Alice Barreca

In recent decades, structural economic decline and population loss have challenged rural regions worldwide. In response, many countries now pursue initiatives that seek to revitalize these regions ...

In 2012, the Italian “National Strategy for Inner Areas” (SNAI) was approved to enhance essential services (transport, education, healthcare) and boost economic growth in underdeveloped areas. After more than ten years since the first SNAI programming cycle (2014-2020) and at the beginning of the second one (2021-2027), this research analyses the thematic scopes and funding of projects implemented during the first SNAI cycle to support local authorities in the second cycle. The analysis focuses on the four Inner Areas of Piedmont to support the SNAI strategy development process in Valsesia, which was designated as one of the new Piedmont Inner Areas in 2022. The study, part of the B4R - Branding4Resilience project, uses government open data and Exploratory Data Analysis to examine the geographic and thematic distribution of SNAI interventions. Results show the allocation of projects and public funds, identifying popular themes and gaps. Among the most significant findings, the thematic scopes of “Transport and Mobility” and “Social Inclusion and Health” emerged as the most funded, while scopes such as “Environment”, “Research and Innovation” and “Employment and work” were significantly underrepresented, especially in Piedmont. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the first cycle is crucial for refining future strategies, avoiding past inefficiencies, and maximising the impact of upcoming interventions. Insights drawn from the analyses aim to support local authorities in addressing new interventions and actions, enhancing strategic planning for territorial projects.

This review aims to provide a general framework of the literature on economic sustainability and financial feasibility for RECs, focusing on the challenges related to the building stock and architectural heritage energy retrofit with the purpose of reducing running costs. In particular, this review analysed 95 research papers, focusing on the main used economic evaluation approaches and indicators for the assessment of a new or an existing REC. Results showed that the implementation of RECs deserves to be examined with a combination of complementary approaches able to guarantee a balance between economically sustainable and renewable energy systems and the buildings’ cultural, architectural and historical values. The articles data sample of the present research highlighted the presence of numerous methodologies and approaches that need to be combined to evaluate all the aspects of the RECs. Future research could develop a comprehensive methodological approach to evaluate the RECs’ economic sustainability by considering economic, energy and social benefits and preserving the buildings’ cultural value. This review draws a state-of-the-art of economic approaches and indicators for RECs to support the future developments of a standardized evaluation procedure in the context of the currently evolving regulatory framework.