In the first chapter of the Urban Diary of Station for Transformation, EUI Innovative Action Expert Simone d’Antonio reports on the progress made during the first year of implementation. The chapter gathers insights from the field, highlights challenges and solutions, and presents key lessons learned from the EUI project of Rovereto, which is transforming the local railway station into a sustainability hub based on the principles of the New European Bauhaus.
Station for Transformation in a nutshell
Station for Transformation is the EUI project of Rovereto (Italy) which is converting the unused spaces of the local railway station into a green innovation hub for the city and the surrounding valleys. The station of this Alpine city with a population of 40,360 residents serves every day more than 130,000 travelers, evolving from a transit place to a public space that is at the time a gateway to the city and a hub for joint actions on climate change, biodiversity and local heritage.
The Alps and Trentino region in northwestern Italy, where Rovereto is located, are major hotspots of climate change, which is affecting the area with a series of extreme climate events and generating rapid changes with a strong impact on different sectors of the local economy.
The creation of a public-civic hub within the Rovereto railway station addresses the need to raise awareness on climate-related challenges among different types of audience, including commuters from nearby villages, through a series of unconventional activities which make education to sustainability more engaging and accessible. The project builds upon previous initiatives carried out by the Municipality to promote better knowledge on sustainable development through the active involvement of community groups and cultural institutions.
The core objective of Station for Transformation is to regenerate a series of spaces within the railway station and its surroundings through the adoption of a cross-cutting approach that integrates the principles of the New European Bauhaus.
Implemented with a coalition of project partners active at local and national level (Community of the Vallagarina Valley, La Foresta-Community Academy, University of Trento, Campomarzio social cooperative, Europe Consulting, Trentino Social Tank cooperative society, Brave New Alps and International Cooperation Centre), the project aims to create a model for sustainable and inclusive reuse of railway station’s spaces which can be replicated at European scale, primarily to the Transfer cities Granada (Spain), Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Sibiu (Romania), but also bringing original elements to the broader trend of revitalization of abandoned or underused stations in Italy.
Insights from the field
During the inception of the project, significant attention was given to defining the types of activities that could be organized within the three abandoned spaces of the station, identified by the Municipality of Rovereto as key components of the hub for public-civic engagement, aimed to address climate change and biodiversity challenges, at the core of Station of Transformation project.
A former kiosk located on the ground floor of the station, the spaces on the first floor of the station previously used as offices and apartments for railway workers and the former Bar Iris - a cafeteria whose spaces are owned by Municipality and located in front of the railway station – were identified as the primary components of the public-civic hub which will structure its activities based on the their strong accessibility for both residents and commuters.
An initial assessment of the existing activities organized at urban level for promoting education to sustainability through innovative formats highlighted not only the responsiveness of the local context, but also insights from previous projects and initiatives which fostered the principles of sustainability and inclusiveness through activities targeting different segments of population.
The second-hand clothing swap point and community cooking workshops, hosted by the project partner La Foresta-Community Academy, are key examples of such initiatives. Operating within a previously regeneration section of the railway station since 2017 and across the Vallagarina valley with a mobile social oven transported by an e-bike called Il Forno Vagabondo, the community academy draw useful lessons from these activities carried out before the beginning of Station for Transformation, underscoring the importance of accessible activities, particularly those centered around food sharing, for making education to sustainability more appealing to different categories of users.
Based on insights gathered from years of activities at the community academy, the participatory process involved a broad range of stakeholders active not only at urban level but also at provincial scale, often with activities renowned at national level. The list of stakeholders involved include foundations active in agricultural and technological innovation (Fondazione Mach and Fondazione Bruno Kessler), innovation hubs and local development agencies (Agenzia Trentino Sviluppo and Hub Innovazione Trentino), environmental and welfare organizations and actors of solidarity economy (Legambiente, Tavolo dell’Economia Solidale, Cooperativa Albero Blu, Distretto Famiglia della Vallagarina).
Meetings held in the abandoned spaces to be refurbished by Station for Transformation served not only as co-design opportunities but also as a way to engage local and provincial stakeholders in co-developing possible future activities and involve them in the collaborative management and use of these spaces.
The co-design process contributed to clarify the characteristics of each section of the public-civic, the activities to be hosted there, and the target audiences.
The first floor of the station will function as a Living Research Lab, incorporating collaborative spaces such as a co-working space and hosting workshops and training sessions on different aspects of urban sustainability. Local university and schools will play a key role in the activities organized in this space, that aims to create a community of innovators and to attract further investments and new functions developed in collaboration with local stakeholders.
The biodiversity kiosk on the ground floor will serve as a cooperative space where the activities of Station for Transformation can be showcased and promoted to commuters and residents, while providing information and resources for making the conversation on sustainability more accessible to a broader audience.
The former cafeteria will be transformed into a Climate Canteen, offering meals made from organic ingredients but also hosting training sessions, catering events and workshops focused on sustainability, education to sustainability and better knowledge of local food systems. Farmers and chefs from the valley will play an active role in the canteen that will also feature innovative functions, such as a Library of Things/Tools for sustainable food production. The canteen will be also equipped with professional kitchen facilities and a multifunctional table that will host catering services and group educational activities.
After having collaboratively defined the functions of each unit, the architectural design and project plan were completed during the first year of Station for Transformation by the project partner Campomarzio, which mediated between the needs identified in the participatory process and the feasibility of proposed actions. At the conclusion of the design phase, a request for authorizing the renovation works was submitted to the public board responsible for cultural heritage and historical buildings, as Rovereto’s railway station is officially registered as a heritage site.
The dialogue with the project partners also finalized the list of the equipment to be purchased through a public procurement process, that will be finalized along with contract awarding for the renovation works by the end of 2025.
The planning phase of spaces and activities of Station for Transformation was characterized by strong interactions among project partners, who envisioned a local supply chain for regenerating and preserving the railway station’s spaces, detailing all the sustainability requirements that should guide the procurement process. At the same time, the project partners collaborated with the Municipality to develop a curatorial concept which established values and guidelines for the design and implementation of the activities, in order to align the climate-centered programming logic of the project with a strategic approach to addressing the most urgent local challenges in terms of urban sustainability.
Following the development of the curatorial concept, a Call for Agri-Food Changemakers was launched in June 2024 to invite individuals and collectives with expertise in ecology, agriculture and sustainable food willing to develop concrete actions to address and mitigate the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss, investigating these dimensions through the lens of the S4T macro-themes (food, social inclusion, green cities and tourism). Six agri-food changemakers were selected for being hosted until March 2025, while a second edition of the call was launched in September 2024 and selected 12 changemakers out of 28 applications for residencies beginning in April 2025.
The selected changemakers committed to temporary residencies from one to four weeks in Rovereto or nearby Vallagarina valley, receiving financial support (€2,100 for those from outside the province, or €1,800 for those living within an hour from Rovereto) to cover travel, accommodation, and subsistence expenses. In return, each participant committed to organize an initial community event to introduce their research field and a final community initiative to share their temporary residency outcomes.
The activities organized by the first changemakers in residency provided a glimpse into innovative fields of research, combining hands-on activities - such as cooking classes, workshops or exploration of the territory and meetings with local producers - with dissemination of knowledge on climate change and biodiversity challenges.
Testing alternative uses for local plants and ingredients, such as the creation of flour from acorns, and exploring the connection between traditional cultivations of Vallagarina valley with international agricultural traditions, like Mexico’s corn culture, are just some examples of low-threshold activities that engaged different segments of local public. These activities, primarily hosted in the spaces of the Community Academy La Foresta, also provided insights into the model that Station for Transformation aims to establish in the refurbished spaces of the railway station.
The actions implemented in the framework of Station for Transformation are also paving the ground for new policies that will consolidate the project’s approach at the local level. The revitalized spaces are expected to become integral to Rovereto’s urban fabric and serve as reference points for the entire Vallagarina valley.
In collaboration with the University of Trento, the Municipality of Rovereto is exploring how to incorporate the approach on food sustainability promoted by the project into local educational strategies on sustainability, as part of a local food policy aligned with the principles of the Milan Food Pact. Additionally, Rovereto is exploring different options to develop a community-led governance model that ensures long-term management of the public-civic hub while maintaining active involvement of civic stakeholders and project partners.
The Public-Civic Hub, its activities and its capacity-building programs organized in the Hub and the community-led governance model are the blocks of the Innovation Matrix, designed by the project to foster the potential transferability to the Transfer Cities.
The Opening Site Visit in Rovereto, held on 11-13 March 2025, provided an important opportunity to present the innovation solutions being implemented by the Municipality and project partners to the representatives of Granada, Nova Gorica and Sibiu. During the visit, participants explored the spaces of the railway station that are going to be regenerated with Station for Transformation and discussed the specific challenges of each transfer cities involved in replicating an integrated model of education to sustainability while taking advantage of unused or underused spaces of mobility hubs. Discussions among the partners examined the New European Bauhaus principles, strategies for social activation, and participatory governance models, while paving the ground for adapting the project’s lessons and methodologies.
Challenges and solutions
The definition of a reliable internal management model for the project was the main challenge encountered by Station for Transformation in its first year of operations. This issue was not limited to the replacement of the project manager, whose role was outsourced, but also involved the creation of an internal structure which can ensure daily coordination of activities, and the active involvement of different departments of the local authority and the project partners, many of which had not previously dealt with administrative procedures despite being highly engaged at community level.
Strong political commitment from the city government facilitated a smooth transition to a new management model, which also included the creation of a dedicated department for EU projects, responsible not only for managing Station for Transformation but also for participating in other EU co-funded initiatives. The implementation of the first project’s activities also strengthened the collaboration with the urban planning department (which is responsible for overseeing renovation work in the unused spaces of the railway station to be turned into the new public-civic hub), the public procurement office, the communication unit and the departments of ecological transition and welfare. This cross-departmental collaboration fostered the role of Station of Transformation as catalyst for urban innovation, going beyond the mere creation of new civic spaces to influencing the development of innovative public policies on sustainability, participation and inclusion – core principles of the New European Bauhaus.
The collaboration with the national railway operator (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), owner of the railway station building, was another major challenge during the first year of Station for Transformation. While the repurposing of station spaces is a growing trend in Italy, the integration of new features proposed by the S4T EUI project (such as a lift connecting the ground and the first floor to ensure full accessibility to the Living Lab spaces) had to coexist with the constraints of a 19th century building. However, the delayed approval of the technical regeneration plan and the design modifications suggested by the railway operator didn’t obstacle the project, but the process helped the project team to develop a better understanding of the station’s governance structure and role of various stakeholders who will be involved in its future transformation.
Delays also affected the S4T on Wheels activities, which aimed to carry out the educational activities on sustainability using electric vehicles in the valleys. The planned vehicle purchase, identified during the project’s initial phase, proved unfeasible due to the lack of regulatory frameworks for those specific vehicles in the national legislation. However, this challenge led to the activation of local NGOs and providers on education to sustainability, such as Studio Tangram, which reimagined how these activities could be delivered. They opted to use a roulotte, which in summer of 2025 will be used to deploy S4T on Wheels activities with the full involvement of local communities in the villages of the Vallagarina valley, following the path of similar initiatives of creative reuse of public space already carried out with this vehicle.
NEB Compass and Learning points
During its first year, Station for Transformation gave particular emphasis on inclusion and sustainability, which were the most relevant and tangible elements recalled by the action of the project among the core values of the New European Bauhaus.
The active participation of local stakeholders in the co-design of the public-civic hub and the involvement of residents of Rovereto and its valley in the community events organized by the agri-food changemakers are interesting examples of inclusion. In particular, the organization of low-threshold activities, which saw greater participation also from migrant communities, demonstrated how Station for Transformation is valuing diversity and fostering accessibility of its activities to different segments of population.
The focus on biodiversity and circularity in many activities carried out by the agri-food changemakers underscores the attention of Station for Transformation on sustainability as something achievable only through the collective effort of many actors. Furthermore, the development of a local supply chain for the regeneration of the railway station’s spaces also highlighted the beneficial impact of the environment and biodiversity preservation, paving the ground for sustainable procurement practices at every stage of the project.
Throughout its first year, Station for Transformation adopted a transdisciplinary approach to innovation, integrating knowledge from different fields such as ecology, sustainable farming, community economy, global citizenship education, transformative social work.
One of the key lessons learned was the importance of engaging the local community through hands-on, collaborative activities that make sustainability education more concrete. Co-design activities, community events, project presentations and guided tours played a crucial role for promoting the project and its contents among different categories of residents and stakeholders, such as small food producers, cultural institutions, activists and solidarity purchasing groups. These efforts helped to create local support to the innovative approach on sustainability developed by Station for Transformation.
Integrating the NEB principles within public procurement processes is another challenging element that emerged from the process. Despite the tight project timeline, the project team was able to initiate a co-design approach and lay the ground for stronger and ongoing community engagement in the spatial regeneration plans.
Additionally public procurement regulations, which prohibit the use of second-hand materials, also made the participation of local artisans in public tenders quite difficult. These hardships highlighted the need for a broader reflection on the connection between national procurement rules and the adoption of principles of sustainability and circularity at local level.
The interaction between the public authorities- such as the Municipality of Rovereto and the national railway operator - and a variety of partners, including grassroots organizations like some of the project partners and social movements involved in the project activities, resulted into a series of unexpected and interesting dynamics. These collaborations contributed to break thematic silos within the local government and forged connections with broader networks of innovators and organizations, such as the ones participating in the agri-food changemakers programme, which link Rovereto and its territory to the global conversation on contrasting climate change and biodiversity loss through localized and community-driven actions.
About this resource
The European Urban Initiative is an essential tool of the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The initiative established by the European Union supports cities of all sizes, to build their capacity and knowledge, to support innovation and develop transferable and scalable innovative solutions to urban challenges of EU relevance.
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