In the context of increasing water scarcity, Urban Community Gardens (UCGs) are emerging as hotspots of the built environment, where efficient and sustainable water management practices can be tested and implemented. The paper’s objective is to describe UCGs as examples of co-production in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), focusing on the design and development of circular strategies for water reuse. The study explores six experimental case studies located in the metropolitan city of Bologna (Italy), a context where urban horticulture has long served as local welfare and is now evolving to host innovative solutions supporting environmental resilience. In addition, the paper highlights the implementation of social innovation pathways, community building, and citizen engagement. These co-production dynamics were enabled through co-design activities using open innovation approaches, particularly Urban Living Labs (ULLs), which facilitated the development and experimentation of locally adapted, do-it-yourself solutions. The analysis of the results reveals that the implemented solutions had a significant social and economic impact, demonstrating the effectiveness of UCGs as NBS in strengthening communities, contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda SDGs for more sustainable and resilient cities, and validating the positive outcomes of a participatory, co-production-based approach. © 2025 Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Romania. All rights reserved.

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