by Talya Karmen-Chan
Passeggiata
Before I began my semester in Rome in the fall of my senior year, I set a goal to explore as much of the city as I could. After landing and setting down my suitcases on a hot day in September, my roommate and I immediately began wandering down the cobblestone streets outside of our apartment. Our quick journey eventually turned into multiple hours – mesmerized by the towering scale of St. Peter’s Basilica, charming piazzas, and the caper plants that grew from brick walls.
A couple of weeks later, in my Italian language class, I learned that Italians have a word for this: the passeggiata, essentially a non-destination-oriented stroll, typically in the evening. The passeggiata simply exists as a way to exercise, to socialize, and to enjoy the scenery. The passeggiata quickly became one of my favorite things to do in Rome, alone or with friends, that was conveniently free and sustainable.
Luckily, before studying abroad, I had applied for and was awarded one of two Temple University Education Abroad Global Green Grants for the Fall 2025 semester. The Global Green Grant, inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, encourages students to gain an intercultural understanding of environmental challenges and solutions on an international scale. Apart from upholding core sustainability values, Education Abroad’s guidelines for a grant project topic are fairly open-ended, encouraging students to envision projects that speak to their academic and professional goals and interests. I was therefore able to create a project that would harness my hunger to explore the city. As a landscape architecture student, I also wanted to take on the challenge of creating a fun, functional map for fellow students.
The Map
With the generous support of the grant, my project resulted in a pocket-sized, illustrated, foldable map, complete with 36 park recommendations (see folding instructions). It is also available as a 1-page digital map, and both versions categorize parks by attributes, such as “nature preserve,” “archaeological site,” “urban piazza,” “scenic viewpoint,” etc. They also highlight accessibility via public transportation. I took all semester visiting these parks myself, and the map was made with the intention that Temple Rome students in the semesters following mine will get to use it.
My hope for my Global Green Grant project was to inspire more people to go out and explore the city’s many vibrant–and often overlooked–green spaces. While I did take advantage of being in Europe to travel beyond the confines of the city on a couple occasions, my time exploring Rome itself was essential to building familiarity with the city and to keeping my carbon footprint low. Staying local (not just on Stay Local Weekend, a weekend full of activities in Rome, incentivizing students to explore the city and reduce emissions from air travel, etc.) was a way for me to have a tranquil day outside, all while reducing my carbon footprint, without flying or travelling long distances.
Making the map
Throughout the semester, I had countless opportunities for on-site experiential learning. I had no idea how much of the city I would get to see during just class time alone. My preconceived idea of my map–one with a few large parks around the city center–widely expanded after weeks of field trips around the city in my various classes.
I was on a field trip most days of the school week, and Rome was the ultimate outdoor classroom. In my primary class, Architectural Design Studio in Rome, taught by Cinzia Abbate, I explored up and down the Tiber River on foot, on bike, and by boat. We analyzed the river and its role as Rome’s ecological spine. We diagrammed various levels of inaccessibility to the Tiber, and imagined new ways to connect people back to the water. After these site visits and discussions, I added various river-adjacent parks to the map.
On Wednesdays I took Urban Structure in Rome, where we ventured to a new neighborhood every week. This class took me to places that I would likely not have made it to otherwise, like the EUR district. Before class, I took time to explore the leafy Parco del Ninfeo, which made its way onto the map (along with many other spaces we visited in this class). Commuting to this class from home and other field trips also helped me understand how accessible many of these green spaces were via Rome’s extensive public transit system.
I discovered various other parks in Introduction to the Architecture and Urban History of Ancient and Medieval Rome, including on a class walk around the Aurelian Walls, which brought us from the Tiber all the way up the Janiculum Hill (among many other hills). During site visits and class time in the History of Art in Rome, I found myself in magical, medieval cloister gardens, in front of mythical fountains, and in various formal gardens.
Outside of school, I committed time to my Global Green Grant research by spending time in various spaces by myself and with friends. I sketched, admired Rome’s Mediterranean plant palette, sought to identify flora and fauna in parks, stopped in bustling plazas, took the city bus to go on hikes just outside of the city center, and took pictures and notes on the places I explored. During and after this research, I utilized hand drawing and the Adobe Suite to compile and collage diagrams, lay out my findings, and prototype various map iterations:
This project wouldn’t have been possible without my professors’ expertise, my experiences in class, and the support of Temple’s Office of Education Abroad. I cherished the opportunity to create something for future students, and I hope that the map encourages others to sustainably explore this ancient, green city, as I did.
