Green economy: opportunity for mountain areas

Abstract

It is now widely agreed that the current “crisis” of the body area is not only economic but also environmental. This issue combined with that of the green economy could provide an opportunity to intervene in the non-municipal territorial systems, once vital to the local economy, and now left to themselves in favor of the urban areas, places more cost effective. Starting from the directions of the Programme for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) could be defined development policies in order to improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of rural territorial systems through the exploitation of local resources present on these territories, with the aim to promote the sustainable development of the various activities in order to create an integrated network. The research shows the different dynamics of the creation of a network of Eco-Villages, with the aim of the new functions existing urban housing stock and improving, thus, the quality of life of mountain villages. This model can effectively represent one of the possible solutions to the depopulation in preserving and protecting the natural environment through the promotion of the green economy, based on the use of sustainable production systems, in compliance with environmental requirements, in the activation of renewable energy systems and tourist attraction in the historical and cultural heritage of the mountain. In fact, these resources if managed in the right way, through careful planning, could be the driving force for a model of sustainable development and at the same time could initiate a redevelopment and enhancement of the rural villages, which often host an architectural heritage of great value, improving so the quality of life of the citizens who live there. So it is necessary, for rural contexts, introduce instruments, innovative ways and means of intervention capable of revitalizing the mountain areas. This paper represents an advance study on the issues that have affected the construction of a network of ecovillages investigating issues related to the local economy, landscape and, more generally, environmental sustainability.