Background Urban dwellers are showing a growing demand for access to natural areas. With this in mind, the Pattern project wanted to develop an innovative environmental management model for the Bergamo Park that involved the participation of all regional stakeholders: the local communities, enterprises and farmers, in order to strengthen relations between ‘the park’ and ‘the city’. Objectives The project aimed to promote the protection of the park environment by reintroducing sustainable productive agricultural and forestry activities implemented by social cooperatives well rooted in the Bergamo community. There were to be seven demonstration work-sites in different protected areas – each with a distinct microclimate - where different activities were to be performed employing a shared management model in which various social sectors (local community, farmers, co-operatives, and enterprises) would participate. The project also aimed to be a new model for environmental planning and management of fragile areas, setting a standard for partnership between public bodies and social enterprises. Results The planning and implementation of work in the seven sites suffered from a handful of initial difficulties and delays. However, after that, operations proceeded without any major constraints and all activities were completed as planned. Work-site activities: Orto sociale delle mura This strip of land next to the ancient city walls was managed by a social co-operative of disadvantaged citizens who cultivated horticultural crops. Vivaio forestale / Arboreto della Ca’ Matta Originally envisaged as a forest nursery site, this area was later designated as an arboretum to display to the public a collection of fully grown trees that are species typical of the park. Torrente Quisa The Torrente Quisa is a hill stream flowing along one of the main bicycle and hiking trails around the park. At this site, the project performed a ‘naturalistic’ reclamation of the forest areas on the stream’s banks. “Mozzo” humid area A rare orchid grows in this area, and at this site, the project restored its humid habitat by filling in a drain that had been dug in the past few years, and by controlling the growth of Alnus that has been spreading out from the nearby forest. Valbrembo Plains This area is the site of intensive agriculture and a number of industrial settlements. Here, project participants from local schools replanted of a network of hedges and windbreaks by using locally produced trees and shrubs. The hedge network was also integrated with the bike trails. Astino Terraces An area very close to town and next to the remains of an ancient monastery, the terraces were restored. This work involved the restoration of the containing walls of the terraces and the cultivation of traditional varieties of maize, which in turn are promoted by local farmers as certified traditional local products. Forest areas In the forest areas of the park, there were in fact three sub-sites in the three different types of forest there. A chestnut coppice forest was converted into a high stand; a degraded chestnut forest was converted into a fruit orchard, restored and cultivated traditionally; and a Robinia forest was thinned and managed. The project managed to find a good balance between the requirements of the different sections of the park: the need to ensure protection of fragile areas; the reintroduction of sustainable production techniques (both in agriculture and forestry); the involvement of the social co-operatives from the area in nine different demonstration sites (totalling 25 ha), thus ensuring the participation of disadvantaged citizens; the development of an improved data acquisition system that would ensure better analysis of the environmental character of the different areas of the park; and the recovery of trees in the agricultural landscape. This latter aspect was the “Monito” [now called the “Orobit”], a ‘hand-made’ part-organic, part-technological environment monitor largely built out of rocks that gathers microclimatic data and at the same time provides shelter for bio-indicator organisms. The Orobits are also the “eyes” of the Pattern: thanks to the web cams they are equipped with, the Orobits transmit images from the various social work-sites to the web. The website, in particular, was described as “excellent” within the “Public Administration” category of the 2004 Italian Web Awards. The project also successfully brought together all the various area stakeholders involved with the Park: public administrators (at the provincial and municipal levels); scientific institutions, such as the Universities of Milan and Bergamo and the Botanical Garden of Bergamo; end-users - both the citizens of the area and the region’s farmers; and lastly the social enterprises operating in the area.