During the hearing, Prof. Anna Giorgi and Dr. Stefano Sala highlighted the importance of focusing attention on the dynamics taking place in mountain areas, collecting and processing, in a timely and continuous manner, specific data concerning this important portion of the Lombardy territory, in order to plan intervention that allows such areas to face historical challenges more and more effectively, from depopulation to the loss of competitiveness, as well as more current ones – from climate change to the effects of the pandemic, monitoring their impact over time.
Regulatory reorganization, the coordination of funding programs, the capitalization of best practices, including at an international level, as well as the definition of concrete and priority actions are essential to implement a strategy for the mountains that “empowers” local communities to effectively face epochal challenges with “super-local” vision and planning. Projects and intervention supported by funds for post-pandemic recovery and for the ecological and digital transition for which mountain areas are extraordinary “platforms”.
Challenges that can be faced by operating in mountain areas, investing in human capital, in innovation and in the establishment of strategic alliances – from a local, to regional, national and international levels – actions that UNIMONT has been successfully promoting for over 25 years. Therefore, the capitalization of consolidated and functional good practices to ensure timely, specific and continuous action for the mountains is one of the strategic actions to be promoted by strengthening alliances between institutions in Lombardy.