As a last methodological step of the participatory planning method, a final plenary session was planned. The primary purpose was to maximize the level of community participation through the involvement of the most significant representatives of the company (interviewees of the territorial survey, stakeholders, political institutions, experts, and regional civil and religious society). Another purpose was represented by the opportunity to inform them by disseminating the results of steps I and II. Namely, the most significant results coming from the strategic diagnosis and the works of FGs. For each FG, the results of the Discussion Papers were showed by one of the participant stakeholders in the framework of a synergic and effective partnership.
At the same time, the final plenary session pursued significant training purposes with a training moment on Laudato sì and two specific issues on integral ecology and on the correct conception of decent work.
Interactive dialogue and constructive confrontation were guaranteed in all phases of the plenary session.
The public was given, in fact, the opportunity to interact live through the chats of social channels and to send by email proposals and suggestions, between 13 July and 30 September 2021. The main results of I and II methodological steps, appropriately integrated with the solicitations emerged during the discussion in plenary, were filled in a position paper, whose draft was showed, submitted to a vote, and approved during the session for a first approval phase. It represented the official position of the Basilicata region at the 49th Social Week of Italian Catholics.
The position paper for the region was entitled “The Basilicata we hope for”.
This document was implemented to address the problem of a more sustainable and resilient Basilicata, with the solutions identified by the participatory planning model. It provided useful information to aid in decision making by the regional government, helping it to advance its institutional mission in this complex historical period.
It addressed key components of the issue and showed it in a simple manner which was easy to understand. In fact, the position paper fulfills the function of transferring the knowledge and understanding acquired through the first two methodological phases and at the same time developing an action plan to implement the identified strategies.
3.3.1. The Action Plan for “The Basilicata We Hope for”
This document schematically reports the strategic actions identified as outputs of the participatory planning process. They represent priorities, labelled from “0” to “7”. In fact, there is no hierarchical order among them even if the “0”, “1” and “2” represent necessary preconditions for the development of Basilicata. They can be considered as preparatory and transversal to all the other challenges.
Figure 10 shows the structure of the action plan.
Priority 0: Infrastructures
The Basilicata region is characterized by an atavistic lack of infrastructural equipment, which could be overcome by upgrading the high-capacity, high-speed rail system and logistics works. The road system, broadband and ultra-broadband should be strengthened, as well as local public services (care for the elderly and children) and territorial (water schemes and integrated waste cycle) [
50]. Tangible and intangible infrastructural investments are the preconditions for development and for increasing social inclusion in the region. This constitutes the first strategic action for the future of Basilicata.
Priorities 1, 2 and 3: Education and Training
In a rapidly evolving world, characterized by increasingly complexity, unprecedent-social, economic, and environmental challenges must be faced. It will be a shared responsibility to seize myriad new opportunities and find solutions for human advancement. To navigate through such uncertainty, students will need to develop curiosity, imagination, resilience, and self-regulation. Their motivation will be more than getting a good job and a high income; they will also need to care about the well-being of their friends and families, their communities, and the planet [
51]. As highlighted by the OECD, education can equip learners with agency and a sense of purpose, and the competencies they need, to shape their own lives and contribute to the lives of others [
51].
Considering the significant mismatch between education and the workforce requirements in demand today in Basilicata, with major social impacts (unemployment and youth emigration), education and training are crucial in outlining a sustainable and resilient development model for the Basilicata region.
Based on the strategic diagnosis, action strategies aimed at guaranteeing the capacity for “complex critical thinking” skills for the Lucanian population resulted in being indispensable. According to [
52], culture should be considered to promote and implement sustainable consumption and adequate production patterns (point 10) playing an important role “…in strengthening social participation and the exercise of citizenship” (point 38). Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development [
53].
To this aim two pre-eminent strategic actions were identified, which aimed at spreading a new “decent work culture” [
54] (Priority 1) and greater environmental awareness (Priority 2). This time calls for a cultural conversion, a change of mentality, a change of course, because it is necessary to change lifestyles and the common understanding of development. Putting the value of the human person at the center and integrating ecological with socio-economic aspects are key.
This could be achieved through the implementation of training courses based on a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to achieve an epistemic revolution, as hoped for in Laudato sì.
The implementation of education and training courses with a greater interdependence among technical knowledge, digital skills and interpersonal skills, a correct work culture and an increased environmental awareness are essential to fix this misalignment, and to support the worker retraining of workers.
According to the programmatic platform of small and medium-sized enterprises, public investments at regional level should enable the consolidation and renovation of traditional sectors, such as construction, plant engineering, and mechanics. In the meantime, the professional skills of entrepreneurs, workers and students should be improved, with workers better qualified to promote innovative job profiles more in line with the identified regional development axes.
Both the employers’ associations and the trade unions agree that a reform of social safety nets and the world of work is necessary. Alongside the welfare system, economic growth, and the re-employability of the unemployed must be increased.
Just as the gap between public research and industrial production must be bridged, training must also be more aligned towards new green skills. To simplify procedures and make the public administration more efficient is more than hoped for.
The interviewed research institutions also stressed the importance of activating virtuous circles that might link higher education, not just university, scientific development, innovation, and technology transfer to businesses. This involves strategic co-projecting training and business development. The lack of adequately specialized operators has been highlighted in the main economic sectors (agriculture, tourism, automotive, mining, construction, environment, care for the elderly), as well as a proper job education.
As previously said, young people are engaged in parishes and in studies, although most of them envision their future outside the region. However, the number of young Lucanian NEETs, i.e., people who do not work, do not study, and are not involved in training courses, in the age group 15–29 years, is on average (the last five years—pre-COVID data) lower than the equivalent figure for the South, while it remains higher than the national one. Finally, the unemployment rate is high, especially for young graduates or highly trained young people. The number of employed in the region is, in fact, higher for low skills. About the school population, it should be emphasized that the share of students enrolled in upper secondary school largely exceeds the national average value, while the incidence of those enrolled in other school orders tends to be lower [
25,
55].
As highlighted by the FGs, in this direction several initiatives have been implemented by the Department for Development, Employment, Training and Research Policies of Basilicata Region. In particular, the over-35 call (Destination Over 35 Paths of Labor Policies and Active Inclusion) and the “Youth Guarantee 2” Fund (NEET and non-NEET up to 35 years old) were carefully described. Among others, the implementation of Superior Technical Institutes—STI (mechatronics, logistics, etc.)—were showed as a good opportunity to match job profiles. At present, in fact, there is only one STI on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency in the whole region. Similarly, this is also case for the strengthening of employment centers.
In a development model for a transformative resilience of Basilicata, resilience cannot merely be considered as the capacity for resistance, but also as the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills. The personalization of projects significantly contributes to this purpose. Starting from the analysis of needs, individual attitudes are verified by applying the in-depth learning or collaborative learning principles.
The learning management system goes in this direction with the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) approach. The ANPAL Services stressed the need to facilitate the apprenticeship contracts (I and III levels) to connect the world of training and businesses, to strengthen active labor policies, so the pro-activity of all actors. To this purpose, the industry academies are well suited to a new public–private partnership approach that aims at a more effective synergy between the network of services for employment policies and the demand system.
According to the experience of the regional school office, it emerged that the Lucanian school system has never had a notable early school leaving. It is characterized rather by a more widespread problem of demotivation and of scarce interest from students because of the absence of a meritocratic world of work. They are not adequately stimulated to give the best of themselves.
Despite the problems caused by the pandemic, workshops for inclusion and orientation, teaching civic education, community pacts (interaction based on specific objectives) as well as integrated digital teaching have been implemented. It is also necessary to enhance the provincial centers for adults, to ensure professional retraining.
The Confindustria Basilicata Training area fulfills the function of reducing the distance between demand and supply at work in labor markets. This is achieved by organizing advanced training courses, masters for entrepreneurs, and through Fondimpresa Basilicata, which seeks to meet the needs of companies—namely, streamlining, speed, clarity—by clear planning and adhering to certain times.
To better calibrate the strategies, it is necessary to monitor the results of the actions put in place and to aim for a professional orientation starting already in middle school.
The students at these schools are then the ideal targets for scientific dissemination and school–work alternation projects, according to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) experience.
Basilicata Anpal Services underlined the strategic importance of professional orientation as a process that allows for the creation of relationships between skills and attitudes, starting from the age of three, within the family first and then in lower secondary school. This is crucial both in the context of studies to be undertaken after the 8th grade, and in the context of professional choices and the labor market. In Basilicata, orientation activities have been carried out so far exclusively in high schools.
They provide for learning in a dual mode (co-planning, sharing and co-evaluation between business and training institution) which aims at the integration between school and work, in which the educational value of the skills acquired during the practical experience within companies (paths for transversal skills and orientation—PTSO—and first level apprenticeship) is recognized.
Considering this dissertation, in Basilicata it is necessary and urgent to achieve the following: increase the level of correspondence between education and business needs; overcome the obsolescence of skills; extend the paths and practices of school–work alternation and strengthen the dual system; increase the training offer, including the tertiary one, enhance STI.
The list of identified strategies for education and training is shown in the section Priority 3 of
Figure 10.
Priority 4: Agriculture
According to the strategic diagnosis, agriculture has been identified as a priority for the importance it covers in terms of contribution to regional GDP and for the role that this sector can play in rebalancing regional development between inland and coastal areas.
Agriculture, together with the agri-food sector, can boast numerous examples of productive excellence in Basilicata. Its further development, if properly addressed, can play a decisive role in the growth of the region and to combat the phenomena of loss of human capital, such as the continuous youth emigration. The topic of regional agricultural development represents not only a political priority, but also a perceived need that challenges the local community to support the ecological transition, as outlined by the strategic diagnosis carried out in preparation for Taranto 2021. Agriculture is a sector with a huge capacity for innovation and can significantly contribute to the implementation of a sustainable and resilient regional development model.
The natural wealth of Basilicata offers unique opportunities for the development of local communities. Furthermore, innovative, and sustainable cultivation systems can combine development and care of the territories as well. The development of a “good agriculture” is important because it not only produces quality food goods, but also builds and conserves the landscape, safeguards natural capital, and helps mitigate the effects of climate change. The depopulation, especially of inland areas, must prompt the political institutions to promote agricultural training programs for new generations. These new generations could become expertly aware of new production methods, while being able to recover the ancient knowledge of cultivation at the same time.
It is also through a revitalization of agriculture that it is possible to promote an ecological conversion in the Lucanian region.
On the territory, there is a high number of farms with intensive cultivation (76%), mainly cereal, especially in the Metapontino area and Matera hills. There are, then, flat and irrigated areas, where fruit and vegetable production are concentrated and areas suited to wine growing (Vulture-Melfese). Finally, there is the “heroic” agriculture of the high hills and the Lucanian mountains.
The agricultural sector of Basilicata is characterized rather by small and fragmented business units. The prevalence of farm owners of an advanced age is high, with a low percentage of young entrepreneurs (about 10%). The educational and training level of agricultural entrepreneurs is rather modest. Low is the adhesion of Lucanian agricultural companies to development processes and crops that make sustainable use of plant protection products and fertilizers, as evidenced by the meager responses to the “integrated production” agri-food measure (measure 10 of the Basilicata Rural Development Plan-RDP) [
56].
In Basilicata, the development process of the sector, beyond the issue of sustainability, must address and solve three key issues:
The development of inland areas.
The existing manpower consists of primarily of immigrants often forced to live in precarious conditions. The serious phenomenon of illegal hiring still weighs on this, and it should be overcome by guaranteeing these people paths of real social inclusion.
The access to the market is still limited, due to an individualistic approach by the producers and inadequate commercial and logistical structures.
The first step to be considered in the development of eco-sustainable agriculture in Basilicata is the need to overcome the training and information deficiencies of agricultural business owners, to implement more sustainable production techniques. The correct use of plant protection products that can have a high environmental impact is essential.
The revitalization of inland areas is also important for a more balanced regional agricultural development. This can also reduce the fragility and vulnerability of the territory. Essential, in this sense, is the provision of adequate water services to encourage the development of crops in hilly areas. This development could appropriately benefit from the creation of small and multi-farm reservoirs to provide water to all farmers.
Rural development in Basilicata region must be promoted by a proper combination of tradition and innovation. It will be necessary to work and commit to the implementation of a common project through which the development of the strongest areas will have to serve as support and driving force for the weaker ones. In this region, there are agricultural realities that lend themselves to a conversion to the “closed cycle”, where they can promote the use of organic fertilizers and soil improvers by creating “0 km” supply chains between farms and composting plants.
Territorial protection policies must also be implemented to avoid the generalized decline of soils and of their carbon content.
Today, in many agricultural soils in Southern Italy, the soil organic carbon is around 1%, a limit value for classifying desert soils from a microbiological point of view.
The adoption of sustainable cultivation techniques (possibility of grassing, rational and annual pruning, irrigation with adequate wastewater, restoration of hedges on the edges of fields, recycling of mowing and pruning plant residues, addition of organic amendments) favors the restoration soil fertility by increasing the carbon content and microbial biodiversity.
The recycling of resources and by-products considered up to now as simple waste, the use of natural manure and compost mixed with charcoal (biochar), and all materials to be produced in local plants are to be envisaged.
The need to recover the agricultural land of the Basento Valley (one of the two regional Sites of National Interest—SNI) still characterized by high concentrations of heavy metals is also noteworthy. It is necessary to think about the possibility of using these soils that are not yet reclaimed today, to produce alternative energy with the support, for example, of research centers such as Enea.
Proper strategic choices of the Basilicata region, to which it is delegated the management of business support activities, the modernization of a monitoring infrastructure and decision support systems could be of great use. The decisive turning point for progress in this direction should be the implementation of a plan for the development of Basilicata, in which the sustainable and innovative development of agriculture is integrated into a more general vision. The list of identified strategies for agriculture is shown in the section Priority 4 of
Figure 10.
Priority 5: Tourism
The strategic diagnosis of the Basilicata region has identified tourism as a tactical development sector. In recent years, before the pandemic, this sector had reached high levels of expansion, also thanks to the APT. There has been a constantly growing attractiveness both for the good standard of living linked to the scarce presence of organized crime and thanks to the good environmental status that characterizes the region. The peak was reached with Matera, the capital of European Culture 2019, an event that could have achieved much more evident economic and social impacts for the whole of Basilicata if managed with greater entrepreneurial initiative. All this was achieved despite the absence of significant investments aimed at increasing the infrastructural capacity of the region and improving its mobility.
Unfortunately, today, the tourist resource is not yet a cultural factor of the Lucanian people and their political class, although also the new generations, in their visions of the future, have understood its considerable potential in creating job opportunities.
There is a lack of an overall vision capable of increasing the perception by the population of the value of cultural heritage, together with better specialized skills of the operators. All this might trigger virtuous mechanisms of economic enhancement of these resources with a consequent increase in the attraction of private investments. In particular, the need emerged to develop local tourism opportunities, the enhancement of the agri-food and tourism supply chains as local, national and international “attractors”.
Culture and tourism are the winning combination for the attractiveness of Basilicata post Matera 2019. The great regional tangible and intangible heritage plays a very important role not only for tourism in general, but also as an educational tool and for the reactivation of communities.
For this reason it is necessary to achieve the following:
Build innovative models of use and management.
Work on a strategic project to support and enhance the tourism, artistic, creative and cultural sectors that had been defined in recent years.
Improve the infrastructure and regenerate the peripheral areas and villages, taking into account also the changed needs due to the pandemic (e.g., preference for smaller accomodations surrounded by nature), thus also allowing the safety of the territories, the recovery of commercial and artisanal activities.
It is appropriate to find incentive mechanisms for sustainable tourism with the support of companies working in the sector.
The work of the FG highlighted the need for a long-term vision that can only be built by triggering cultural processes aimed at increasing the culture of hospitality supported by adequately trained staff, as well as more effective coordination between bodies and institutions and a synergistic collaboration with the resident population is desirable. The quality of the region’s tourist offer is in fact a function of the overall attractiveness of the entire Lucanian ecosystem that enjoys the reputation of the territory, the rendered services, the welcoming capacity of the community and the cultural processes.
For this purpose, substantial material infrastructural investments are necessary to increase the attractiveness from the outside but also the degree of mobility within the region, making internal roads, especially the mountain ones, safer and adequately maintained.
At the same time, it is necessary to ensure adequate internet access throughout the region, also in light of South working, i.e., the return to the South of many workers who emigrated to the North thanks to the smart working granted due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The transport system must be effective, the accommodation facilities adequate, the urban decorum guaranteed and, more generally, the environmental protection assured. Besides that, the services rendered must be of a professional nature, the communities must be adequately educated in the culture of hospitality (reinvigorating ancient Greek traditions), and museum and cultural journeys must be fluid.
The experience of the most recent years teaches, in fact, that the intuition of cultural attractions, such as museums, archaeological areas, and historical and architectural complexes already currently (or with the potential to become) attractors of quality and high added-value tourist demand, and of the relative territorial cultural system (e.g., Flight of the angel, Tibetan bridge, etc.), has been successful.
In this sense, the term “food and wine” must also be added to the combination of tourism and culture, with an adequate enhancement of regional food and wine resources.
In order to increase not only the resilience of Basilicata, but also its anti-fragility, as a possibility of improvement and adaptation of the territory, the vision of its development can only be based on a major protagonism, on the exercise of individual responsibility and on the principle of autonomy. These must characterize the dynamics not only in Basilicata but also throughout Southern Italy.
This would entail an entrepreneurial impetus with the leading role of young people in virtuous relationships with the public also regulated by public–private partnerships.
The latter would also contribute to improving the conditions of those who, for years, have chosen to be entrepreneurs in Basilicata, managing to build realities of absolute value, even in internal areas.
Despite unfavorable system conditions, in fact there is a significant private entrepreneurial dynamism that has also led to the implementation of digital platforms, such as, “Made in Basilicata”.
Additionally, thanks to the experience of the 130 environmental hiking guides of Basilicata, who are carrying out a meritorious job of promoting the region, it was possible to obtain a profile of the average tourist who comes to Basilicata: a returning tourist interested in the quality of the environment (links with research groups on black storks, orchids, etc.), sports, religion, and food and wine tours.
There is a strong demand for authenticity with a recovery of authentic relationships with people and with the territory, the use of which in a scenario of “slow” tourism could be improved with targeted investments and greater endowments.
Finally, planning and governance tools are indispensable in the support of territorial policies, e.g., a strategic tourism plan.
The selected strategies for tourism are reported in the section Priority 5 of
Figure 10.
Priority 6: Environment
Consistent with the main Sustainable Development objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda and the wishes of Laudato sì, the strategic diagnosis of the region has identified environmental policies as an instrument of strategic importance for the “green” development of the region’s economy in favor of an integral ecological transition that makes the social economic fabric more resilient.
The concept of resilience is used more and more frequently in the debate on the innovation of models of management, care, and maintenance of the social and natural environment and of projects for the transformation, regeneration, and development of the territory [
57].
In this, the control of the natural environment and its management as a resource for local development and the quality of life play a fundamental role in building the resilience of a territory, contributing significantly to its economic development (tourist attractiveness and qualification of local productions).
Territories such as that of Basilicata are characterized by the coexistence of significant natural resources to be safeguarded and important anthropic activities with consequent pressures on environmental matrices. Among these can be counted the already mentioned extractive activities on shore, for example, SNI of Tito and Val Basento, which are to be reclaimed.
In addition to the intensive exploitation of fossil sources, the Basilicata region has also increasingly combined that of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). In 2019, the share of total energy consumption covered by renewable sources was 49.5%; the figure is higher than both the forecast of the Ministerial Decree of 15 March 2012 for 2018 (27.8%) and the target to be achieved by 2020 (33.1%) [
58]. However, there are still margins for increasing the level of penetration of RES as well as in the governance of the territory, minimizing the environmental and landscape impacts due to wind farms and ground-mounted photovoltaic plants.
According to the strategic diagnosis results, various sources attest the need to increase the environmental culture through awareness raising and information and training actions. These can be adequately carried out starting from the youngest (within schools, families, parishes, etc.), making one’s lifestyle more sustainable and increasing citizen participation, without which no environmental policy is truly sustainable.
Proper environmental information by the institutions in charge is therefore fundamental. First, through the ARPAB, for which the interviewed stakeholders hope an enhancement to ensure adequate monitoring of environmental matrices and an increasingly effective environmental control and inspection actions. This is also considering the current planning phase of new investment.
In this sense, much can also be achieved by the Research Centers present in the region. They can support local institutions in the sustainable development of the territory by implementing also a more effective technology transfer. The Lucanian production system, then, should be able to count on authorization procedures not so slowed down by bureaucratic delays and by mechanisms for rewarding environmental sustainability.
Remarkable concern was expressed in relation to extractive activities, perceived as considerably dangerous and harmful to human health. The creation of independent observatories for monitoring environmental matrices in territories characterized by significant environmental pressures, such as the Alta Val d’Agri, Tempa Rossa and Val Basento, was hoped for.
It transpires that the perception of environmental risk, from the consulted sources and the questionnaire administered to young people, is illustrated by the figure of 99% of the interviewees considering the relationship between the environment and health to be “very/fairly” important.
The main identified criticalities or knots to be solved are represented by the sustainable management of environmental resources and the need for territory planning and management tools.
In fact, an energy transition towards decarbonization is hoped for, with a consequent reduction in hydrocarbon extraction and an increase in the RES penetration level, although wind and ground-mounted photovoltaic fields have been already perceived as causing significant environmental damage to the Lucanian territory and community.
The Province of Potenza has retraced its commitment since the 2000s in structuring the relationship with the territory and the different stakeholders at all levels in an extremely decentralized Italian system. It started with the collection of data for the Civil Protection, with a cognitive action aimed at characterizing risks, information, and models of intervention, sharing and territorial governance. To this aim, in fact, it is essential to be able to count on a cognitive framework for the main natural risks and anthropogenic pressures that can be updated over time.
Considerable effort was made in the implementation of the Provincial Structural Plan, as a basis for government actions aimed at increasing resilience not only in terms of civil risks but also in terms of territorial development, i.e., sustainable development and reduction in the risk of disasters and actions on the climate. In line with the most important international agendas, a model for territorial resilience was created, which also made use of experiences on energy policies, and community and stakeholder engagement.
The coordination of territorial policies was carried out by the Province of Potenza with an integration and partnership approach aimed at improving internal and external governance. A significative expertise was made through the Covenant of Mayors and the connection with the territory to pursue the objectives of sustainable development. The digital agenda on the issue of resilience was implemented as well as the strategic development plan according to a medium- and long-term vision.
The Department of Energy and Environment of the Basilicata Region has structured its activities aimed at (1) environmental control, (2) planning and (3) sustainable development.
In detail, for (1), the strengthening of the ARPAB was envisaged in terms of human resources (80 units) and financial resources, with the creation of a master’s degree.
Alongside these initiatives, measures have been taken by the Regional Council for the Inspection Plan for companies subject to Integrated Environmental Authorization, such as the Air Monitoring Plan. Further measures are being drawn up as regards odor and non-metallic emissions. Regarding planning activities, a staff dedicated to the implementation of the Landscape Plan has been created and the Coastal Plan for the Ionian Sea is about to be processed, followed by that for the Tyrrhenian coast.
Furthermore, regarding (2), the management plans for water, waste and the Regional Environmental-Energy Plan (REEP), which expired in 2020, have to be updated. As regards (3), agreements with oil companies with 220 million euros environmental compensation every five years for initiatives for the sustainable development of the region should be included. Among these, a Center of Excellence for drones will also be built in Stigliano (to be completed in 2022), with an occupational impact of 50 jobs.
There is also the desire to structure a “single control room” for the enhancement of Lucanian resources, in particular, protected areas and parks, with the prospective to promoting their tourism. Finally, in order to enhance the percentage of renewable energy in electricity production, an increase in hydroelectric plant capacity and the implementation of biomass supply chains from public forestry are being studied. These strategies represent the basis of a new “community vision” towards environmental issues.
The Province of Matera provided a representation of the main planning activities carried out since the 2000s, with the implementation of the Provincial Civil Plan, this through the creation of an interactive computerized network common among the province and the municipalities of the province itself. To overcome the lack of dynamic planning tools, the Provincial Structural Plan (PSP) was created. The Province of Matera has also adhered to the Covenant of Mayors through a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission, carrying out the function of provincial coordinator of the 31 municipalities. For each of these, and by dividing the territory into five districts, action plans for sustainable energy have been developed, with the physical measurement of energy consumption. Work is underway on updating the PSP and the Civil Plan, as part of the strategy of the NRRP and aimed at the digitization of the entire provincial territory. To make the actions pursued by this plan as concrete as possible, it would be desirable to implement a regional cockpit with the two provinces.
In fact, a comprehensive knowledge and a more efficient territorial governance can be implemented through a coordinated management of the institutionally competent bodies. These must be able to work together. In summary, the PSP and digitization are necessary tools for obtaining serious, timely and in-depth knowledge of the territory.
ENEA recently, under the direct control of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, shared its commitment as a knowledge base, in particular on the exploitation of RES, reporting, by way of example, the publication of the Atlas of Biomasses with the territorial analysis of the local bioenergy potential.
The research activities carried out by the Enea Trisaia center in the context of environmental monitoring on man-made areas, also in support of the Public Administration, such as those conducted on the landfill of the municipality of Matera, were also illustrated.
For the latter, a public transport electrification project was carried out with fast charging systems from photovoltaic sources.
The assessment of environmental exposure to contaminants in the SNI of Val Basento was also presented. For this, the Hg concentrations coming from the washing beds of the materials of some industrial processes were measured. This industrial activity contaminated several environmental matrices, whose exposure to risk is still present, as evidenced by the high concentrations measured in the plants present. In this way, the fundamental role of research in producing knowledge, in supporting applications aimed at solving real problems, was emphasized.
To pursue this goal, effective collaboration between stakeholders is needed because it is necessary to promote a comprehensive vision of the future to address the complexity of the environmental problem.
Finally, proposals were made relating to the monitoring of contaminated sites and coastal erosion, as well as the management of water bodies.
The ASI, with its Geodesy Center in Matera, is deeply committed to the sustainable economic development of Italy and Basilicata. In fact, the know-how acquired on the use of satellite navigation systems enables the study of seismicity, landslides, the erosion of the coasts, as well as supporting the implementation of the cartography of the territory.
They are ultimately strategic in monitoring environmental risks and managing emergencies, highlighting the fundamental role of research centers in technology transfer to companies.
Legambiente Basilicata, with the regional coordination of the twelve local clubs, provided a representation of the five main areas of action at national level, namely the campaigns on the topics (e.g., Let’s Clean Up The World), environmental education, training, relations of scientific study and projects. At the national level, in view of the implementation of the NRRP, Legambiente has identified 23 priorities relating to the circular economy, the fight against climate change, renewable energy, and risk mitigation, in particular, the hydrogeological one.
The importance of creating a system, of communication and environmental information was emphasized also to increase the social acceptability of the plants.
Initiatives were hoped for that aimed at creating energy communities for democratic energy as well as the possibility of taking advantage of adequate energy–environmental planning tools and digitization, all of which could take place in an area that has already been largely secured. The main strategies for the environment are reported in the section Priority 6 of
Figure 10.
Priority 7: Industrial Policies and Environmental Sustainability
The Lucanian economy is characterized by overall levels of outsourcing in line with national average values [
28]. The share of contribution to the total added value constituted by the agricultural sector is clearly the highest in Italy (well over 5% against about 2% at the national level), while that of the industrial sector is more contained (with a differential of 4–5 percentage points compared to the national average) [
30].
The business system is mainly characterized by family-run and undercapitalized micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Production specializations are mainly based on traditional sectors and are therefore more exposed to competition with emerging markets.
They have a very low propensity for internationalization and, also due to their size, often have limited access to credit.
The economic fabric of Basilicata appears fragile and very tried by the pandemic. Despite this, the credit system still holds up, debt is still low, and the agricultural and industrial sectors seem to have withstood the shock.
To date, the region does not have a real industrial development plan, even though it hosts important international industries, including the automotive pole of Melfi, with the Stellantis plant and its related annex, and the mining and pre-treatment industry of hydrocarbons with the presence of Eni and Total.
There are nine industrial areas that have so far been managed by the industrial consortia of the two provinces, of which that of Potenza has been subject to reconversion through the establishment of new company API-Bas S.p.A. In this framework, industrial policies can play a pivotal role to correctly direct the future development of the sector in Basilicata towards sustainability.
The need for tangible and intangible infrastructural investments has emerged by the strategic diagnosis as well as for the implementation of industrial and labor market policies, on strategies and perspectives for the enhancement of skills, for the circular activation of schools, universities, and the world of research.
The manufacturing industry (automotive, agri-food, wood furniture, aerospace, energy, and construction), in fact, must be better supported by research, innovation and technology transfer activities. In general, the gap between public research and industrial production must be bridged and training aligned towards new green skills.
There is a need for a reorganization of the two industrial consortia with the creation of a single consortium and the various interviewed stakeholders called for the definition of a unified design of industrial policy at regional level. This should take note of the mistakes made in the past and in the light of the enormous economic flows arriving, promoting a self-propelling development capable of enhancing the green perspective and the Euro-Mediterranean strategy with the Mezzogiorno (South Italy) logistic and infrastructural center of this strategy.
Numerous sources and interviews referred to the opportunity represented by the Special Economic Zone—Ionian SEZ Puglia-Basilicata Legislative Decree no. 91/2017 [
59].
Thanks to the participation of the Department of Training, Development Policies, Work, Training and Research, it was possible to emphasize how the problem of industrial policies in Basilicata suffers from a cultural, infrastructural, and social gap.
The implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, the new programming cycle and the Recovery Fund aim to enhance the five priority “areas” of innovation in the Basilicata region: aerospace, automotive, bioeconomy, energy, cultural and creative industry.
To innovate the extremely fragmented Lucanian entrepreneurial system, clusters created with the grouping of local excellences and development contracts were implemented to attract investments in all industrial areas (bonuses were awarded for the recovery of disused production facilities).
Among these, noteworthy is that of the automotive one with Stellantis on the electric, while Basilicata is putting itself forward as a candidate to become the Italian hub of hydrogen for both production and storage (one of the seven experimental research centers).
Additionally, considering the provisions for the SEZs, for the implementation of which a simplification law (DL 77/2021) [
60] was required in view of a more Consolidated Law, work is being carried out on the Industrial Development Plans (rewarding consumption of resources and waste reductions) and investment plans (self-production reward from RES).
Finally, through the establishment of the new company API-BAS S.p.A., the regional government laid the foundations for the implementation of governance models for the sustainable management of industrial areas, including the Ecologically Equipped Productive Areas (EEPAs).
Lastly, the agreements with ENI and Total for the new environmental compensations that envisage no investments in no oil are worthy of note, including, by way of example, the center of excellence for drones.
In support of what was planned by the regional government, as its in-house company, the Sviluppo Basilicata activity is set up, which proposes the technical tools necessary to implement regional strategic policies. Most of the measures envisaged are non-repayable or with a very low financing rate compared to the market. Innovative financial engineering tools are also envisaged to provide for the contribution of part of the risk capital to finance the start-up or growth of a business.
Subsequently, the business will be abandoned, partially recovering the invested capital and offering the same loan to other companies.
It is about revolving loans which have the characteristic of using the initial capital several times on different activities, generating the leverage effect, or rather the benefit is transmitted to several companies.
Confindustria Basilicata reiterated the need for recognition of the centrality of the company and a greater business culture in solving the employment problem in Basilicata.
By giving voice to the requests of entrepreneurs and the difficulties encountered in finding suitable professional figures, the need for a co-projecting strategy between institutions and companies was emphasized, with the involvement of all stakeholders, as well as the recognition of the key role of training and of Superior Technical Institutes (STI) to minimize the mismatch between supply and demand. At the same time, the need to streamline the authorization procedures for greater competitiveness of businesses was advocated.
Finally, ARPAB, in underlining its institutional commitment to the control and inspection of activities, indicated the opportunity to create a dialogue profile between itself and companies and to strengthen the planning tools, specifically including the REEP and procedures for assessing the environmental impacts of renewable energy technologies. The strategies identified for industrial policies and environmental sustainability are reported in the section Priority 7 of
Figure 10.