10.6092/issn.3034-8544/18767
Energy transition, climate adaptation (including green infrastructure), sustainable land use and nature-based solutions, urban mobility, culture and heritage and safety in public spaces, air quality, urban poverty, housing, circular economy, digital transition, inclusion of migrants and refugees, jobs and skills in the local economy, innovative and responsible public procurement are priority themes of the European Urban Agenda. The Urban Agenda can be seen as a virtuous example of multi-level governance, allowing cities to tackle today's challenges directly on the ground and to propose joint actions for better regulation, financing and knowledge exchange. Success in achieving the Urban Agenda is highly dependent on the action and collaboration of all actors in the territorial, institutional and socio-economic system.

application/pdf
3034-8544
18767
1
en
Patrizia Lombardi
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Urbana
Sustainable Development
Urban Sustainability Agendas for Universities
Text.Serial.Journal
https://urbana.unibo.it/
1
Thematic Section
2024-01-25
2023-12-18
2024-01-25
2024-03-21
137-138
Urb
Patrizia Lombardi
2024/01/25
10.6092/issn.3034-8544/18767
137
Polytechnic University of Torino
3034-8544
1
Sustainable Development
en
138
Urban Sustainability Agendas for Universities
https://urbana.unibo.it/article/download/18767/17494
1
                                                     URBANA Vol. 1, N. 1, 2024               137




Urban Sustainability Agendas for
Universities
CHAIR SESSION 3


Patrizia Lombardi

Polytechnic University of Torino

patrizia.lombardi@polito.it


Energy transition, climate adaptation (including green infrastructure),
sustainable land use and nature-based solutions, urban mobility, culture
and heritage and safety in public spaces, air quality, urban poverty,
housing, circular economy, digital transition, inclusion of migrants and
refugees, jobs and skills in the local economy, innovative and responsible
public procurement are priority themes of the European Urban Agenda.
The Urban Agenda can be seen as a virtuous example of multi-level
governance, allowing cities to tackle today's challenges directly on the
ground and to propose joint actions for better regulation, financing and
knowledge exchange. Success in achieving the Urban Agenda is highly
dependent on the action and collaboration of all actors in the territorial,
institutional and socio-economic system.
Universities are in a privileged position and have a fundamental
responsibility in the green and social transition, not only as institutions
dedicated to providing an education that spans all disciplines, reaching
hundreds of millions of students/staff, but also as “platform” actors able
to act as drivers for the development of new systemic and transformative
solutions, through the collaboration of various stakeholders. It is
recognized that universities represent for the communities and the
territorial context in which they are located a resource and a driver for
change, in the direction of a sustainable development.
Even before the strong push for the ecological transition that the
European Green Deal and the following National Resilience and Recovery
Plan (PNRR) envisage for cities and territories, Italian universities came
together in the Network of Universities for Sustainability (RUS) and since
2019 have contributed to the drafting of Urban Sustainability Agendas in
numerous Italian cities, in the belief that good practices and lifestyles can
radiate into urban contexts starting from campuses and university
campuses (for mobility, waste, energy saving, urban green areas, and so
forth).
The three studies presented in the followings, considering a
multidisciplinary perspective, highlight the evidence that universities are
key players in the ecological and social transition of local communities,
contributing to the innovation of urban policies and sustainable
development of their territorial context.


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                                               URBANA Vol. 1, N. 1, 2024   138



In particular, the experience coming from the City Environment
Networks Territory (CARTA) laboratory of the University of Bologna
provides an observatory for the sub-region of Forlì-Cesena, a territorial
context that presents varied dynamics, from those affecting the more
peripheral portions of the territory, the inland areas of the Romagna
Apennines, to the expansion and contraction forms of the Adriatic
conurbation of Romagna and the city-region of the Via Emilia, which
open up numerous research directions. This study demonstrates that
university researchers, in interaction with public administrators and the
local community, including student organizations, represent an
indispensable element in the implementation of the ecological transition.
The second paper also emphasize the promoting and driving role that can
be played by universities in building sustainability in territorial systems,
by proposing sustainable local development projects. More specifically,
the study is related to the construction and implementation of a walk,
called Cammino del Duca, proposed by the University of Urbino in
collaboration with the CAI-Montefeltro and CAI-Gubbio Sections. The
process of realizing this walk highlights innovative aspects and
unresolved critical issues, with the aim of stimulating a reflection on the
opportunities and constraints affecting universities' sustainability
policies in their interaction with the local communities, for the creation
and sharing of a culture that is attentive to respect for local specificities,
the promotion of health and wellbeing, and care for the environment.
Finally, the third study focuses on Renewable Energy Community (REC)
and specifically on the identification of all the legal, regulatory and socio-
economic requirements for the development of a meta-design approach,
aimed at experimenting a virtuous process of accompanying local
communities to the establishment of RECs, as a tool for urban and
environmental regeneration.
The above mentioned studies are just few and limited examples of the
large number of case studies available to demonstrate the important role
of universities in this crucial and difficult transition period.
