Abstract:

The paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental research developed as part of the "Mitigation Risk Design" (MiRiDe) Workshop, provided by the School of Architecture, Urban Planning, Construction Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano on the theme of enhancing school spaces starting from participated projects (owner and designer enter into dialogue with users: teachers, children , parents and grandparents, attendants).

The resumption of face-to-face teaching activities starting from last September (interrupted in February to activate health measures to contrast the spread of Covid-19) required a rethinking of the psycho-pedagogical dynamics and the training spaces.

Starting from the National Guidelines implemented by the Italian Federation of Nursery Schools and following the pedagogical coordination meetings, it became clear the need to promote manipulative activities oriented to the personal experience of each child and to encourage collective and cooperative activities able to guarantee an adequate interpersonal distancing.

The work underlines the most important phases of the experimentation started at the "San Michele" Kindergarten in Bellinzago Lombardo (Milan), which developed a participatory project on the theme of "Guarding and Cultivating" through the design of an educational garden.

The paper is organized into five sections.

The first section presents the San Michele school context, retracing its history and investigating the new needs due to the health emergency.

The second section presents the multi-disciplinary research about the pedagogical principles underlying cultivation activities. Starting from the concise presentation of different cultural orientations, the work outlines the training features that characterize the experience of the garden in relation to the growth of the child.

The third section explains how, from the identification of "good pedagogical practices", PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES have been defined for the San Michele Garden.
The project, inspired by Montessori pedagogy, highlights how the child needs to experience nature and not just study it. Contact with nature, sensory exploration, manual skills, manipulation, imitation of adult life are just some of the experiential activities that lend themselves to an educational space such as the didactic garden.

The fourth section summarizes the research that emerged from the comparative analysis with training projects on the theme of cultivating the educational garden. Through maps, summary sheets, and thematic insights, the elements necessary for the construction of a pedagogical project for the educational garden are outlined.

The fifth section presents the EDUCATIONAL PROJECT for the San Michele Garden, indicating the educational objectives, the training actions, and the analysis of "pilot experiences" capable of testing the effectiveness of the project.

The conclusions underline how the phase of "pedagogical design" constitutes a significant step for the subsequent "architectural design". It will make it possible to modify spaces (starting from the tools of architecture), making them places marked by anthropological experiences for all the people who will inhabit the educational garden.

Keywords:

Pedagogical project, didactic garden, mitigation risk design.