Matilde Molari | PhD Candidate, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering
Polytechnic of Torino, Turin, Italy
May 2, 2023 | 16h00-17h00 | Room D.2.3 | Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract: Urban renaturation strategies have recently adopted nature-based solutions as promising technologies to establish a new type of coexistence between man and urban nature. Nature-based solutions provide several ecosystem services to the urban environment. Green walls are among these solutions and can contribute with social, ecological and economic benefits. Following a socio-ecological approach, it becomes essential to establish tools to assess the impacts of these technologies on human psychological well-being, in order to guide an adaptive and data-driven design that takes into account citizens’ perceptions. The phenomenon of restorativeness explains the mental refreshment offered by the physical environment – natural or urban – and has been detected in city sites with different levels of urban greenery implementation. However, the influence of punctual interventions such as green walls on the perceived restorativeness offered by the urban context is still uncertain. The talk will introduce and discuss the method applied to assess the perceived restorativeness of citizens in relation to a living wall placed in Turin (Italy).
Short Bio: Matilde Molari is PhD candidate at Polytechnic of Torino. MSc in Systemic Design, she works at the Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), carrying out research in the Applied Ecology Group. Her research topic deals with vertical greenery systems in urban environments, in particular she investigates environmental and social impacts deriving from the design and application of green walls. She is now in her visiting period at the Faculty of Engineering of the Lusófona University to develop her research project in collaboration with the research team.