GETTING INVOLVED ON CAMPUS 

Terra Firma is an NYU Florence campus INITIATIVE.  Through talks, workshops, hand-on-experience and field trips, Terra Firma aims to facilitate a deeper appreciation of the gardens and agricultural land that form the Villa La Pietra estate, to more fully enjoy it and to use it as a mirror reflecting wider issues in the world. As of 2022 the estate has supplied the on-site Villa Natalia cafeteria with fresh, zero-miles, organic produce in a way that is good for human health and our environment. 

For more information, contact Horticultural Associate, Nicholas Dakin Elliot at dakin.elliot@nyu.edu and check out the workshops and practical workshops coming up this semester! 

Here are some of the trips and initiatives we have developed in the past semesters: 

• • Initiatives around Earth month and Earth Day (April)

  • Trip to the local Fattoria Bucolica  (farm estate), where students learned about the farm's sustainable practices, took part in a workshop on antique grains and flour and enjoyed a delicious free farm-to-table outdoor lunch. 

  • Sustainably conscious Viareggio Carnival   

  • Producing didactic material explaning Villa La Pietra's approach to composting.

• • You can create a student-led club based on sustainability with the goal of supporting sustainability-related initiatives on campus (i.e in residence halls). Limited funding available! 

  • Get in contact with the Office of Student Life at florence.studentlife@nyu.edu  for more info!