by Simone D'Antonio

A few years ago, a group of women in their 50s living near Bologna's Piazza Carducci grew tired of seeing paint chipping from worn-out benches in the square. They didn't just complain to city officials. They made a generous offer: The women were willing to repaint the benches themselves.

What should have been an easy "yes" from the city turned out to be a lot more complicated. Bologna had policies in place to allow formally structured civic groups to do good deeds on behalf of the city. But just an individual or a few of them? That scenario fell into a bureaucratic hole. Legal and safety concerns — what if somebody got hurt while painting? — made it difficult to give a straight answer.

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Source: http://citiscope.org/