Search Results (12)

Balancing economy, social justice, and environmental protection while achieving decarbonisation and adapting to climate change poses a significant challenge for nations, regions, and cities. The Sustainable Development Goals and the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans are widely used plans designed to oversee mitigation and adaptation actions. However, despite the common topics addressed by both, the absence of a common framework and the multiplicity of indicators proposed imply an extra effort in their implementation and evaluation, as well as the difficulty of evaluating peer benchmarking. Hence, this review focuses on identifying frequently proposed indicators, highlighting potential links among metrics and establishing a list of potential indicators. The bibliographic analysis conducted allowed the identification of more than 80 sources and 410 different metrics. The study reveals the diversity of approaches chosen to define a set of indicators and underscores the need for a harmonised framework to effectively compare and monitor European regions and cities. Moreover, thanks to this study, a list of potential indicators and the methodology for populating them was established, allowing better coherence among the initiatives and a starting point for small regional and local administrations that often struggle with the availability of data and resources. Full article

Inland areas have been affected by demographic and economic decline over the past decades. New economic models, which are more focused on a humane quality of life, encourage a revival of these territories as newer, healthier places for living. This paper focuses on minor centers, rethought as energy communities and how these can sustain themselves and become new places of living. The first part of the research critically analyzes current strategies of SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans) in smaller historic urban centers. The second part of the paper starts with the typological, morphological, and technological interscalar analysis of two case studies, testing a repeatable expeditious knowledge collection and an intervention method on them. For urban environments, the hypothesized interventions include the management of energy production from renewable sources that are compatible with the presence and value of urban and built heritage; concerning rural territories, an agro-energy park is proposed. The document aims to provide a repeatable method for planning strategic actions within SECAPs in smaller urban centers with a high historical connotation. The case studies show that energy self-sufficiency can be an opportunity to valorize the urban center while favoring environmental sustainability and local development. Full article

Contemporary cities are facing many challenges, from social and economic issues to the new risks related to the impacts of climate change. Focusing on energy consumptions, and the related GHG emissions, cities are considered not only the main global contributors but also the areas most exposed to risks, because of their density of population and economic activities. Implementing urban planning strategies with the purpose of increasing energy efficiency and resilience overall, is, for all these reasons, considered a top priority. This paper investigates the innovative content related to the energy-efficient and energy-resilient urban planning solutions that have started to be implemented in the cities of the Emilia-Romagna region. Two kinds of planning instruments are therefore analysed: the voluntary Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) and the mandatory General Urban Plans (GUPs), recently approved in several cities of Emilia-Romagna. A comparative analysis of three cities in the Emilia-Romagna region, Bologna, Modena, and Ravenna is proposed, looking at the strategies of their new local city plans and SECAPs with a focus on energy management and planning. The aim is to assess whether the new structure of local city plans and the influence of SECAPs could be useful in implementing such urban-energy resiliency solutions. Full article

Since its introduction in 2008, the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) has helped municipalities meet EU Climate and Energy goals and thresholds through Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Planning (SECAP). The engagement of local communities holds particular significance for smaller municipalities, which can leverage collective strategies to mutually contribute to climate change mitigation efforts, thereby optimizing results. In the realm of communities, Renewable Energy Communities (REC) have emerged as a potential tool for SECAP implementation, but although they target common objectives and constitute subsequent steps of the same planning flow, their interaction is poor. This study aimed to investigate similar tools’ integration by focusing on administrative and technical boundaries whose overlaps often hinder their interoperability. To this aim, the Italian framework was chosen due to the representation of its signatories in the CoM. Municipalities that have undertaken actions related to RECs within their Joint SECAPs have been compared through an analysis of the CoM datasets. Finally, two Italian case studies were selected to evaluate the impact of different territorial and institutional configurations on these initiatives, aiming to face climate change and achieve a green transition. This helped the authors propose practical recommendations and policy implications concerning this kind of community-centred energy planning solution as outlined in the concluding section. Full article

The “Joint Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans” (Joint SECAPs) introduced by the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) are voluntary tools that favour a joint approach to energy planning and climate change mitigation/adaptation among municipalities in the same territorial area. The goal is to obtain joint results that are more effective and advantageous than those that can be achieved by the individual municipalities with respect to local climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. This article assesses their effectiveness in Italy. Six different experiences conducted mostly in small and medium municipal networks are compared, verifying the advantages and critical points in the different phases of building and implementing adaptation measures. A list of recommendations/objectives emerges from these experiences to guide the joint construction of adaptation measures, which may be implemented through multi-level participatory governance that encourages experimentation and innovation on the local level and develops synergy with large-scale policies and plans. Full article

Adapting to climate change and mitigating its impacts are the main challenges for cities today. One objective that the European Commission has set in recent decades is reducing climate change inaction, and several political actions have been implemented. Among these actions, the Covenant of Mayors led to the development and adoption of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) by many cities worldwide. A challenge that local authorities must face during the development of a SECAP is the identification of the policies to be included in the plan. This paper presents a case study to show the validity of using a hybrid analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach and various geographic information system (GIS)-based methods to support local authorities in the decision-making process during the development of SECAPs. These methods can improve participation among the community and stakeholders, at the same time making it possible to choose the best actions to reduce emissions and energy consumption and optimally allocate financial resources. Full article

Climate change mitigation strategies include sub-national initiatives proposed and operated by municipalities. An example of such initiatives is the Covenant of Mayors, the signatories of which are requested to compile territorial greenhouse gas emission inventories to identify entry points for mitigating policies and to be able to monitor their effectiveness over time. However, the current accounting approach presents some limitations, providing an incomplete picture of the territorial emissive status, thus hampering the mitigation potential of the set of measures. The present study shows that the current approach required by the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) guidelines for compiling the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) can be complemented with the accounting guidelines proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in order to fill existing gaps and provide a comprehensive picture from a different point of view. The proposed refinement demonstrates that local administrative bodies can count on a tool able to provide detailed and accurate information, stimulate knowledge and awareness, and optimize local mitigation efforts sometimes limited by the application of large scale (national) top-down initiatives. Full article

Climate change is affecting more and more local communities, which are now facing different hazards; in answer to this threat, specific actions at the local level should be taken. The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) is an initiative that tries to involve municipalities and communities in developing SECAPs, i.e., plans for sustainable energy and climate with the aim to develop adaptation and mitigation measures. In order to identify and evaluate hazards, the CoM developed a template relative to the current risk level and expected changes in the future. This paper develops a methodology to fill the template using a data driven approach instead of a heuristic one. The methodology was applied to the city of Trieste in northeast Italy and uses local weather station data and projections obtained from GCM-RCM models. Data were manipulated using different approaches for current risk levels and the Mann–Kendall test is proposed as a method to identify the future evolution of hazard intensity and frequency. The results showed that the developed approach could help municipalities in developing their SECAPs and in identifying the present and future evolution of hazards. Full article

With regard to the scientific debate which highlights the potential of joint climate planning, there are few concrete experiences in Europe where this approach has been applied. This contribution focuses on critical methodological and application aspects of the processes underlying the development of Joint Plans for Sustainable Energy and Climate in the supra-municipal area as emerged from the direct participation of the authors in the Joint_SECAP project funded by the Interreg Italia-Croatia programme. This paper presents a comparative analysis of nine case studies in Italy and Croatia with a focus on fundamental aspects of the planning process: the governance model, shared knowledge framework, risk and vulnerability assessment, and participatory process. The analysis and comparison of the Joint_SECAP experiences confirm that joint climate planning, developed in the framework of the European Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative, is effective for creating synergy between local authorities and for defining and implementing strategies and actions for adaptation to the territorial scale. Finally, the research indicates some recommendations to overcome the barriers that impede the spread and effectiveness of this approach to climate planning. In particular, it highlights the need to enhance collaboration between local authorities, regions, and CoM coordinators. Full article

Territorial energetic and environmental planning provides operational solidity to the concept of sustainable development, in particular in energy-related issues, where recent attention to and social awareness of climate change are driving actions and policies at local and international levels. The goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 can be reached through the strategy of glocalization, giving more responsibility to local administrations like municipalities. In this work, a scientific methodology is developed and validated to revise Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP) and the monitoring phase of municipalities. The methodology starts from measured data in the territory considered and makes use of specific statistical models in order to estimate the needed data. The methodology considers the energy consumption of the main sectors: residential, transportation, tertiary, and commercial, with a particular focus on municipal competences (public lighting, urban transport, municipal fleet, etc.). Renewable energy is also considered due to its importance in local energy production. In order to go deeper into SEAPs, in this paper, the authors describe the quantitative analysis of the Baseline Emission Inventory, the quantification of the SEAP planning actions, and the definition of the Monitoring Emission Inventory, which is the final step of the planning process. This step was done for nine municipalities of the Abruzzo region with different characteristics (size, population, climate, geographical position, economy, etc.) in order to widen the results of the analysis and test the robustness of the methodology. Indeed, it gave a quantitative dimension to the primary energy consumption and CO₂ emissions for 2018, compared with the 2005 baseline values, and the final results are related to the reduction commitments planned for 2020. All the municipalities were considered to have achieved this goal, surpassing the 20% emissions reduction. This validated methodology is also the basis for the development of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs), which integrate adaptation actions and mitigation ones. Full article

Climate change is a global phenomenon that poses local risks to sectors across society and the economy. All these growing risks have led the Municipality of San Donà di Piave—located within the Metropolitan City of Venice (CMVe)—to strengthen, over the years, its commitment to the adaptation to climate change in its plans and policies. Nature-based solutions can offer a perfect example of sustainable solutions to cope with climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges. In this context, thanks to the support of the LIFE Master Adapt project, San Donà di Piave, applying its methodologies and creating new territorial information, was able to insert, within its Action Plan for Sustainable Energy and Climate (SECAP), important and structural Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) for the entire municipal area. This experience demonstrates how this process of mainstreaming adaptation actions and NBSs is possible at all levels of government of the territory. It also highlights the virtuosity of replicability in other contexts of the CMVe and the transition from theoretical concepts to concrete actions (NBSs) for adaptation into existing plans. This process happened with a climate-proof modification of the existing planning attitude, whether mandatory or voluntary. Full article

The city of Turku is located in southwest Finland, in Northern Europe. Founded in 1229, it is the country’s oldest city. It is situated around the Aura River, which flows into the Baltic Sea, making it an ideal location for its 184,000 inhabitants and 20,000 enterprises. In June 2018, the city unveiled an ambitious climate plan to be carbon neutral by 2029. This plan was prepared according to the common model of the European Union (EU) (SECAP, Sustainable energy and climate action plan) with key milestones for years 2021, 2025, and 2029. It focuses on both adaptation and mitigation strategies with six measures outlined as necessary to meet the targets, two of which directly target citizen outreach and engagement. These two measures focus on mobilizing communities as partners in the climate plan and on raising awareness of climate change. Given its significance to the plan, this paper examines stakeholder engagement in the City of Turku’s climate policies from a governance perspective. It asks the question, how does stakeholder participation materialize in the City of Turku’s carbon neutral planning process? It aims to give a snapshot of baseline stakeholder participation in the city’s carbon neutral aspirations. It has found that whilst the plan contains ambitions for stakeholder participation, it is not fully implemented. It recommends a citizen facilitated public participation steering group that aims to inspire citizens towards taking action and engaging in the decision-making process for a carbon neutral 2029. Full article