PS-U-GO Project and the Naples Urban Living Lab Presented at the Mare Libero Annual Conference

On 29 March 2025, the National Research Council – IRISS took part in the third annual conference of Mare Libero, titled “Sono tutte spiagge libere” (“They are all free beaches”), held in Naples at the Ex Asilo Filangieri. The event provided an important opportunity to present the Erasmus+ project Education in Living Labs: Participatory Skills for Sustainable Urban Governance (PS-U-GO), with a specific focus on the Naples Urban Living Lab (ULL).

During the conference, Stefania Ragozino, Senior Researcher at CNR-IRISS and Scientific Coordinator of the CNR Unit within the PS-U-GO project, introduced the project’s objectives and shared the first results achieved. Particular attention was given to the Naples ULL, highlighting its role in addressing issues of access, use, and collective care of coastal spaces.

The Naples Urban Living Lab was conceived as a contribution to the broader process of reclaiming and returning access to the sea to the city of Naples, in continuity with the initiatives promoted by the Mare Libero, Pulito e Gratuito Committee. By testing a collective governance model for Neapolitan Urban Commons, the ULL activated a pathway of shared knowledge, participation, and action, rooted in the spaces and experiences of Lido Pola Bene Comune.

Within this framework, a public call was launched in January 2025 in collaboration with the University of Naples Federico II – Department of Architecture and Lido Pola Bene Comune. From February onwards, selected students worked on systematising and mapping levels of accessibility along the Neapolitan coastline, building on work already initiated by the Mare Libero Committee, and on developing strategies, tools, and methodologies to support the reappropriation of the sea as a shared and common good. These activities were part of the initial Theme Choice phase, during which a series of meetings took place to identify shared values, define common goals, and select effective tools to engage key stakeholders. The activities carried out and the next steps of this process were presented during the conference.

The presentation of PS-U-GO and the Naples ULL was framed within a broader public debate on the right to the sea, free and equitable access to beaches, and the recognition of the sea as a common good, bringing together legal, environmental, social, and civic perspectives around the shared challenge of ensuring accessibility, usability, and collective responsibility for coastal spaces.