Saturday 31st July 2021 – the Hon. Mariastella Gelmini, Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies with responsibility for the mountains met mountain stakeholders at UNIMONT – Center of Excellence of the University of Milan based in Edolo, a small municipality in the Alps.
A meeting took place at the UNIMONT centre in the Alps, in which the Hon. Mariastella Gelmini, Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies with responsibility for the enhancement of mountain areas, presented actions in favour of these territories including the 2021-2027 Partnership Agreement, the European Structural Funds and the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR), but also the elaboration of a new law proposal for the mountains, the definition of a National Strategy for the Mountains as well as one for Green Communities.
“A journey that starts from Edolo, a series of meetings that will be held in various Italian mountains locations to achieve this goal,” declared the Hon. Gelmini.”UNIMONT has become an important reality and is fully involved in a Scientific Technical Table set up with numerous experts and trade associations with the aim of encouraging a return to living in the mountains and relaunching economic activities in these territories. We need to concentrate on the specifics of mountain areas and this period in time must see not a return to the pre-pandemic situation, our goals must be higher. For this reason, we need a framework law, now indispensable, to make the resources provided for by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan a certainty”.
Renewed attention for mountain areas of Italy was also apparent in the opening speech by the Hon. Mara Carfagna, Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion, who stressed that it is crucial to reduce the socio-economic gaps existing in mountain areas, so that Italy can fully express and enhance its uniqueness and its great development potential. She also added positive news about the European Structural Funds: “The intention is to better qualify cohesive action in inner areas and include the mountains, in addition to the smaller islands, among the areas that will be subject to intervention. A project that arises from close collaboration with my colleague Gelmini who is in charge of the mountains and from an idea of cohesion that is wider than the usual one”.
Finally, “special” attention for mountain areas, expressed with a program that aims to add value and increase competitiveness for an important part of Italy, a plan whose implementation provides for the support of a specific National Scientific Technical Table for Mountain areas (TTS), made up of 48 experts from universities and the professional world, recently appointed by Minister Gelmini, and coordinated by Dr. Luca Masneri Mayor of the Municipality of Edolo who emphasized:
“The National Scientific Technical Table for Mountain areas facilitates interaction with mountain areas to define key actions capable of enhancing and accelerating the ecological and digital transition of our mountains.” The objective of the Scientific Technical Table (TTS) is also to create awareness in society regarding the value and importance of mountain areas. Therefore, on 12th September, the professors of the TTS of 7 Italian universities will organize a series of simultaneous events on sustainable development in mountain areas throughout Italy, an activity that is part of the “Climbing for Climate” agenda of the “Network of Universities for Sustainable Development – RUS”, and is part of the “approach” program to EXPO 2020 Dubai, where the Italian mountains will be protagonists of specific moments coordinated by UNIMONT, the center of excellence of the University of Milan.
Paolo Glisenti, General Commissioner for Italy’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai underlined the importance of Expo 2020 Dubai as a unique opportunity for visibility for Italian mountain areas in his speech: “I am happy to announce that on 7th and 8th October Italy will co-curate an international forum on mountain areas at Expo 2020 Dubai and that in this context UNIMONT will be promoting a working table ON THE centrality of mountains as places of learning and training. It is our intention to facilitate the creation of new international collaboration networks to protect mountain communities, highlighting the best practices of sustainability and resilience developed in our inner territories. We want to show that value can also be produced by acting from the “mountain” dimension, investing in a clear vision, good organization, the use of technology and above all the enthusiasm of the young people, researchers and students who live the mountains.
Important messages for the mountains that two Ministers have decided to launch from a small municipality representative of the many mountain municipalities of Italy, where however – thanks to the alliances between local and central institutions, government, administration, training and research – the UNIMONT university centre was established and has grown, demonstrating how excellence can be achieved even from “marginal mountain” areas by working from within, in the territories, focusing on young people, training, innovation and creating effective “connections” between small mountain villages and towns and urban centers and national and international service centers -“bridges” – even virtual ones – across which ideas, good practices and innovation “travel” and are shared, eliminating distances, the main cause of marginalization of mountain areas.
“UNIMONT is a special, complex and important centre for the university system, for our Region and for the entire Alps as well as for all mountain areas,” declared Elio Franzini, Magnificent Rector of the University of Milan at the opening of the meeting. “UNIMONT is the only University centre in Italy, a reference point for mountain communities and political decision-makers” added Marina Carini, Vice Rector delegated to Third Mission, Cultural Activities and Social Impact of the University of Milan.
“A pact between mountains and cities to “link local to global” in a strategic alliance that can make “marginal” territories “central”, an alliance that, today, is not only possible, but is necessary to define the new development models we need. Investment is cultural even before it is economic, because it is a question of changing paradigm: the mountain is no longer seen as an area of “disadvantage”, to be compensated for, but as a territory of uniqueness to be enhanced, through methods, tools and professionalism appropriate to the specificities of the places. UNIMONT is the result of the concrete declination of this vision: a “branch” of a large urban university that has been able to take root in a small mountain community and that, “tuning in” with the local dimension, facilitates its connections with supra-local dimensions: from regional to national, European and international – useful connections for the innovation and development of these territories,” declared Prof. Anna Giorgi – Rector’s Delegate for the promotion of teaching, research and third mission for the enhancement of the mountain areas. She added: “now we need the courage to continue on this route, the only one that can lead to real and lasting benefits for the mountains, because it focuses on and invests in people who want to live and work in the mountains, creating value from local resources in a way which is traditional and/or innovative but, in any case, modern and sustainable. This is the message we will take to Expo 2020 Dubai in October.”
Other TTS members included prof. Gian Vincenzo Zuccotti, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Milan, who highlighted the importance of health care in the mountains, to be guaranteed also with innovative and technological tools such as telemedicine; Andrea Ferrazzi, Director General Confindustria Belluno-Dolomiti and Confindustria Mountain Coordinator; Francesco Carrer, Vice President of the Italian Alpine Club, Matteo Carrer, Researcher in Public Law Institutions of the University of Bergamo, Francesco Cesare Palermo, Lawyer expert in Local Authorities tax law; Lino Zani, mountain expert, and Massimiliano Ossini, RAI TV presenter. The TTS representatives highlighted the current challenges that mountain areas have to face, including health, specific training of human capital, entrepreneurship, innovation and digitization.
A round table was held at the end of the event with the participation of various key figures of mountain areas, from a local to a national level, including Alessandro Bonomelli, President of the Valle Camonica Comunità Montana and President of the BIM Valle Camonica Consortium; Massimo Sertori, Councillor for Local, Mountain and Small Municipalities of the Lombardy Region – who highlighted the role of local authorities for the grounding of projects and policies for the valorization of mountain territories; Alessandro Mattinzoli, Councillor for Homes and Social Housing of the Lombardy Region; Dario Bond, Delegate of the Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies in the Joint Committee for the Management of the Agreement for the Neighboring Municipalities Fund; Roberto Pella, Deputy Vice President of ANCI; Marco Bussone, President of UNCEM; Alessandro Panza, Member of the Regional Development Commission of the European Parliament – who highlighted the need “that laws that deal with mountains are written by people who live in the mountains” and that a new concept of mountains is brought to Brussels, characterized by the concept of peripheral areas, implementing a strong and conscious policy capable of enhancing the strategic assets of mountain territories; Ettore Prandini, President of Coldiretti – who underlined the importance of reducing bureaucracy and investing in research to bring innovation; and Eugenio Massetti, Deputy Vice President of Confartigianato.