The ecosystem potential of peri-urban greenery

The effects of climate change are increasingly manifest on a global scale, with the growing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, cold and heat waves. The fundamental role of greenery in adapting to and mitigating climate change and, more generally, in improving the quality of urbanised contexts has long been recognised by scientific community and international policymakers. Peri-urban contexts are territorial areas in which it is possible to envisage structural and systematic mitigation and adaptation actions facing climate change and environmental pressures, with even substantial actions of green infrastructuring and ecological reconnection. These actions can contribute to improve the landscape quality of these areas, often abandoned and/or degraded, as well as to increase their usability (leisure time, sports, outdoor activities, etc.). The article presents some research experiences carried out by the ENVI-Reg research group, coordinated by Prof. Elena Mussinelli, that provided methodological and scientific support for the elaboration of plans and projects on an urban, metropolitan and territorial scale in Italy. The selected research projects provide contributions to the evaluation and quantification of the ecosystem potential of different green infrastructure solutions in peri-urban landscapes.