Environment: Two ENEA projects selected in the Circular European Cities Report

Providing a common and shared vision of the 'circular city' to accelerate the ecological and energy transition are the objectives of the two ENEA projects ES-PA and RECiProCO contained in the report of the Circular Cities Declaration (CCD), the protocol launched by the global network ICLEI Europe, "Local administrations for sustainability", which includes so far over 70 cities in 22 European countries.

The ES-PA project "Energy and Sustainability for the Public Administration" aims to strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of the PA in public energy-environmental investment programs. Funded by the Territorial Cohesion Agency, it offers regional and territorial administrations products, services, software and technical guidelines on 47 lines of activity and thematic areas, of which 16 dedicated to energy efficiency issues.

The RECiProCo project aims to implement circular economy tools and initiatives for the benefit of consumers, through a package of actions ranging from mapping of good practices on circular economy issues, energy efficiency and the fight against energy poverty, to developing ways of identifying products and services with reduced environmental impact. Stemmed from an agreement between ENEA and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, in two years it has involved citizens of Bologna, Taranto and Anguillara Sabazia (Rome) in co-planning activities to promote sustainable and circular consumption.

"The many activities based on a systemic approach to strengthen local governments on sustainability issues allowed our projects to be mentioned in the report of the Circular Cities Declaration", said Carolina Innella, researcher at the ENEA Trisaia Research Center (Matera). "In addition to the ES-PA and RECiProCo projects, the 2022 CCD report mentions the initiatives of the Italian Platform for the Circular Economy ICESP conducted as part of the activities to support the circular transition of cities and territories", she concluded.

The 2022 Circular Cities Declaration report was prepared by ICLEI and the Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, based on the contributions provided by 40 European cities with reference to the circular economy strategies and actions implemented and underway in the cities that joined and signed the CCD. Each action is accompanied by a brief description of the scope, objective and actors involved, as well as links to supporting documentation (web links, publications, documents, etc.). Information on future actiions, ongoing challenges and commitments of the Declaration on the transition to the circular economy are provided for each city.