Ferrara municipality faces criticism over urban forest naming process

The Municipality of Ferrara is facing criticism regarding the process used to select a name for a new urban forest. The group Forum Ferrara Partecipata has denounced the initiative as a mere survey rather than genuine public participation, arguing that citizens are simply choosing from a pre-selected list of names without the ability to propose alternatives or influence the design phase.

In addition to the lack of meaningful consultation, the process has drawn scrutiny over privacy and technical requirements. Critics, including city councilor Leonardo Fiorentini, pointed out that the online survey requires a Google account and allegedly forced participants to consent to broad data processing, including marketing and commercial purposes from third parties.

Fiorentini has filed an urgent inquiry with the Mayor and notified the Data Protection Authority. While the Municipality described the inclusion of commercial consent terms as a "mere material error" that was quickly corrected, the controversy persists regarding how the proposals were gathered and the potential misuse of citizen data.