Greening Event Morbegno: how We Celebrate Projects and Networks

In 2026, to commemorate our first decade, Studio Shift is set to unveil a series of initiatives. These initiatives will not only reflect our journey but also forge new pathways for the future. Our goal is to honour projects that drive change at the juncture where community and just transition converge. A central role in this will be played by the third edition of Greening Italy, an event selected as a satellite of the New European Bauhaus Festival and the third stage of a journey that began in 2024.

The concept of Greening Italy originated in Bari with the project ‘Greening Italy – Verdeggiam l’Italia’, which was promoted by Studio Shift for the Italian Coordination Group of the Bosch Alumni Network (BAN) and was supported by IaC Berlin. From the outset, the initiative has brought together organisations from across Italy to explore urban greening practices that are rooted in local communities and inspired by the European Green Deal. This exchange resulted in the Greening Italy Manifesto and a shared roadmap for the three-year period from 2025 to 2027, which was signed by the participating organisations, including our friends at LaCapagrossa, Osun Wes and QG Enviro..

This approach has continued to evolve through subsequent projects by each organisation. For Studio Shift, we highlight the DS4Planet Festival, supported by the Ignite NEB programme, which generated ten ideas for reconnecting people with nature. Two of the winning ideas received further support from Studio Shift through the Grow NEB programme and were developed into prototypes, such as Valtellina 114: a community podcast exploring the relationship between climate change and territorial identity.

In 2025, the second Greening Italy event took place in Gibellina, Sicily. During a green and collaborative placemaking festival, the first Walking3 prototype was created in collaboration with the local community. This demonstrated the value of participatory, visible and replicable tools for urban greening.

Greening Italy comes to Morbegno

Morbegno will be the venue for the third edition of the event in 2026, which will see the Greening Italy initiative arrive in Lombardy.

The choice of location is no coincidence. Morbegno is home. This is where Studio Shift was founded. It continues to develop projects within its co-working space. However, it is also a symbolic territory. In recent years, the Valtellina region has undergone profound environmental changes, including ongoing urbanisation, increasing air pollution and climate fragility linked to accelerating glacier melt and associated hydrogeological risk. To these are added the more recent transformations brought about by the Winter Olympics, which are accelerating infrastructure development and increasing land consumption.

While these dynamics present opportunities, they also raise crucial questions about the territory’s future and the balance between the environment, community, and development.

What is Walking3?

Walking3 is a mobile urban tree that symbolises climate justice and the ecological presence of cities. Created through participatory workshops with citizens, it is temporarily hosted in public spaces such as squares and school courtyards, becoming a platform for dialogue, education, and collective stewardship of the urban commons.

The benefits of urban trees extend far beyond CO₂ absorption: they reduce heat islands, improve air quality, support biodiversity, contribute to physical and mental wellbeing, and enhance the spaces themselves. On average, a single urban tree absorbs between 10 and 25 kg of CO₂ per year, depending on its species, age, and environmental conditions.

Walking3 makes this impact visible and shared: when citizens take part in its creation and care, climate action becomes concrete, local and collective.

The event thus embodies the principle of fostering a sense of belonging by actively involving the community in constructing the installation. In this process, citizens shift from passive observers to active stewards, developing a deeper connection with their territory and urban environment.

A project aligned with NEB Values

In line with the 2026 NEB Festival, we will focus on democratic engagement, showing how citizens can shape their own communities.

It’s not just about showcasing projects; it’s about living them. In line with the various Satellite initiatives and the NEB Festival‘s specific content (Brussels, 9–13 June), the third edition of Greening Italy translates into a tangible experience in which participants directly contribute to the design and prototyping of replicable, community-rooted solutions.

A distributed programme, between Morbegno and Milan

The programme for the third edition of Greening Italy runs from 9 to 13 June and is structured as a single narrative comprising meetings, workshops and opportunities for exchange.

As a prelude to this, the “Walking3 @Morbegno” workshop begins on 8 June at the School of Design – Politecnico di Milano. Studio Shift will guide over 40 students in customising and creating new Walking3 variants, which will be presented to and voted on by Morbegno’s citizens by the end of the week. This is one of the workshop options offered by the School as part of the Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design and is led by Professors Francesco Scullica and Elena Elgani.

On 9 June, alongside the official opening of the NEB Festival in Brussels, a satellite talk will be held at the Chiostro di Sant’Antonio in Morbegno to discuss community-based territorial projects, democratic activation and the enhancement of NEB projects developed at a local level. This will be followed by the inauguration of the Laboratorio Metaprogetto exhibition, created in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano and the Municipality of Morbegno.

On 10 June, the third and final co-design session led by Studio Shift will take place for the Filarmonica di Ponte in Valtellina. As part of the Common Sounds project (supported by the Co-Create NEB programme), the Filarmonica and its community have been exploring how to set up a ‘Music Garden’ to promote the education and appreciation of local brass band culture. Together, we will construct the Garden’s spatial layout, as conceived in April and May.

11 June is dedicated to constructing the full-scale Walking3 prototype at the Chiostro di Sant’Antonio in Morbegno. At the same time, the student design teams in Milan will work on assembling the Walking3+ variant prototypes and producing communication materials. On the same day, we will welcome the Italian representatives of the BAN network.

12 June sees the conclusion of the ‘Walking3 @Morbegno’ workshop, with students from the School of Design at the Politecnico di Milano presenting their prototypes to citizens and a jury of experts at the Chiostro Sant’Antonio in Morbegno.

The cycle of events will conclude on 13 June with the final action of the Common Sound project: the launch of the ‘Library of Instruments’ service, co-created with the Filarmonica di Talamona.
The third edition of Greening Italy concludes in Morbegno alongside the NEB Festival in Brussels with a closing talk featuring speakers from other European networks working on shared themes. We will hear from members of the Bosch Alumni Foundation, the Placemaking Impact Field, Rewilding Italy, Placemaking Italia, the Rural Cluster, the RIFAI network, and Trans Europe Halles.

For whom is it intended?

This initiative is open to the whole community, but particularly targets young people in the Province of Sondrio, especially those starting their professional journey in the arts, environmental sciences and woodcraft.

All upper secondary school students from IIS Nervi–Ferrari in Morbegno, IIS Pinchetti in Tirano and IIS Caurga in Chiavenna, along with students from the vocational training programmes at ENAIP Morbegno and the vocational training centres in Sondrio, active in the fields of woodworking, craftsmanship and ecosystem-related services, are invited.

April 2, 2026