BIG Bike Greco

Summary of the project

The project aims at promoting the daily use of bicycles in the Greco district in Milan, starting from BiG Greco inter-generation village, with its inhabitants, spaces and services. The objective is to involve the neighborhood and the city by activating intergenerational mutual aid actions related to use of the bicycle. In the frame of the inter-generation village, the idea is: to make the most of the space dedicated to bicycle storage adapting it to the needs of BiG residents and those interested in the nearby Borgo Cascina Conti; to imagine, design and implement in a participatory way local mutual aid services through the use of the bicycle; to organize promotional events on the daily use of bicycles and local actions targeting students (primary schools).
The added value of the project lies in considering the bicycle as a social resource able to create social relationships and not only an alternative mean of transport.

Beneficiaries

• 42 inhabitants of the inter-generation village + around 300 people

Overall achievements

BiG-Bike-Greco has allowed the BiG (Intergenerational Village Greco) to take action in the promotion of the daily use of the bicycle and to do so according to its values of mutual help and civic volunteering. The resources of the project have therefore made it possible to implement the territorial offer through: the preparation of 1 new bike room, the sharing of a bike fleet including 1 cargo bike of excellent quality, the activation of forms of mutual help that make the bike an opportunity for meeting and socialization, the start of a service of “delivery of food parcels” based on civic volunteering (19 young people) that offers support to families in need of the neighbourhood, the activation of a new channel of collaboration with the school (400 pupils) and new realities of the territory. BiG-Bike-Greco taught us that sharing ideas and making human and material resources available is the only way to generate change.