Italy is one of the European countries richest in biodiversity and with a high presence of endemisms. The composite index reported by ISPRA (ISPRA, 2019) shows that level of threats for animal and plants biodiversity is high. A large percentage of protected species (60%) and habitats (77%) are in an unfavourable state of conservation. In order to safeguard biodiversity, Italy has 871 protected areas. The SIC, ZSC and ZSP occupy approximately the 19% of the national territory: almost 2.000 areas with an average surface of about 1.600 ha, located at variable distances between each other, ranging from a few meters to tens km. A very high fragmented condition suffered by the Italian habitats included in the European lists.
Synthetic evaluation Critical issues
Cultural Heritage
Highest number of landslides in European Union and a high number of floods negative impact on the preservation of Cultural Heritage (SDG 13.1)
Natural Capital
Highest exposure to desertification in EU negative impact on preservation of biodiversity (SDG 13.1)
Points of strength Cultural Heritage
Natural Capital
One of the most impressive cultural wealth in the European Union and an international leading role in the field of conservation of Cultural Heritage positive impact on the sustainable management of Cultural Heritage (SDG 11.4) National forest area subject to environmental restrictions and protection increase good preservation of areas crucial for biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery (SDG 11.4)
Environmental aspects of the sustainable management of NRGs in Italy – Key issues and assets The main environmental issues affecting the Italian Cultural Heritage are related to the criticalities introduced in the previous section and concerning the high exposure of the Country to landslides and floods. By looking in depth to the data reported by ISPRA in the map of Italian Cultural Heritage exposed to landslide risk (ISPRA, 2018), it appears that 11.712 cultural goods are exposed to high and very high landslide hazard zones. The highest number of endangered Cultural Heritage has been recorded in Tuscany, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Campania and Liguria Regions, especially in the Provinces of Siena, Genoa, Naples and Macerata. There are numerous historical villages affected by landslides that have been triggered or reactivated in the recent years. Some of these sites are of particular value, being in the UNESCO tentative list which includes those properties that Italy considered suitable for the inscription on the World Heritage List. Among them, there are the cliff of San Leo (in the Province of Rimini), where the collapse of the northern slope occurred on 27 February 2014, Volterra (Pisa), were a portion of the medieval walls collapsed in 2014, and Civita di Bagnoregio (Viterbo), which is located on a steep cliff made of volcanic tuff affected by a progressive retreat of the slopes with detachments of rock blocks as well as
mudflows occurring the clayey basement where the tuffaceous layer sits. In recent decades, however, several historic centers located in high and very high landslide hazard zones have been subjected to an extensive structural reconsolidation and strong mitigation of hydrogeological risk. Among these sites, there are Certaldo (in the Province of Florence), Orvieto (Terni) and Todi (Perugia).
Figure 7: Italian Cultural Heritage located in high and very high landslide hazard zones on regional and municipality basis. Source: ISPRA, 2018.
Data presented by ISPRA in the map of Cultural heritage exposed to flood risk in Italy (ISPRA, 2018) show that 31.137 cultural goods are located in medium flood hazard zones (return period of 100200 years), the highest number of which is concentrated in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Liguria and Tuscany Regions. Some relevant ‘hot spots’ can be identified in Venice, Ferrara, Florence, Genoa, Piacenza, Ravenna and Pisa, which are the cities where the largest number of Cultural Heritage potentially exposed to flood risk has been identified. In this regard, Florence represents a paradigmatic example of the impacts that a flood may have on the local cultural wealth, as the city already suffered the consequences of an extraordinary flood event in 1966. In the sole municipality of Florence, there are 1.259 architectural, archaeological and monumental assets that are exposed to hydraulic risk in the scenario of medium hazard. They include some relevant monuments located in the historic center of the city (which is, as whole, a UNESCO World Heritage Site), such as the Basilica of Santa Croce, the National Library, the Baptistery and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. All these monuments,
along with many other cultural assets, were already hard hit during the flood of 1966. Thousands of volumes stored in the warehouses of the Central National Library, including precious manuscripts and rare printed works, were covered in mud, and one of the most important pictorial works of the Renaissance, the Crucifix made by Cimabue and preserved in the Basilica of Santa Croce, was seriously damaged. Moreover, mud impressed the traces of the level reached by the waters on many monuments, almost all the panels of Ghiberti were detached from the Porta del Paradiso of the Baptistery of Florence and the damage to the Uffizi deposits was enormous. The restoration process of thousands of historical-artistic items and assets lasted for decades. It was mainly driven by Italian institutions and ICCROM, which coordinated the international safeguarding efforts with the help of UNESCO (Jokilehto, 2009). In order to safeguard the cultural heritage of Florence, both structural and non-structural measures have been already put in place. In 2007, the Prefecture of the Province of Florence, in collaboration with the Arno River Basin Authority, stated a detailed census of all those buildings of cultural interest (such as churches, libraries, buildings of historical and architectural value and museums) that can be damaged in case of floods. The museums have defined plans to safeguard artistic assets in the case of a sudden flood alert. Finally, for what the structural measures is regarded, several expansion tanks are being built in the upper part of the Arno river valley in order to strongly reduce the risk of floods in the city of Florence.
Figure 8: Italian Cultural heritage located in medium flood hazard zones on regional and municipality basis. Source: ISPRA, 2018.
area has grown by 14% between 2000 and 2012. All ecosystems offer recreational services, with the forest ecosystem at first place.
Synthetic evaluation Critical issues
Risk of natural hazards (especially landslides, floods and earthquakes) is critically high and widespread →Cultural Heritage at risk is relevant and a single event can often produce irreversible damage. Risk of desertification and high consumption of soil →loss of biodiversity (in particular the state of conservation of the flora and fauna)
Points of strength
Rapid increase of Italian eco-museums →This emerging sector is well organized and capable to involve local communities, generating benefits both in terms of sustainable valorization of NRGs both in terms of job opportunities. Increase in National Forest Area → Increase of National forest areas subject to environmental restrictions and protection; Increase of carbon stock of Italian forests; Increase the value of recreational services offered by ecosystems, especially by forest.
Economic aspects – The role of NRGs in the Italian economy By considering the vast and unique Cultural Heritage boasted by Italy, already presented and discussed in the first section of this report, it is reasonable to expect that the Country benefits of remarkable economic impacts coming from cultural tourism. The contribution of cultural tourism as a share of Italian GPD was, actually, not that high a decade ago, when the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria, 2009) gave a warried alert by presenting a critical report on the state of the cultural tourism in Italy in comparison with that of other selected Countries. It resulted that the cultural tourism in Italy accounted just for 2,6% of the national GDP (corresponding to 40 billion euros) and was significantly lower than the 3,8% recorded in the United Kingdom (corresponding to approximately 73 billion euros) and the 3,4% recorded in France (corresponding to about 64 billion euros). By considering that Italy had a larger cultural wealth and a higher number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with respect of those other two Countries, the presented scenario was very unsatisfying. Moreover, Italy resulted particularly underperforming in the light of the RAC (Return on Cultural Assets), an index that analyzes the economic return of UNESCO sites. At that time, Italy had 43 World Heritage Sites and a RAC of ca. 100, which was incredibly low if compared with those reported for France (RAC equal to ca. 400, having 33 UNESCO sites) and United Kingdom (RAC equal to ca. 700, having 27 UNESCO sites). The document raised awareness towards the enormous potential of economic growth that the Italian cultural tourism had. Some guidelines and strategic options were proposed by the General Confederation of Italian Industry. In particular, it was suggested to improve the possibilities of
fruition of museums by better managing opening hours and related services, developing the potential offered by merchandising market of museums (only 24% of Italian state museums had a bookshop inside the structure at that time) and keep low the costs of tickets as well as conversion rates. It was also raised the possibility of launching a development plan for the cultural tourism sector, in order to valorize the national Cultural Heritage and further develop its related economic activities. Italian institutions, especially the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, implemented that indications and developed adequate dedicated strategies, triggering a positive trend of economic growth of the cultural tourism, which reached the 6,1% of national GPD (corresponding to 92 billion euros) in 2019 (Fondazion Symbola e Unioncamere, 2019).
Figure 11: Increase of visitors of Italian museums and similar institutes. Years: 2006, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Index number: 2006=100. Source: ISTAT, 2019.
Data published by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT, 2019) offer a detailed overview on this positive decadal trend of cultural tourism. From 2006 to the end of 2018, visitors of Italian Cultural Heritage increased, indeed, by almost one third (32,2%), growing at an average rate of over 2 and a half million visitors per year. In particular, the number of visitors of state museums, monuments and archaeological sites has almost doubled, increasing from 34,6 million to 54,1 million. Visitors of non-state structures have grown more slowly, going from 62,7 million in 2006 to 74,5 million by the end of 2018. In recent years, the increase of the audience has seen a significant acceleration. In just one year, visitors of Italian museums have increased by almost 10 million. In 2018, the record number of 128,6 million was recorded: 63,4 million in conventional museums, 51,1 million in monuments, 13,7 in archaeological areas and 488 thousand in eco-museums. During that year, the 460 state structures, including museums, archaeological areas and monuments, was visited by about 54 million tourists (equal to 42% of the total), boasting an average audience that was four times greater than that of non-state structures (almost 120 thousand visitors per state structure against 19 thousand per non-state structure). During the same year, the 4.448 non-state structures (represented largely by cultural goods with municipal ownership, which currently are 2.037,
corresponding to 41,5% of the total) did not exceed 2.000 visitors in almost half of the cases (46.5%), mainly because they offer cultural services often aimed at the local community.
Figure 11: Infographics on tourism in Italy during year 2018. Source: ISTAT, 2019.
However, some criticalities are also highlighted in the report. In the first place, over 20 million visitors per year are concentrated in just four cultural sites. Despite having an extremely widespread and varied Cultural Heritage, Italy still presents, indeed, a cultural tourism characterized by dimensional polarization and concentration of visitor flows in few cultural ‘hot spots’. At the top of the ranking of the most visited places there are Pantheon, Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum), Archaeological Area of Pompeii and Museum and Park of Capodimonte. All these four state structures recorded in 2018 more than three million visitors each, attracting together a total of 21,5 million visitors, corresponding to 17% of the overall visitors of the entire Italian Cultural Heritage. There is also an evident clustering of visitor flows in the other exhibition structures. It is possible to assess an average of about 29 thousand visitors per exhibition structure in Italy, but the territorial differences and type of structure are, indeed, significant. Villas, historical palaces and monuments of historical and artistic interest, in particular in Latium, attract the highest share of visitors (an average of 100 thousand visitors per structure). For what museums and galleries is concerned, tourist flows are concentrated in the Regions of Veneto, Tuscany, Campania and Piedmont, which record more than 40 thousand visitors per exhibition structure, especially galleries of ancient, modern and contemporary art. The museum structures of Abruzzo, Molise and Marche, however, do not exceed the average threshold of 6 thousand visitors per year. Moreover, with the exception of few sites of international relevance, visitors of the archaeological sites are decreasing nationwide. Another issue is the still limited amount of information dedicated to foreign visitors. It has been estimated that
including cell phones, tablets and sensors, and offers new capabilities to maintain, archive, view, exploiting and reusing our cultural heritage. At the same time, cultural organizations become contributors of one new, more frequent interaction with users and are both become part of the same process as, for the first time in history, users and institutions that manage information share a common information space through Internet. This suggests that new opportunities for research, connectivity and exploitation of cultural information to the global online audience arise for cultural organizations. The use of digital technologies and networks can significantly increase the public value of cultural collections heritage. The digital use of collections however raises new questions in terms of content credibility, intellectual property, internationalization and the communities being created. Existing relationships between providers and information users are transformed as new business models are created. Consuming content online is an interactive experience, and public interest in cultural heritage and the institutions that manage it are no longer granted. In the digital world, even more important than content is the quality of related services. In this changing environment, cultural organizations and cultural heritage managers in general are called upon to develop new models exploiting the digital opportunities that are relevant to their particularities and priorities. An example of how important it is for Greece to move on to the next phase on tourism by linking technology is the Athos Digital Arc project. On this project the main responsibility was the Creation of multilingual digital applications, such as: • The development of digital Proskinitarion (pilgrimage narrative) for each of the participant Monasteries. The technical term «proskinitarion», in use since the Middle Ages, refers to a printed handbook that compiles whatever is remarkable of each Monastery. • The development of four applications, the «digital footpaths», which brings out the existing, until our days, ancient footpaths of commuting and communication in Mount Athos. • The development of digital multimedia applications of diverse educational content. The entire Athos Digital Heritage aimed at a twofold objective: to communicate, on the one hand, and disseminate the outcomes of this enormous digitization and documentation project with the view to meet the needs of the academics and research community in general. To support, contribute in and develop, through the digital applications and the dissemination of the digitized content of spiritual value, innovative pedagogical tools and applications (Case Study Talent S.A.).
Synthetic evaluation
Critical issues
° Difficult or inaccessible access many of the cultural heritage artifacts (such as Holy Mountain due to avaton status) (SDG 11) ° Lack of know-how regarding the voting of monuments and cultural heritage artifacts (SDG 11 & SDG 17)
Points of strength
° Using technology (such as digitization and 3D applications) & the concept of value co-creation can prove to be a valuable concept in an attempt to attract new target markets, enhance visitors’ (SDG 8, SDG 11 & SDG 17) ° Innovative services including studies for creating a successful digital footprint for CH organization, new technology for museums and analytical ‘mix and match’ funding schemes aimed at optimal results. (SDG 8, SDG 11 & SDG 17)
Photo: www.athoskivotos.eu
1. Social aspects III – Education and public awareness on NRGs in Greece Combining education and public awareness, the platform has been created Pluggable Social Platform for Heritage Awareness and Participation. PLUGGY is Europe’s first social networking platform for cultural heritage, which gives voice to the citizens across Europe, enables them to safeguard and enrich the European cultural heritage landscape. The PLUGGY social platform and the pluggable applications (PLUGGY3D, PLUGGY Pins, Plug Sonic Suite and Games Hunter) were built upon the idea of empowering European citizens to be actively involved in cultural heritage activities and act not only as observers, but also as maintainers, creators, major influencing factors and more importantly as ambassadors of their country’s Culture and History. Pluggable Social Platform for Heritage Awareness and Participation (PLUGGY) will support citizens in shaping cultural heritage and being shaped by it. PLUGGY will enable them to share their local knowledge and everyday experience with others. The PLUGGY Social Platform will facilitate a continuing process for creating, modifying and safeguarding heritage where citizens will be
country, marine biodiversity, frequency and severity of floods, declining yields of cereals, and human health1. Air pollution does not only affect natural ecosystems, but also historical and cultural environments, among which historical momuments, intangible heritage and/or archeological sites. Direct impacts of climate change on the historic environment may include: -
rising sea levels and a possible increase in storminess that endangers historic landscapes, structures, buildings and archaeology in the coastal zone increased extremes of wetting and drying that heighten the risk of ground subsidence and accelerated decay of stonework and thus pose a threat to many historic buildings changes in hydrology that put buried archaeological remains, including well-preser ved wetland archaeology, at risk changes in vegetation patterns that threaten the visibility and integrity of archaeological remains and historic landscapes a warming climate that makes some historically authentic tree plantings difficult to conserve changes in the distribution of pests that threatens the integrity of historic buildings, collections and designed landscapes possible increases in the frequency or geographical range of extreme weather that could pose an increased risk of damage to some historic landscapes and buildings. more frequent intense rainfall that causes increased erosion of archaeological sites and damaging flooding in historic settlements, the latter making historic buildings difficult to insure
An important impact to focus on is the case of urban areas where transports pollution is highly concentrated. Historical monuments in those areas (cathedrals, bridges, historical buildings‌) are indeed highly exposed to risks of degradation. The high amount of SO2 and NO2 in the air, coupled with humidity, provokes the erosion of materials - such as limestone-, causes loss of glass transparency and occasions stained glass deterioration.
Synthetic evaluation Critical issues
> Low rate of Plastic Waste recycling : Plastic Waste enter in the food chain and threaten biodiversity > CO2 Emissions affects ecosystems
Points of strength
> High surface of Natura 2000 sites : creates good conditions to protect biodiversity and landscapes. > High surface of Marine protected areas: develop a sustainable management of marine resources.
1
Climate transparency (2018) : Brown to Green : The G20 transition to a Low-Carbon Economy, Climate Transparency, c/o Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform, Berlin, Germin.
Economic aspects – The role of NRGs in the French economy Presently, it is well understood and widely accepted that cultural heritage can play a significant role in economic development. There is indeed a strong link between economic growth and the exploitation of cultural heritage sites for tourism, as in many cases, tourism constitutes an important source of revenue that provides significant economic payoffs. Tourism plays a major role in the French economy. The accommodation and food services sector, representing the largest part of the tourism sector, accounts for between 2.5% and 3% of GDP. The total amount of internal tourism consumption, which combines tourism-related spending by both French residents and non-residents, represents around 7.5% of GDP (5% for residents, 2.5% for non-residents). Direct and indirect employment related to tourism together account for over 2 million jobs. Tourism is one of the largest contributors to the balance of payments. However, between 2015 and 2016, the difference between spending by foreign tourists in France and spending by French tourists abroad fell from EUR 5 billion to EUR 1.8 billion. This unusual and disappointing result can be explained by the negative fallout from the terrorist incidents in 2015 and 2016. The Natura 2000 network, previously mentionned as a key tool for french cultural and natural heritage valorization, is an important source of jobs contributing to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. These protected areas support a wide number of activities boosting economy among which tourism, recreation, agriculture, forestry… They can do this directly – i.e. by jobs on site, whether in the management and restoration, and the continuation of traditional land-uses and their associated jobs, or in sustainable production or in sectoral activities (e.g. health walks, recreation, scientific research). Natura 2000 can also lead to jobs “indirectly” – i.e. jobs supported offsite catalysed through Natura 2000 related activities (e.g. spending on hotels, restaurants and transport from tourists visiting the site) and along the product chain (e.g. fish, timber, crop transformation and distribution). There can also be benefits to off-site jobs via pollination, biological control, genetic diversity…
Source : ten Brink P., Mutafoglu K., Schweitzer J-P., Underwood E., Tucker G., Russi D., Howe M., Maréchal A., Olmeda C., Pantzar M., and Kettunen M. (2017) Natura 2000 and Jobs: Scoping Study – Executive Summary. Brussels. April 2017.
Marine protected ares (MPAs) are also an important vector of growth in France. According to a European Commission study2, MPAs boost the blue economy, as well as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and coastal areas. They can deliver economic benefits while not impeding conservation goals. However, the economic exploitation of resources in an MPA must be sustainable. Tourism and fishing are among the sectors mostly benefited from MPAs. As a very active country in MPAs development and valorization, blue economy indicators represent an interesting tool to asses the economic impact of French marine protection strategy. The french blue economy is a driving force for economic growth, innovation and employment in both traditional and emerging sectors. The Blue Economy established sectors include : Marine living resources, marine extraction of non-living resources, maritime transport, port activities, shipbuilding and repair and Coastal tourism. On the other hand, emerging and innovative sectors include blue energy, i.e. offshore wind energy, ocean energy (wave and tidal), blue bio economy and biotechnology, marine minerals, desalination and maritime defence. These sectors offer significant potential for growth and jobs, especially in renewable energies.
Source : European Commission
Blue growth also aims to enhance natural resources, to develop coastal and maritime tourism through marine and coastal heritage, natural and cultural heritage, water-based recreation and leisure activities, beach establishments, cruises, physical activity and sports establishment. It promotes transport and maritime services as well as the competitiveness of commercial ports. It is a source of added value and employment, especially for coastal populations, and can provide strategic functions for the national economy in terms of raw material supplies, energy, transport and communication. The French Blue Economy employs about 367,500 people and generates around
2
EC- European Commission, Study on the Economic Benefits of MPAs. Final Report. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2018