On Thursday 10th March the Council of Ministers approved the bill containing “Provisions for the development and enhancement of mountain areas” – the result of consultation work with the contribution of experts from the University of Milan and its UNIMONT Centre – which aims to ensure accessibility to all essential services even in mountain areas, promoting the development of young and innovative agricultural and forestry businesses.
Mountain areas represent an important resource for a country like Italy, which includes the entire southern side of the Alps and the Apennines. For this reason, a specific law for the development and enhancement of mountain areas, which has seen, among others, the contribution of the Italian academic world – starting from the UNIMONT Centre of the University of Milan – and mountain stakeholders, part of the Scientific Technical Table (TTS), is an important result to increase the country’s competitiveness.
The approval of the bill by the Council of Ministers confirms the government’s attention for mountain areas, seen as unique territories to be enhanced through methods, tools and professionalism appropriate to the specificities of such places. Attention that was consolidated in June 2021 through the establishment of the National Scientific Technical Table for the Mountains (TTS) by the Hon. Mariastella Gelmini, Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies with responsibility for the enhancement of mountain areas. The TTS has carried out a series of strategic meetings, coordinated by Dr. Luca Masneri – Mayor of the Municipality of Edolo, with the aim of supporting the definition of strategic intervention to promote the sustainable development of mountain communities. The consultation process saw the contribution of the main bodies active in issues relating to the development of Italian mountain areas – experts, researchers, trade associations, the Conference of the Regions, ANCI, UPI and UNCEM – including the University of Milan with its UNIMONT Centre which, for over twenty years, has been committed to promoting the enhancement and competitiveness of these territories through specific training, research and third mission activities at a national and international level, promoting the establishment of “links” between the mountains and large urban centers.
The bill, which provides for three intervention directives (essential services, health and education) to be implemented as part of the National Strategy for the Italian Mountains (SNAMI), aims to ensure accessibility to all essential services also in mountain areas, promoting the development of young and innovative agricultural and forestry businesses. These initiatives will be implemented thanks to the establishment of the Fund for the development of Italian mountain areas (FOSMIT) with an allocation of 100 million euros for 2022 and 200 million from 2023.