Gabriella Pultrone (p)

Francesca Assennato

The local implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, the implementation of the New Green Deal and the Recovery and Resilience Plans of the different EU countries, make the ecological and digital transition indispensable to govern the new challenges of change, especially taking into account an international scenario characterised by the worsening climate and energy crisis. On the occasion of the Digital Day 2021 co-organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, draft declarations discussed key areas in which digital technology could have a significant positive impact for Member States: 'A Green and Digital Transformation of the EU', a declaration that aims to increase Europe's role in global leadership of the green and digital transition, and 'European Green Digital Coalition', an industry-led initiative that will help accelerate the ICT sector's transition to a sustainable, climate-neutral and circular, zero-pollution economy and the creation of an innovative, sustainable, inclusive and resilient society and economy. Within this framework, the contribution focuses on Digital Twins. These are not simple 3D replicas of a territory, but models that aggregate data from multiple sources (regulatory, geospatial, environmental and utilisation data together with real-time data provided by sensors) to create a representation of a city or territory and generate useful information to guide action, possessing enormous potential yet to be explored for multiple applications, such as sustainable development strategies, urban and spatial planning, simulation and crisis management, and thus being able to increase the resilience of cities and territories. The reference to some significant case studies aims at highlighting how, through an integrated planning approach, the opportunities of digital and ecological transitions can be declined, highlighting the possible desirable interrelationships.

Laura Cavalli (p), Luca Farnia, Sandro Sanna, Marco Onnis

Gabriella Pultrone

Sustainability is a challenge for local development. Regions are putting in place efforts and investments to reach it within the deadline required by the Agenda 2030. Despite the variety of strategies and models, combining them in an efficient way is the actual challenge, having a proper assessment model able to connect global needs with local ones.
Starting from the strategic Environmental evaluation (VAS) process of the Sardinia Region, and the input-output interdependencies among the different economic sectors of the region, the present work proposes an approach to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of the regional operational programs, co-financed by the EU under the Cohesion Policy, on the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030 in terms of the 169 UN international targets.

Stefano Aragona (p)

Laura Cavalli

The historical moment that we are going through linked above all to the energy crisis requires us to recall and highlight the reasons that underlie the 2030 UN Agenda, the subsequent New Green Deal, the Recovery and Resilience Plans of the various European nations.
The contribution refers to the great opportunities, examples of good practices, projects that are characterized by the increase in the resilience of places, on multiple scales, the use of renewable energies, the diffusion of technologies that make telematics possible with their " cultured use” aimed at creating a more equitable territorial structure, integrated to create sustainable communities, socially and environmentally: Bio-architecture, Energy Communities, Green Communities, solidarity networks and intangible networks.
The paper is in continuity with the line of Research "Integrated planning and design of ecological territories and cities" started for over a decade and also carried out in the Annual Scientific Conferences of AISRe and in the Congresses of the European Regional Science Association.

Bibliographical references
- Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza. #NEXTGENERATIONITALIA (2021)
- UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), https://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html
- UN The Sustainable Development Agenda. 17 Goals to Transform Our World (2015) in https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
- UNCEM (2021) PNRR e territori. Montagne, ambiente, Aree iinterne, Piccoli Comuni e Enti Territoriali nel Piano di Ripresa e Resilienza Webinar, 10 May, h. 15,00

Francesca Assennato (p), Anna Luise, Daniela Smiraglia, Serena D'Ambrogi, N. Riitano, C. Tarantino

Sabina Asins

Land and soil issues are gaining momentum from global to local level, receiving increasing attention in decision and policy making processes. Soil is more and more recognized as a key natural resource, which state and which capacity to produce crucial ecosystem services to be protected and improved. At European level, the Soil Strategy is bringing to the negotiation of an Healthy Soil Directive, envisaged by 2023, where a wide range of soil-related issues are taken into account. This will transform the land planning, bringing the need, and the opportunity, to consider soils conditions, properties, threats and potential services and driving to protect, sustainable use and restore its precious resources. Nature-based Solutions are a strong opportunity to revert the decline of soil health. The adoption of an integrated approach has relevant connections with several policies looking at short- and long-term beneficial effects of (and on) climate changes, energy transition, food security and sustainable agriculture as well as social and economic positive impacts.
In this context, the Newlife4drylands project proposes and apply a framework for monitoring and evaluation of land degradation that consider the effective results of Nature-based Solution to combat desertification risk evaluated by earth observation methods and tools. Six Mediterranean Natura 2000 study sites located in Italy, Greece and Spain were considered as case studies, and pressures and threats on soils and land degradation status were analyzed through indicators and/or their proxies, derived from satellite data. The framework may be used as sound basis for land planning, starting from natural protected areas, supporting a more integrated considerations of soil resource impacts in planning activities at all levels, fostering actions to prevent and combat land degradation and desertification, considered final degradation point.