ZERO (Zona Ecologica Riuso Oggetti)

Summary of the project

Why do we buy tools that we use for few hours a year when a single steam cleaner could be shared by a whole building or three drill machines could cover the needs of a whole district? Is it possible to find collective solutions for the sustainability of individual consumptions? The project ZERO aims at constituting a sort of “library of tools”, meaning a network to share tools, items, knowledge, within the Kalsa district in Palermo. Considering the nature of public space for sharing, the management methods, the circularity of loan dynamics, the ability to produce participation in the community life, that are the common features of a neighborhood library, the proposal intends to set up a loan service for common objects, integrated with meetings, courses and workshops on ecological practical skills. The goal is to generate a new cultural approach to the economy and consumption based on circularity, making a model concrete and functional for a central and historical district of the city of Palermo, but replicable in other areas. This way it will be possible to access items and konwledge as a ‘common good’ in an innovative way, to demonstrate that this shared system will produce a postive impact in terms of quality of life, reduction of the pollution and waste of resources.

Beneficiaries

• 800 residents of the Kalsa neighbourhood

Overall achievements

The activities necessary for the opening belong to two very interconnected areas: management and communication. The element bridging between these two areas has been the website since a lot of time has been dedicated designing a structured web application, capable of being both the system to manage loans by managers of the ZERO headquarters and the portal in which end users find all information on loanable objects and the philosophy that guides the project. After first lockdown, the phase was accompanied by a reflection on how to reconnect with the community of users. With this aim, the loan service was guaranteed through the opening of the front office service twice a week and the launch of a donation campaign of objects (total 77 tools) to enrich the library’s equipment and to awaken the interest of the community towards the project. Then there was the opening of the second location of the library of things. This happened on the occasion of the inauguration of the new premises of Booq – neighborhood library. Events and training courses (carpentry, tailoring, ceramics, reuse and recycling and fablab) were carried out online rather than live: an Open Space Technology online event aimed at developing new collaborations to disseminate the Zero project, a live streaming television format on the theme of circular economy; a self-construction event of a bike rack to better equip Booq’s garden.