Watering the Garden

On my lunch break today I biked down to the other end of Circus Maximus and joined the folks of Occupy Rome.  I’m not sure if that’s the official name;  I knew of them for the urban gardening experiments (Zappatta Romana and Orti Erranti), Primavera Romana and for the activism to defend Rome’s public water supply, but the association with the global Occupy movement is self-evident.  General Assembly circle, tents, a community set up respectfully of the public space it occupies, re-use and recycling throughout.  This is the kind of prototype for an alternative system that my friend Douglas Rushkoff blogged about recently.

I have extreme respect for these people and want to spread the word.  Visitors to Rome, residents, neighbors, drop by at mealtime and have a plate of pasta (leave a voluntary donation and wash your own dishes).  Bring things that might be useful: water containers, dishes, photovoltaic cells (they have no electricity), furniture, camp stuff.  Find out if there’s a way to volunteer in the garden.

Spread the word that Rome is not all tour buses and pessimistic Italians.