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A workshop on mountains of the Mediterranean

28.07.2017

‘A Sense of Italy for the Future’ was the theme of the 2017 Soft Economy Festival held in Treia, Italy. During the festival, an International Workshop on Mediterranean Mountains took place on 5-6 July. Treia is located in Central Italy within the Marche Region, which was disturbed by earthquakes last year. Hence, part of the focus of the workshop and festival was on revitalizing the economy through the concept of ‘Soft Economy’ and celebrating achievements Italy has recently made as a means of stimulating well-being.

The International Workshop on Mediterranean Mountains was a high-level event attended by Italy’s Minster of the Environment, Gian Luca Galletti, and also Federparchi, an organization representing all of the protected areas of Italy as well as representing Italy within the larger Europarc Federation.

View from Monte Argentella, 2 201 metres, in Monti Sibillini National Park The workshop was an opportunity for the exchange of good practices. “The conference was useful for facilitating the exchange of experiences and the dissemination of research and good practices for the management of mountain territories,” said Oliviero Olivieri, President of Monti Sibillini National Park.

Cross-cultural, transboundary mountain meetings will be particularly useful for ensuring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are achieved. For example, the SDG target 15.4 regards monitoring ‘Mountain Green Cover’ as an indicator of the correlation between green cover and the conservation of mountain ecosystems and biodiversity, in order to ensure and enhance the benefits mountains provide that are essential for sustainable development. Climate change, changes of land use and agricultural practices in mountains all have significant impacts on achieving our 2030 goals.

Oliviero Olivieri added, “The conference offered a discussion of sustainable models that can be applied in different countries, with the necessary adaptations to the local reality. It also represented a chance to meet and to develop future partnerships.”

The ‘Soft Economy’ theme of the conference highlights Italy’s perception of sustainability as a key factor within all aspects of future development, in food production, agriculture, tourism, economic development and mountains.