Rosaria Revellini

The main objective of this research is to describe a multidisciplinary investigation part of an ongoing research project. The contribution focuses on the identification and selection of innovative technologies and operative methodologies capable of fostering the sustainable innovation and resilience of the Italian N-E territory by addressing four challenges: energy transition, environmental challenges, adaptation to climate change, and digitalisation. The investigation devised an original conceptual research framework aiming to identify possible solutions and drawing a connection between them and the challenges, by considering the actions, the technological and methodological support, and, indirectly, the European and global policy objectives they help to reach. The research results are: (i) a definition of the four challenges in light of the built environment and construction sector; (ii) the conceptual research framework schema as a replicable instrument; (iii) its contextualization to the research scope; (iv) a preliminary list of technologies and methodologies supporting the sustainable innovation in the given territorial context; and (v) a ranking of the most promising solutions according to their effectiveness and application potential. The results highlight how, in the Italian N-E context, the solutions most effective in delivering sustainability and resilience are the ones operating in the built environment by preserving the built resources, mainly by addressing the building envelope and structure.

Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment (NSA) tools are voluntary rating systems for certifying sustainable neighbourhoods in case of new constructions or urban renewals. They consist of categories and indicators to value specific performances. Their purpose is to objectify planned interventions assigning a final score which identifies the overall performance of the district in terms of sustainability. However, is it possible to affirm that these systems actually contribute to the improvement of inclusiveness and healthy living in the neighbourhoods? This question arises as a reflection on the two main issues that contemporary cities have to face urgently which are urbanization and ageing population, focusing attention on developed countries. In this regard, “new” urban spaces are called to achieve inclusion and healthy living for all the people and the neighbourhood represents the right scale for reasoning about. The present study investigates some of the most commonly used neighbourhood scale tools (BREEAM Communities, GBC Italia, DGNB Districts, Living Community Challenge, EcoDistricts) looking at how these systems can help to create more inclusive districts. In particular, the analysis aims to understand how much the social pillar of sustainability affects on urban wellbeing. In fact, there is the evidence that in most NSA tools environmental dimension shall prevails on the others. Through a review of each protocol’s “social” categories and of the recent literature on these topics, the study wants to underline criticalities and potentialities of NSA systems and tries to understand in which way a new protocol should act in order to help municipalities, planners and stakeholders in designing inclusive and accessible environments for all.