Date of label : 29/10/2024
Conference or event in Rimini, with attendees engaged in a presentation on governance structures.
Summary
The Romagna Next – Strategic planning for vast areas practice led to the creation of the first national pilot of inter-provincial strategic planning in Italy. Led by Rimini (IT) in collaboration with three other cities, and implemented across a large area in Romagna, it addressed the need for innovation and flexibility when tackling complex environmental, social, and economic challenges. To this end, fragmentation among medium- and small-sized local authorities must be balanced by flexible governance structures, which can facilitate a greater dialogue among local authorities to share analyses and develop integrated plans. This soft governance model is capable of empowering inter-municipal and private stakeholder cooperation in strategic planning, and of engaging local communities.
The solutions offered by the Good Practice
"Romagna Next: Strategic Plan for the Romagna vast area" is Italy's first inter-territorial strategic planning pilot initiative. It was launched by the four largest cities in Romagna - Rimini (lead), Forlì, Ravenna and Cesena – to cover a territory of over 5 000 km2, administered by 73 municipalities with more than a million residents in total. Ranked first in the 2021 "MediAree - Next generation City" call for proposals promoted by the National Association of Italian Municipalities, the project was funded by the National Operational Programme on Governance and Institutional Capacity 2014-2020.
The Romagna Next partnership developed close cooperation in designing a shared strategic plan, based on the pilot experience of Rimini’s Strategic Plan and referring to the UN Agenda 2030 goals. Through a mix of diagnosis, visioning, co-design, communication and participatory actions to engage citizens, this process led to the creation of a Romagna Community of Practice. The aim was to share a set of co-designed procedures, including the testing of inter-territorial cooperation in European projects like RoNEu.
Building on the sustainable and integrated urban approach
Romagna Next tested a multi-sectoral, inter-territorial strategic plan, which fully embraced the sustainable development approach across economic, environmental, social, and governance dimensions. Supported throughout by specific technical and scientific expertise, the initiative has guided the shift in public administration from a siloed approach to a more collaborative, horizontal and integrated model.
A 147-hour co-design process engaged over 300 participants, including local government technicians and more than 100 area-wide stakeholders, through interconnected thematic working groups. The themes included tourism, environment, energy, health, social inclusion, mobility, water, digitalisation, security, agribusiness, and training and employment. This created a shared vision and project lines for strategic areas to help shape Romagna’s future.
Based on participatory approach
Participation was central to Romagna Next, involving political leaders, technical experts, local communities and young people. It enabled the construction of a community over a vast area, breaking down localism and fostering the growth of a collective awareness to better tackle global challenges.
Participatory activities included an online survey and the "Romagna Next in Tour", a mobile office which visited 18 different municipalities, over 20 stops, to collect the aspirations of local communities on Romagna’s future. Using interviews, focus groups, school activities, co-design and other methods, the process led to a strategic plan outlining medium-to-long term priorities for the entire area.
In total, the process involved:
- Over 80 technical representatives.
- Over 100 stakeholders.
- Over 300 co-design participants.
- 1 400 Romagna Next in Tour visitors.
- 900 students.
- Over 1 000 citizens through the survey.
- 24 strategic players through one-to-one interviews.
What difference has it made?
Romagna Next had a transformative impact right from the start, bringing together local administrators from different entities and political affiliations to tackle big contemporary challenges. It demonstrated that collaboration is possible across authorities and sectors, with the necessary commitment and shared places, and the strengthening of culture, operational capacity and mutual exchange between public actors and stakeholders.
The project’s geographical scope, and extended participation with public and private operators, citizens and students, were unprecedented in the history of Romagna and Italy. Its co-design process aims to deliver substantial impacts for Romagna’s one million inhabitants.
Early outcomes of the project include the drafting of the inter-provincial protocol for the implementation of the Romagna Next Strategic Plan, the RoNEu operational activity on the coordination of Romagna on European projects, and unified support for Rimini’s candidature for Italian Capital of Culture 2026.
Why this Good Practice should be transferred to other cities
The administrative fragmentation common in Europe is an obstacle for strategic policies addressing environmental, economic, and social challenges. By testing new forms of flexible territorial cooperation and governance, the Romagna Next practice can help overcome this barrier.
It stipulates that urban sustainable development needs, challenges and opportunities should correspond to a spatial dimension and context appropriate to adopt an integrated approach to policymaking and implementation.
The practice contributes to:
- UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17 (Partnerships or the Goals), 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) and 13 (Climate action).
- The Urban Agenda for the EU.
- National law and Emilia-Romagna regional law (including 13/2015 which, among other measures, established the Romagna Vast Area).
The practice is relevant to other cities and areas interested in experimenting with flexible territorial structures of cooperation and integrated governance aimed at long-term territorial strategic planning. The approach is replicable and redily adaptable to other contexts.
A successful transfer of the practice will require:
- Strong political backing.
- Tailored implementation to match the new context.
- Expert coordination of operational and engagement methods.
The practice has been disseminated at national events, and through exchanges with other European projects. Its methodology has been adopted within the Romagna context, and in some specific Romagna areas that are experimenting with it at a local level.