Sveva Ianese (p), Annalisa Caloffi, Silvia Rita Sedita

Silvia Rita Sedita

This paper explores the role of innovative forms of public-private engagement in supporting urban sustainability transitions. In order to investigate the theoretical impact of these collaborative tools and their role in shaping a smart city ecosystem, we conduct a two-steps analysis.
In the first step, we develop a literature review of relevant articles and book chapters collected by Scopus, published between 2013 and 2023. The examination consists of a bibliometric analysis, and data are analyzed using the bibliometrix software.
In the second step, we analyze a set of current smart city projects - collected through European portals and crowdsourcing platforms - in order to understand the real impact of new forms of public-private engagement in driving the sustainable urban transition. Our analysis emphasizes the role played by these collaborative tools in supporting the sustainable development of places.
The results include the discovery of a theoretical framework, main pillars, and pertinent trends of participatory tools. Moreover, thanks to the detection of best practices for the development of innovative forms of public-private engagement within the urban context, the paper offers policymakers inspiration and tools on how to address urban sustainability transformations and promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consequently.

Daniel Favre De Noguera (p), Albert Solé-Ollé, Matteo Gamalerio

Sveva Ianese

The factors determining the allocation of renewable energy facilities and their effects are questions of growing interest. This paper delves into the critical imperative of transitioning to renewable energy amidst global climate change concerns. Despite global commitments, challenges arise, including substantial costs, behavioral shifts, institutional barriers, lobbying influence, and local resistance. Using data on all wind farms and solar farms installed in Spain and electoral results at the municipal level from 1991 to 2019, we conduct a diff- in-diff event-study to determine the effect of siting these facilities on different electoral outcomes. Our findings reveal that siting a wind farm results in an electoral loss of 2.2 percentage points for the party incumbent at the regional level, while the local incumbent faces no significant punishment. However, when we perform heterogeneity estimation based on political alignment, the electoral loss increases to 4.8% for the party holding office at the regional level on those municipalities in which both layers of government are aligned, while the local incumbent in aligned municipalities experience a 2.2% loss of their vote-share.

Karolina Crespi Gomes, Silvia Rita Sedita (p)

Daniel Favre De Noguera

This study investigates the proliferation of zero-waste initiatives in Italy and Japan, tracing their evolution from local projects to national strategies. While some studies question the sustainability of incineration proposed by the circular economy, the Zero Waste Hierarchy of Highest and Best Use 8.0 promotes a lifestyle avoiding waste incineration (ZWIA, 2022). Employing the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) approach, the study highlights the importance of technological niches as protected spaces for sustainable innovations. These niches, comprising local projects and global networks, facilitate the transfer and localization of knowledge, crucial for successful niche development. The research, involving field observations in Kamikatsu and Capannori, examines the implementation of zero-waste strategies in these municipalities. Kamikatsu, a leading zero-waste city in Japan, achieved an 81% recycling rate in 2020, while Capannori, Italy, was the first European municipality to adopt a zero-waste strategy in 2007. Both cases demonstrate substantial policy transformations in waste management. The study's methodology, centered on secondary data analysis and field observations, focuses on the challenges faced by nations with limited land area. Strategic Niche Management (SNM) plays a critical role in the development of zero-waste cities by emphasizing three key processes: learning, network building, and establishing shared visions and expectations. The learning process in zero-waste cities involves gaining insights from pilot projects, community initiatives, and local policies, focusing on understanding effective strategies and adapting them to local contexts for the improvement of waste management practices. Building networks is also crucial, where actors like local governments, businesses, community groups, and residents share knowledge, resources, and support, essential for the development and expansion of zero-waste initiatives. SNM underscores the significance of a shared vision and expectations, where a collective goal of waste reduction and sustainable management unites various stakeholders, fostering collaborative efforts towards achieving these objectives. The establishment of Zero Waste Italy was a precursor of Zero Waste Europe network that currently impacts on directives regarding waste management in all Europe. In Italy the learning and consequently the knowledge flows from the zero-waste niched institutions as ZWI and Italian Zero Waste to the community, municipality, and region. The network develop is internationalized and all stakeholders share the same visions and expectations. In Japan, the learning process gave force to initiatives of the Zero Waste Academy in Kamikatsu that have directed the Zero Waste Japan, a broader network.