In September 2023, the City of Mendrisio launched the project "A Garden of Ideas in the Heart of the City," intended as a participatory path addressed to the population to imagine and co-design a new future for Villa Argentina Park. To conduct this project, City Hall requested the collaboration and accompaniment of SUPSI's Department of Environment Constructions and Design, as well as an external scientific consultant.

For SUPSI, the interdisciplinary team consisted of:
Felix Günther, project manager and professor-researcher Institute of Earth Sciences (IST) ; Annalisa Rollandi, researcher Earth Sciences Institute (IST); Francesca Cellina, senior researcher Institute of Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment (ISAAC); Luca Morici, lecturer-researcher Institute of Design (IDe); Max Fonseca, scientific collaborator Institute of Design (IDe).

888 ideas for the park
Spanning all age groups, the population responded to the call by touching the 900-idea mark. Through digital postcards submitted from the website and paper postcards mailed at park benches, 239 ideas were totaled. Those formulated by preschool and elementary schools totaled 273 and by middle schools 169. During the "Day of Ideas" on October 14, 2023, 96 additional ideas were expressed on the map, to which were added 56 ideas developed in the workshop dedicated to the Councils of Girls and Boys and 55 ideas developed during the workshop dedicated to the Councils of Girls and Boys. The total reached is therefore 888 ideas-proposals. The day-long event was also attended by about 300 people, while the website recorded 4,000 hits.
All the ideas collected went through an invitation-only workshop called "From Seeds to Fruits" held last January, attended by the project team, the external consultant and representatives of the Cantonal Office of Cultural Heritage, municipal authorities, institutional bodies bordering the park and the Children and Youth Councils. In addition, a number of citizens were invited and actively participated in the day on October 14 by proposing activities that enlivened the event. All in all, about 40 people representing the various stakeholders around the park.

Seven categories of ideas 
First, the ideas were categorized by type. Initially ten macro themes were identified, which were then channeled into seven categories: play (232), infrastructure (178), natural elements (152), sports (116), sociability (83), street furniture (77), and events (37). Someone also made the proposal to do nothing to the park by simply preserving it or to carry out interventions rather in other areas of Mendrisio (13). A first undisputed outcome is that the park should be a place for intergenerational socialization.

The spatial placement of ideas 
Second, a map was drawn up, placing all the ideas in the various spatial areas of the park. For example, the play areas are developed from the existing playground and extend to the upper part and land behind the Canavé elementary schools (the so-called crags). Street furniture is proposed mainly in the upper part and the crags, with individual additions in the historic park as well. Events are planned where they already take place, at the back of the villa, but without excluding the upper part as well. In the terraced area, beyond the grotto, and in the crags, numerous activities are also assumed to be related to nature and land cultivation, with the water element thematizing the entire park. The overall view shows the various functional overlaps and certainly offers subject matter for future planners to explore.

The feasibility of the ideas 
A further step was to subdivide the ideas according to their degree of implementation. 
In the "Ideas to Cultivate" were placed those that can take root immediately, that is, ready for a path to design and implementation. Here we find, for example, a playground positioned where there currently is, but completely renovated and built with natural elements. For more adult visitors there could be classic board games (checkers, chess, Lego-type bricks) available in bibliocabins, or even in giant size to play on the lawn. Also relaxing sofas in a quieter area for studying, perhaps equipped with books and newspapers. Tables and grills for picnics, paths also for wheelchairs, a refreshing fountain and several water points, chairs and loungers scattered a little everywhere, welcome and regulatory information boards. Also, community and botanical gardens, flowers and fruit trees, toilets, the classroom in the woods for educational activities. Temporary events to be implemented immediately include cinema and fine arts exhibitions. 

In the "Ideas to Keep in the Greenhouse," those ideas that have potential but still require reflection, deepening or time to mature have been brought together. Examples are the big tree house, the big ball path, the fenced area for dogs, food stations, nature trails, ecological islands, vineyards, animals, wilderness, and the multipurpose sports area. The impact on the park should also be explored for music, theater, dance, and markets. 

Instead, in the "Ideas for the seed bank" came ideas that can be reconsidered at other times or in other places in the city, such as the adventure park, slides and zip lines, amusement park, electric charging points. 

The park assessment study 
A clear condition from the beginning of the participatory process was that any new planning idea should take into consideration the status and status of the park, with its elements of historical and landscape value, and thus be compatible with the constraints of a cultural asset of cantonal interest.
To better understand the starting point, City Hall commissioned SUPSI to conduct a cognitive study that would examine all existing documentation on the park with its planning alternations, because it is clearly the result of the overlapping of different landscape visions that have succeeded one another over time. Indeed, focusing on the various layers is equivalent to better understanding and defining the park's role in the local and regional context.

Analyses have highlighted some indispensable guiding points.

• The historic park is a valuable cultural asset to be preserved and a landscape treasure to be cared for, adapting it to climate change and plant needs.
• The structural elements of the park will need to evolve to meet current needs for inclusion and safety while respecting biodiversity and eco-friendliness.
• Additional sports and leisure facilities will have to integrate into the park in an innovative and respectful way, favoring temporary and reversible solutions.

Future steps 
The ideas collected and analyzed will now be used to define a program-a sort of Charta of the population's wishes-that will serve as the foundation for those who will be called upon to design the New Villa Argentina Park. This will be followed by the creation of a master plan, that is, a strategic policy document with the overall hypothesis of the new park. It will define the stakeholders, the sources of funding, the tools and actions needed for its implementation, and the stages of infrastructure and plant care/planting. Of course, relatively long lead times for concretization should be expected, dictated by legal procedural processes. However, wanting to encourage the park's frequentation from the very beginning, the City Hall will soon consider some temporary furniture solutions and activities that can enliven the park. For example, volunteer campaigns for cleaning the grounds, readings and games for children, guided tours on the botanical varieties and history of the park, small musical entertainments, expert walks, lectures, giant chess tournaments, convivial moments and so on are being thought of. For its part, the Academy of Architecture is already working with students on improvements to the "Kite Courtyard" to keep it a space to be used and to gather.

Participation continues
All the information related to the results summarized here can be found on the website, through which the population can continue to come up with ideas and propose entertainment activities to be organized in the park.