When: Saturday, 13 June 2026 Time: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm Where: Green area surrounding the padel courts at the Bovisa Campus of Politecnico di Milano. Entrance from Via Privata Giampietrino 4, Milan.
GOCCIA Fest 26 - La Natura si fa Spazio is the first public event organised as part of the EUI 02-130 GOCCIA project (Green Opportunities to Clean-up Contaminants through an Interspecies Alliance), funded by the European Urban Initiative of the European Commission.
The European project actively involves several Departments of Politecnico di Milano – Design, DAStU, DENG and DEIB – in a transdisciplinary initiative dedicated to the ecological and social regeneration of the forest through research activities, design practices, environmental monitoring, and educational experimentation.
The festival is a full day dedicated to exploring urban biodiversity and the relationship between cities, people, and nature. It has been designed as a collective journey of discovery, awareness, and engagement around the Goccia area.
The festival aims to introduce the city to the Goccia site, the biodiversity that characterises it, and the environmental regeneration process currently underway. It is an opportunity to reconnect with this place, discover its ecological value, and begin building a shared culture of care and responsibility to protect it today and in the future. The programme includes activities for children, families, and adults: educational workshops, participatory labs, guided explorations (bioblitzes) within the Goccia area, talks, artistic and creative activities, live music, and convivial moments throughout the day.
Know more about the festival.
Within the GOCCIA Fest 26 programme, the following initiatives are included.
Coltivando. L’orto conviviale del Politecnico di Milano
When: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 1.00 pm / 4.00 pm - 7.00 pm
Where: Green area surrounding the padel courts at the Bovisa Campus of Politecnico di Milano. Entrance from Via Privata Giampietrino 4, Milan.
During the GOCCIA Fest 26, “Coltivando, the shared garden of Politecnico di Milano” will also be present. It is a local initiative that has been promoting shared cultivation practices and moments of gathering around greenery for years. Coltivando will take part in the Festival with an information booth and an open workshop on sowing and transplanting. Visitors will have the chance to get their hands in the soil, experience small acts of care, and take home a seedling.
It will also be possible to join a guided tour of the garden, accompanied by the Coltivando team. The meeting point is at the stand, from which the garden can be reached with a 20-minute walk.
Curated by Coltivando, the community garden of Politecnico di Milano. Coltivando is a shared garden located within the Bovisa Candiani campus.
Design for Placemaking: le idee degli studenti per la Goccia
When: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 1.00 pm
Where: Green area surrounding the padel courts at the Bovisa Campus of Politecnico di Milano. Entrance from Via Privata Giampietrino 4, Milan.
An interactive installation presenting the projects of 40 international students from the Master’s Degree in Interior and Spatial Design at Politecnico di Milano, developed for the Goccia area. The work explores new ways of living and designing spaces, placing at the center the coexistence between humans, flora, fauna, and digital agents.
Over the course of a semester, 8 groups observed and studied the Goccia ecosystem, learning to read its relationships and transformations. Based on this research, the students developed design proposals that do not simply “insert” elements into the space, but aim to build a dialogue with the existing environment. The core of the proposals consists of immersive and site-specific pathways that invite different actors to actively explore the Goccia. These routes combine physical experience and spatial devices, turning the visit into an opportunity for discovery and knowledge sharing. The pathways aim to increase awareness of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, encourage forms of participatory science, stimulate learning, and foster interspecies interaction beyond a purely human-centered perspective. They address four main challenges: communicating environmental and species-related knowledge (educational), navigating and reading the site (wayfinding), understanding what new activities and roles may emerge in the Goccia (jobs), and making the space accessible, livable, and enjoyable (recreational).
The installation is organized into 10 interactive stations, each managed by a group of students. Every station presents design materials (sketches, models, prototypes, renderings, videos) and offers interactive elements to test. Visitors are free to move between stations, choosing the projects that interest them most. The students do not only present their work: they also collect feedback to further improve their proposals.
Curated by Davide Fassi (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano), Emma Puerari (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano), and Irene Bassi (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano), together with 40 international students who took part in the “Design for Placemaking” workshop at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano.
The event is open to everyone and free of charge. Please note that some activities require registration.
The festival takes place during Milano Green Week and is part of the satellite events network of the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026.
Learn more about the project.
Ahead of the event, participants are warmly invited to complete a short questionnaire (in Italian only) exploring perceptions of spontaneous urban nature. Your contribution is extremely valuable, even if you are unfamiliar with the area or do not work in the field.