Set at the foot of the Italian Alps and the headwaters of the Po river, the city of Turin intimately understands the importance of climate action to protect the planet’s natural beauty and rich ecosystems. The city has demonstrated its commitment and position as a leader in the global ecological transition and sustainable placemaking. Recently, the city was named as a finalist in the 2022 European Green Capital Award, gaining increased recognition for its achievements and commitments to sustainability goals in areas such as urban mobility, public realm improvements, and sustainable procurement practices. The city has further demonstrated its ecological transition intent with its commitments towards achieving climate neutrality by 2030.

As a member of Cities4Forests, the Metropolitan Municipality of Turin has committed to a number of actionable projects. The establishment of Turin’s Partner Forest Program has helped promote the positive, multidimensional role that wood products can play in working toward a biobased economy and achieve the city’s ecological transition and climate neutrality objectives.

To launch this partnership Cities4Forests and the city of Turin employed the innovative use of sustainably sourced wood by working with Torino Stratosferico and Cities4Forests on a project that used conservation timber from eastern Gabon to construct place-making infrastructure along the Precolinear Park. In a workshop held in April 2022, volunteers, students, designers, and makers gathered to build furniture for this public park now known as the Hermada Sustainable Hotspot, and to tell the story of the the partner forest community in Gabon through engraved words describing the values of the project on the street furniture and a creative informational display. This intervention has since extended to the Corso Farini park, connecting even more Torinese citizens to faraway forests and global climate justice.