THE Municipalities of Sicily they wonder how overcome the demographic crisis and, consequently, also economical. Sicily is among the Southern regions that suffer most from depopulationwhere the percentage of areas classified as internal, municipalities not necessarily far from the sea, exceeds 70%. Here the absence of services is accentuating the process of impoverishment, given the migration of young people and the progressive increase in the average age. Despite this, over the years no adequate regional and national policies have been put in place to stem the bleeding. These are the main topics addressed this morning during the conference, which is still ongoing, “Sicilian municipalities beyond the demographic and economic crisis”, organized in San Marco d’Alunzio (ME) by the association of ANCI Sicilia Municipalities.
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Amenta (Anci Sicilia): “We need a Sicilian table”
Paolo Amentapresident of the Association of Sicilian Municipalities, during his introduction reiterated the “need to set up a technical table to analyze the Sicilian imbalance compared to the rest of Italy”. He also hoped that “the demographic crisis, the birth rate decline and the emigration system will still be discussed in other initiatives organized throughout Sicily with the aim of finding solutions and making proposals”. If on the one hand Filippo Miracula, mayor of San Marco d’Alunzio, underlined “the importance of being there, of being part of a small but important reality”, on the other Maurizio Zingalesmayor of Mirto and president of Coordination of small municipalities, specified that “depopulation certainly affects the whole of Sicily but it is certainly the small municipalities that suffer the most. Young people are leaving, schools are closing, essential services are missing. We must, therefore, have the courage and foresight to photograph the critical issues while also observing the solutions adopted in the rest of Italy”.
The mayor of Messina Basile: “30 thousand people lost”
The mayor of Messina, Federico Basileduring his speech he highlighted that “approximately 30% of Sicilian municipalities are located in the province of Messina (108 in total). Territories that in the last 15 years they have lost around 30 thousand people. It is certainly necessary to create a network system for the villages and ensure that the policy for small municipalities enhances concrete planning capable of relaunching all sectors of the economy. You need to network with a strategic vision, if you don’t invest in a programming system unfortunately you won’t get anywhere.” “There is no organic and concrete proposal – he specified Giuseppe Simone, national vice president of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy – which gives the villages the right to survival and the communities that live there the right to safeguard the eco-environmental and economic balance”. “It is necessary – he added Andrea Messina, regional councilor for local authorities – a strategy for the conservation and valorization of identities and resources. I hope that young administrators will be able to contain the effects of globalization with the aim of preserving our indigenous resources to hand them over to the new generations. Our goal is to work together with the mayors to envision a better future.”
Bianchi (Svimez): “Small municipalities are affected by politics”
During his speech Luca Bianchi, general manager of Svimezspecified: “Small towns are affected by defects and failed choices of national policies. If the country reduces resources for education and healthcare, the weakest territories will inevitably suffer the most. From 2011 to 2023, the internal areas of Southern Italy lost 7% of their population. We must, therefore, understand what is happening in the country by paying attention to the impact that differentiated autonomy will have, a model that will inevitably tend to increase the gap between the regions with the disastrous consequence that those who have already scarce resources will lose them further”.
Alvano (Anci Sicilia): “Depopulation concerns everyone”
“Unfortunately – concluded the general secretary of ANCI Sicily, Mario Emanuele Alvano– I Depopulation does not only concern inland or mountain areas. It is not a limited issue. In all provinces the data specifies that, except in Ragusa and Catania, in the last 5 years the population of the island has suffered a worrying decrease. I believe that the problem has only entered the political agenda at a superficial level without a real desire to resolve it. What Sicily will be like in the coming years is a topic that must be addressed every day. Based on the census closed on 31 December 2022, the Sicilian population amounts to 4,814,016 residents. A figure down by 0.4% compared to the previous year. Added to this is the financial crisis which has been affecting the municipalities for years and which ANCI Sicily continues to denounce: at present we have 70 municipalities in difficulty, 43 municipalities in a rebalancing plan. In a phase in which the world is looking for air quality, good food and a more natural dimension for daily life, our enormous heritage risks not being adequately valorised”.
Amenta (Anci Sicilia): “We need a strategic vision”
“Taking inspiration from the proposals put forward this morning – he said Paolo Amentapresident of ANCI Sicily, a conclusion of the works of the conference “The Sicilian municipalities beyond the demographic and economic crisis” – the need emerges to create concrete collaboration between the municipalities to plan a territorial policy which, through an adequate legal architecture, is able to develop important projects of a cultural nature also with the help of digitalisation, remote working, ecological transition and sustainable mobility. All this will serve to improve the social inclusion and integration processes of immigrants to try to stem the depopulation of the territories”. “It is also absolutely necessary – added Amenta – that there is greater awareness on the part of the institutions involved also with respect to the choices that are being made regarding healthcare throughout the regional territory. The reorganization of the hospital network, in fact, must also take into account the choices regarding homes, Territorial Operations Centers and community hospitals with an approach that sees real integration between the social and healthcare sectors”. “You need to have a strategic and 360 degree vision of the real needs of our Island and, beyond the administrative borders, we need to build the conditions to return to living even in small towns, to transform them into places to live in which to do everything”.
The others who spoke at the conference
At the conference on 18 May, speakers included, among others, Luciano Caveri, councilor for European affairs, innovation, PNRR and national policies for the mountains of the autonomous region of Valle d’Aosta, Maurizio Avola, professor of sociology of economic processes and work of the University of Catania, Andrea Marcel Pidalà urban planner University of Palermo, and Pieremilio Vasta, regional coordinator of the Civic Health Network.
