The event, held in Catania at the Building of culture, was organised by Pon Governance and NOP “Metropolitan cities 2014 – 2020 as well. It has meant first to take stock of the current status of the 400 projects selected by the programs in progress in the 14 metropolitan cities benefiting from the program and also to reflect about the experiences gained so far in view of planning for the next seven-year programming. The event skilfully moderated by Carlo Mochi Sismondi, the President of FORUM PA, was opened with the greetings and welcome of the mayor of Catania who is Enzo Bianco. Following, Maria Ludovica Agrò, the General Director of the Agency for Territorial Cohesion, highlighted the importance of dealing with the gaps between the communities starting from the territories, of understanding what the needs of citizens are and planning together with the city. These elements provide an added value to the synergistic interaction among the local authority, the central state and the European commission. The General Director Maria Ludovica Agrò also highlights that cohesion is the only European policy for citizens and so it should be kept intact in the resources and in its fundamental mission which is to devise and implement structural projects that fill the gaps between the territories.
Giorgio Martini, the Managing Authority of the PON Metropolitan Cities, Riccardo Monaco, the Managing Authority of the NOP Governance and Institutional Capacity, Nicola Aimi, European Commission – Deputy Head of Unit Italy-Malta DG Regio, have came in succession on the operational programs.
Martini illustrated the key issues through which a true sustainable urban development can be achieved. Those themes directly impact on the quality of life of the citizen from the point of view regarding a “smart city”, reiterating a fundamental objective of the metropolitan city program which is to to make timely interventions that quickly provide answers to citizens’ needs.
Monaco indicated that one of the tasks of the PON Governance is to support the administrations in dealing with important interventions. He reaffirmed the importance of communicating and what is done with the Structural Funds. He highlighted how Catania is a brilliant example of which and how much effort is being made in managing these financial resources.
Aimi then described the investment opportunities for the “lagging regions” such as the announcements for small and medium-sized companies in the field of research and innovation, the announcements for large companies in terms of sustainable mobility and the initiatives concerning the school, social inclusion and public administration as well.
After the information session on operational programs, a proper “journey” came after in the PON Gov and PON Metro projects.
During the whole session spoke Pia Marconi, Head of Public Administration Department, Elio Gullo, Department of Public Administration, Marilina Labia, Unioncamere, Arcangelo Scattaglia, Amtab coming from Bari, Paola Ravenna, coming from Venice and Fabio Finocchiaro coming from Catania.
The session provided both general information and interesting multimedia presentations on the activities being carried out on the cities of Bari, Venice and Catania.
The session’s midpoint is the topic of mobility, as a common denominator of the projects. In relation to the mobility, Finocchiaro illustrated the Integrated Strategy on the metropolitan one. It’s a “a – cross- border journey through an overview of the planned interventions and those being implemented. In conclusion the version 2.0 of the OpenCoesione Portal was presented. This is a perfect example of how the adoption of the Open Data paradigm can highlight good governance practices. Simona De Luca who belong to the Department for Cohesion Policies has participated during the meeting.
The session has concluded with an interesting Round Table regarding current experiences and future perspectives. Participants included Nicola Aimi, Pia Marconi, Francesco Cottone, the General Director of Coordination of Cohesion Policies, Antonina Liotta, Secretary General Director of the Catania’s city, Attilio Auricchio Naples’ Municipality. Chief of Staff and Gaetano Cacciola, coming from the City of Messina, Councilor for Energy, Mobility, Roads and Transport.
Respectable statements were those made by Liotta on the importance of participating at the meeting of the Managing Authorities of the 14 metropolitan cities of the PON Metro that was a clear message of great cohesion, and on the virtuous repercussions of the program on Catania which, thanks to the interception of this funding, it is rewriting its strategic vision and is projecting itself towards the future as a proper European metropolitan city.
Video of event
During some moments of the day, in the morning it’s possible to do a visit to the urban gardens in Catania, in the Librino district and in road San Teodoro to the “Two Towers”. In the afternoon the event at Palazzo Platamone (Culture’s building) in road Vittorio Emanuele II in Catania city.
More info: https://ponmetro.comune.catania.it
