems through the Green Infrastructure and Nature Based Solution (NBS) employment. The topic was developed in various and multiple aspects, thanks to the attendance of different national and international actors interested in this subject. Policy makers, scientific community and practitioners debated on how the scientific research can concretely and practically respond to the real needs of the cities to combat pollution and offer a better quality of life to citizens. The event was also attended by the CNR - Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) represented by the Director, Dr. Carlo Calfapietra who, beyond the promotion of the green infrastructure as a solution for sustainable cities, illustrated the several national and international projects on the NBS carried out in IRET.