How to turn a university park into a “living lab”: an experience with engineering students from the University of Trento

This paper describes a multidisciplinary project carried out at the University of Trento, Italy, designed to valorize the faculty park through active student-teacher collaboration. Although the park holds significant historical and ecological value, it remained underutilized by the academic community. To bridge the gap between theoretical study and practical application, students from the Ecology course collaborated to characterize the local vegetation while students from the Numerical Cartography and GIS course mapped the sample points. Activities included botanical identification, tree height measurement, and the creation of vector maps through the georeferencing of analogic cartography. The project delivered a digital park inventory accessible via QR codes and successfully enhanced student engagement. This initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of using campus green spaces as "living labs" for environmental engineering, fostering essential professional skills while strengthening the community's connection to their environment