The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which was sent to Brussels by the Italian government at the end of April, last year, and finally approved on July 13, 2021, stressed the importance of an environmental revolution. The Plan is divided into six missions and Mission 2 was named "Green Revolution and Ecological Transition". Specifically, the Mission was divided into four components:
C1: Circular economy and sustainable agriculture;
C2: Renewable energy, hydrogen, grid and sustainable mobility;
C3: Energy efficiency and building requalification;
C4: Protection of land and water resources.
For each component, the PNRR has expected a path towards environmental sustainability, setting out the overall goals, the resources and funded measures. In addition, there is a part more specifically aimed at the needs of citizens and dealing with small models of sustainability and self-sufficiency. In this context, the PNRR has provided three investment lines dedicated to "Green Islands", "Green Communities" and "Renewable Promotion for Energy Communities and Self-Consumption".
Green Communities had already been regulated by the 2016 Stability Law, but it is only with the PNRR that it has moved into practice. The project will support, with 135 million euros, the sustainable development of rural and mountain territories that intend to make balanced use of the main resources they have, namely water, forests and landscape. These are therefore local communities associated with each other to implement sustainable development plans from an environmental, energy, economic and social point of view.
The PNRR provides foresee for 30 Green Communities and the following action plan:
- agro-forestry management;
- management of water resources;
- energy production from local renewable sources;
- development of sustainable tourism;
- sustainable construction and management of the building stock;
- energy efficiency;
- zero waste production;
- development of a sustainable farm model;
- integration of mobility services.
The initiative starts with three pilot projects in Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont, presented by Minister Gelmini on March 30, 2022, for which 6 million euros have been allocated. The remaining 27 communities will be selected through a special call for proposals by the Ministry of Regional Affairs, whose ranking should be approved by September 2022. By June 2026, on the other hand, the objective has been set of achieving 90% of the interventions envisaged in the plans.
The three projects will be an example for the drafting of the necessary notice to identify the remaining communities. In addition, according to Minister Gelmini, "they represent best practices at national level, strongly representative of the Government's desire to enhance the mountain territories and those belonging to internal areas that can act as a driving force for the entire country's development. Both for these and for the next 30 projects will be involved regions, provinces, municipalities, associations, citizens and businesses. The inter-institutional collaboration is the pillar on which there's the need to build the whole system of investment provided by the National Plan for recovery and resilience. The intervention of the 'Green Communities' is part of the broader strategic and regulatory framework that is being outlined with the draft law on the mountain, recently approved by the Council of Ministers, which sees the Italian mountains also protagonists in the PNRR”.
The first pilot project concerns the Green community "Terre del Monviso", in Piedmont, and includes a large area of mountain municipalities characterized by the presence of protected areas and an important cultural heritage. Here initiatives will be launched for the energy requalification of public buildings and the development of a new offer of sustainable tourism.
In Abruzzo, on the other hand, the "Parco Regionale Sirente Velino" project is planned: it includes 22 municipalities and focuses on improving the management of natural resources, building efficiency and the creation of a sustainable mobility network.
The last project will take place in Reggio Emilia’s Apennines and has been entitled "The Mountain of Milk": it will be based on policies of sustainability, diffusion of renewable energies and affirmation of new models of agricultural use in line with the demands of climate change.
Green Communities are therefore also the ideal tool to open a path of collaboration and "living communities". They are also an excellent way for territories affected by fires or major natural disasters to define a process of regeneration which is not only environmental, but also social and economic.
Translated by Giada Franchi
Sources used for this article:
https://italiadomani.gov.it/it/Interventi/investimenti/green-communities.html
https://www.rinnovabili.it/ambiente/politiche-ambientali/green-communities/
Picture: https://pixabay.com/it/photos/...
Lorena Radici
Lorena Radici studia Relazioni Internazionali presso l'Università degli Studi di Milano, curriculum: International Cooperation and Human Rights. Nel 2019 ha conseguito una laurea in Scienze della Mediazione Linguistica presso la Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici (SSML) di Varese, specializzandosi nel campo della traduzione e dell'interpretariato in inglese, spagnolo e cinese.
Durante il suo percorso di studi alla triennale ha avuto l'opportunità di svolgere dei tirocini di traduzione verso la lingua inglese con la redazione di VareseNews e con l'associazione culturale della località del Sacro Monte di Varese. Sempre alla SSML ha poi frequentato il corso di alta formazione in Mediazione Culturale.
La sua passione per le Relazioni Internazionali è rivolta soprattutto al settore dei diritti umani, dell'immigrazione e della sicurezza internazionale. In particolare, è interessata ai temi riguardanti la criminalità organizzata globale.
In Mondo Internazionale ricopre il ruolo di Autrice nelle aree tematiche "Organizzazioni Internazionali" e "Ambiente e Sviluppo" e il ruolo di Revisore di Bozze.
Lorena Radici studies International Relations at the University of Milan, curriculum: International Cooperation and Human Rights. In 2019 she got a degree in Sciences of Language Mediation at SSML in Varese, where she studied Translation and Interpretating in English, Spanish and Chinese.
During the degree course at SSML she had the opportunity to do an internship in translation with VareseNews and a cultural association of Sacro Monte. She also attended a course of Higher Education in Cultural Mediation.
For what regards International Relations, she is interested above all in human rights, immigration and international security. Particularly, she is interested in topics related to global criminal organizations.
Within Mondo Internazionale she is an Author for the thematic areas of "International Organizations" and "Environment and Development" and she also serves as Proofreader.