Social innovation in the Hum-Animal field: animals as a support for the quality of urban life

In recent decades, the interest in Social Innovation (SI) and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) has expanded in scientific literature, and they are being increasingly incorporated into urban strategic planning. At the same time, awareness and presence of animals in urban areas are also on the rise, attracting more attention within society. In this context, it is valuable to consider the opportunities associated with promoting human-animal interactions as an innovative nature-based approach and the social change processes that may shift perspectives on this subject, enhancing health and wellbeing of urban inhabitants. This PhD thesis (created by the Department of Veterinary Science of the University of Pisa) explores the innovative use of animals in urban contexts as a solution to improve wellbeing and quality of life in cities, identifying their role as NBS themselves (animal-NBS) focused on social inclusion. The main objective of the research is to study how the presence of animals can contribute to the creation of more liveable urban spaces, with particular attention to the most vulnerable populations. Moreover, taking inspiration from literature collected, the European project Horizon2020 "IN-HABIT" ("INclusive Health and wellBeing In small and medium size ciTies”) in the city of Lucca and the in-person abroad experience in Spain, the project aims to understand which are the innovation paths that can mobilize animal resources and how urban policies can be redesigned to respond to this opportunity. Throughout the PhD, the main methodology used was Participatory Action Research (PAR), applied to the IN-HABIT project in Lucca, and the tools employed were various (semi-structured interviews and Focus Groups) and fruitful to actively engage local stakeholders. The results indicate that animals, integrated as urban resources (A-NBS), can represent a significant opportunity to promote community wellbeing, fostering interpersonal interaction and supporting mental health. At the end of the project, a shared action plan for the involvement of animals in urban planning policies was elaborated achieving the objectives and developing effective solutions based on a new relationship between people and animals, with the potential of being codified in an integrated urban hum-animal policy to be shared and transferred to other cities interested.