On the 23rd of February the first round of meetings finished between the partners of LIFE Veneto ADAPT (Union of Municipalities of Medio Brenta, Municipalities of Padua, Treviso and Vicenza and the Metropolitan City of Venice) and the cities that have taken part in the “call for twinning”: the twinning invitation, promoted by the project with the aim of creating a network between places and institutions that work on adapting to the effects of climate change in order to share initiatives and experiences, in synergy with the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy initiative (https://www.covenantofmayors.eu/en/).
A total of 21 cities and municipality unions from Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and naturally, Italy, have, in the months of January and February, gotten to know each other. 55 representatives of the twinning institutions participated: these were important occasions for exchanging information, methods and solutions for the planning and implementation to adapt to climate change in urban areas. The virtual meetings were organised and coordinated by the partners of the project of the Comune di Vicenza and the Coordination of Italian Local Agendas 21.
Brescia, Ragusa, Avola (Siracuse), Castiglione di Sicilia (Catania), UCSA-Municipality Office for Environmental Sustainability of the Municipalities of Palma Campania, San Gennaro Vesuviano, San Giuseppe Vesuviano and Striano, Montecchio Maggiore (Vicenza), Borgofranco d’Ivrea (Turin), Pescara, are the cities from the North and South of Italy that have met in these past months that, despite their different climates, geomorphologies and territories, have, with the cities of Veneto, outlined the risks to be faced; for example the hydrogeological risk of urban flooding tied to extreme weather events and cloudbursts.
The mutual exchange of ways to manage emergencies, alarm systems and civil protection, adaptation planning and georeferencing systems proved to be very useful, but also relating to solutions to adopt through projects and redevelopment plans and the security of localities.
With the European cities (Smiltene, Ceutí, Lisbon, Saldus, Lorca, Murcia, Vejle, Niepołomice) the focus was primarily on the plans undertaken for the shift from SEAP to SECAP and the integration of mitigation and adaptation measures; discovering how despite different localities and procedures, the risks to be faced are very similar as are the possible solutions to put in place.
In the coming months the participating cities have agreed to coordinate to consolidate in more detail the most important topics and projects outlined during the first meeting, to present to the twinned cities. Between May and June the second round of meetings will commence, this time open to the entire partnership of Veneto ADAPT and to any institutions interested in the exchange (for example all the cities twinned with the twinning programme, cities partnered with other projects, professionals and companies interested in the topics discussed, etc…) who have formally taken part in the Veneto ADAPT project.
To find out more on getting involved with LIFE Veneto ADAPT and the tools the project can put at local institutions’ disposal, follow this link: https://www.venetoadapt.it/progetto/progetto/.