Taking care of vegetable gardens, building bridges between generations and cultures: an outline on the contribution of active elderlies

Abstract

In this essay, after summarizing the evolution of amateur urban horticulture since its first developments in modern age, we focus on the declination of the phenomenon that has been most
widespread in Italy: social gardens for the elderly. We consider the functions performed by social gardens in the promotion of active aging and we show their possible developments, studying
in deep the role that gardeners in later life can play in making environmental skills and citizenship skills prosper in the community, whitin an intergenerational and intercultural perspective.