Promoting a local and just green deal. School open spaces as a strategic opportunity for the city in the ecological transition

Recent policies like the European Green Deal emphasize the urgency of implementing the ecological transition. However, there are associated risks, including the exacerbation of socioeconomic inequalities and an overemphasis on large infrastructure projects. The ongoing debate recognizes the need for a placebased approach, with cities at the core of the European transition and active citizen engagement. School open spaces can play a key role in implementing a local, sustainable, and equitable green deal, starting from their role of public equipment widespread in the city. This paper aims to assess how these types of spaces can be strategic, which are the fields of action of the transition process in which they can have the greatest impact and which areas to be improved. The paper starts from the definition of four strategic issues and four governance principles for localising the EGD. Then we selected and described twenty-five European best practices in the regeneration of school open spaces from 2019 to the present and we assessed if and how they deal with transition strategic issues and governance principles. Finally, research results are discussed together with potential pathways for the implementation of actions related to the local Green Deal.