Keep Flaminio Clean was a short-lived but deeply valuable civic experiment I initiated in Rome’s Flaminio district in 2021. For about six months, I organised weekly clean-ups in some of the neighbourhood’s most neglected public areas, an effort born from personal conviction after witnessing the area’s advanced state of decay.
It began quietly, after my own outdoor training sessions, with small solo interventions collecting litter. One morning, as the work extended and drew the attention of neighbours, others decided to join. They came from notably diverse backgrounds and ages, each bringing their own energy, skills, and shared refusal to accept a degraded reality. In time, we became a team of about ten.
Inspired by local skaters’ motto “Keep your spot clean” and in parallel with a longer-standing initiative in Flaminio’s gardens, we named the project Keep Flaminio Clean. Over the weeks, our interventions expanded to larger public spaces, which became cleaner, more beautiful, and better used by residents. Cleaner areas encouraged longer public stays, improved safety, and supported local commerce.
The project was unexpectedly discontinued just as we were beginning contact with newly elected municipal officials. Still, its impact was tangible: for half a year, the weekly gesture of care built a more livable, shared environment for all.
On 29 October 2021, for example, five volunteers (Luciano, Elena, Santiago, Michi, and myself) cleaned 1,000 square metres of garden between Viale Pinturicchio and Piazza Mancini in a single three-hour intervention.
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