The Pomario Botanical Retail store is AUF’s most recent CEMI (community engagement member institution) initiative. Pomario is operated by students and faculty members of the School of Business at AUF, where students are given the opportunity to learn about urban ecology in both the classroom and through a hands-on professional approach as well. Pomario allows students to interact with the local community to educate residents through botany, sustainability, and horticulture.

At its core, Pomario aims to support and spread knowledge on how to lead a greener and more sustainable lifestyle. Much like many of AUF’s CEMI initiatives, Pomario is built on the institution’s commitment to education through experiential learning.

Some of the services and products offered by Pomario are:

- Ongoing selection and curation of plant varieties

- Special expansion of vegetables

- Collaborations with other local entities

- Development of events that feature hands-on learning experiences

- Green retail management

- Sustainable marketing and promotion

- Involvement in green/sustainability events hosted at the Palazzi Community Center

Pomario offers a vast selection of plants and gardening items; however, it is much more than just a retail store for purchasing plants. With a focus on supporting community seminars that place emphasis on horticulture themes, Pomario organizes multiple sustainably-friendly initiatives and activities that are open to anyone who wishes to attend. Thanks to the store’s Via Ricasoli location at the Palazzi Community Center, students, faculty, and visitors alike can benefit from the center’s Cafaggio del Vescovo gardens featuring citrus trees, herbs, and plants of many varieties.AUF is constantly redefining and reinventing what it means to learn in an international setting. Going beyond the classroom and immersing students in the community, AUF cultivates and helps to develop students’ global perspective by exposing them to new ideas, issues, and solutions through the city of Florence. Through an experience-oriented approach, AUF students are transformed into citizens of the world with a greener global outlook.