The latest resolution from the Piedmont Region, dated 8 April 2024, assigns ten million euros to the call for “Green Communities” projects launched a year ago, with a further ten million on the way. In total, twenty million are invested in one of the most important plans for the relaunch of the mountains, destined for ten projects presented by mountain unions of municipalities, aimed at facilitating the production of energy from renewable sources and reducing energy consumption.
«But green communities are and also mean much more: forests, water, waste, tourism, agriculture – underlines Marco Gallo, outgoing mayor of Busca and leader of the “Cirio Presidente” civic list in the Cuneo area -. This is why they can truly be the map of the future for our mountains, becoming the driving force for important projects also from an economic point of view. And in the next legislature the Region will also have to confirm its role as a trailblazer in Italy towards this instrument which can also prove effective in combating depopulation.”
Even Uncem, the union of mountain municipalities, praised Piedmont, defining the allocation as a signal for the other regions to aim to finance these community cooperatives which «they are the only way that the territories have to jointly address the intertwined ecological and demographic crisis».
Gallo – who in his program for the mountains has indicated among the key points the strengthening of the Union of mountain municipalities, judging it “a crucial element for the relaunch” – is satisfied because the province of Cuneo, which it plans to represent in the next regional council from «attentive and present interlocutor», is among the most active in Piedmont in the field of green communities. «With the first tranche the projects presented by the Unions of the Maira and Grana Valleys and by the Val Tanaro Cebano were financed. And through the PNRR money has arrived to create the green community “Magreen” presented by the Valle Stura mountain union as the leader and with nineteen municipalities involved – adds Gallo -. It is proof that the Cuneo area is ready for the challenge of sustainability, being able to count on important resources in the highlands, starting with hydroelectric plants. Furthermore, green communities are a great opportunity to overcome certain parochialisms that do not help the challenge of relaunching the mountains where it is essential that everyone rows in the same direction.”
