Bergamo is a city of about 120,000 inhabitants in Italy’s Lombardy region. Bergamo has a growing University with seven faculties and several international research projects.
In recent years, the municipal administration has introduced territorial government plans that safeguard urban agriculture, the necessary basis for promoting a proper food policy. It also supported actions to reduce food waste in school canteens and in the organised large-scale distribution system, and it is also committed in supporting the weaker social groups to guarantee equal access to food.
The Botanical Garden, part of the municipality, is a museum founded in 1972. It works with other departments of the Municipality, such as the Education Department, who will be involved in Food Trails to support improvement in food-based programmes.
The municipality is a member of a Food Policy Council, chaired by the mayor and by a delegated city councillor to guide the urban agriculture of Bergamo towards greater ecological sustainability and a better interaction with its citizens.