IN-HABIT at the VERDEMURA Fair with Lots of News!

IN-HABIT returned to VerdeMura this year with an incredible variety of activities and new features for all visitors, young and old, animal lovers, and supporters of pet-friendly cities. The official ribbon-cutting took place on Friday, April 5th, near the IN-HABIT stand, with guests including Councillor Consani and the President of Lucca Crea, who introduced the project and some of the activities featured at this edition of the VerdeMura fair.

As every year, the heart of the project was the IN-HABIT stand, where visitors had the chance to play City Pets, an engaging board game designed to promote proper interaction and management of its dog, improving the lives of families and neighborhoods. Other visitors and project partners took part in the activities, including Giulia Granai from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pisa, and Giovanni Russo from LCREA, who also talked on RadioStar to describe IN-HABIT’s activities. In the afternoon, Dr. Maria Giusy Imparato enriched the stand with a special event: a prize competition for animal friends, and she remained available until late afternoon to offer advice to dog owners.

On Sunday, visitors continued to show strong interest in the project’s gamification approach and explored the latest IN-HABIT activities, as well as those developed over the years.
Among this year’s surprises was the chance to join the VerdeMura Special Mission within the IN-HABIT APP, the project’s web app open to all residents. By registering for free, participants took part in a real “QR code hunt,” searching for codes hidden within dog-shaped cutouts scattered throughout the event.

Some QR codes revealed small “Magical Tips for Your Dog” provided by Magic Black Dogs – Puppy Education and Nutrition, while only one contained the winning QR code, granting determined seekers fantastic prizes and discounts related to the pet world. Among the prizes were creations from Buco nel Legno, an exhibitor at the fair with beautiful artistic creations designed to host local wildlife, such as bird and bat houses; Hygge-Dog, a local company specializing in sustainable and natural dog food with an online shop; and Barfi Lucca, a store specializing in high-quality natural food for dogs and cats.

But that’s not all. IN-HABIT staff present throughout the fair also supported visitors in filling out a brief questionnaire about the Hum-Animal city, curated by the Department of Veterinary Sciences of Pisa. As a thank you for their support, participants received an IN-HABIT-themed puzzle booklet, an enjoyable way to keep the mind active while engaging with the project’s mission. Staff also encouraged participation in the activity “Leave a thought for a more Hum-Animal city” using post-it notes placed on the IN-HABIT totem display.

Many people, most of them families, visited the stand, some accompanied by their four legged friends, others not, but all curious to learn more about the project and interested in the missions and relational areas.

Francesco Di Iacovo, Professor at the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Pisa, commented, emphasizing how “the initiative was a great opportunity to socialize the IN-HABIT project and its activities, as well as to share the idea of a Hum-Animal city with citizens. The event allowed us to gather valuable suggestions from visitors, whose contributions were both thoughtful and enthusiastic about the path we’ve taken. There is a growing awareness of the crucial role cities can play in promoting policies that enhance the relationships between people and animals, with the goal of improving social inclusion and collective well-being.”

Verdemura 2025 was visited by over 400 people.