It is an increasingly sustainable Italy that emerges from the sixth edition of Spighe Verdi which awarded 59 rural municipalities, from North to South Italy, with 18 new entries compared to last year. This is an equivalent recognition to the “Blue Flags” awarded to the most virtuous Italian agricultural localities, which have chosen to implement land management strategies that are attentive to the environment and the quality of life of the community. At the top of the ranking is Piedmont with 10 rural centers. And then Marche (9), Tuscany (7), Calabria and Puglia (6). The ranking – with 14 awarded regions and five retrocessions – was drawn up by the Foundation for Environmental Education Italia and Confagricoltura on the basis of a scheme of indicators capable of capturing management policies, including the correct use of land, the presence of production agriculture, sustainability and innovation in agriculture as well as the correct management of waste and the enhancement of naturalistic areas and the landscape.
For Claudio Mazza, president of Fee Italia, the “award is intended to be a quality mark that encourages municipalities to be more attentive to their rural heritage; stimulus that seems to work because there are many territories that have asked to start the process ». For the Minister of Agricultural Policies, Stefano Patuanelli “today economic, environmental and social sustainability represent the cornerstones of the debate on the Next Generation EU and CAP reform, but seven years ago your program started a pioneering path in the field of good practices for the development of rural areas and populations ».
These are important results which, according to the president of Confagricoltura, Massimiliano Giansanti, “demonstrate the growth from year to year of sensitivity towards sustainability, the circular economy, the enhancement of typical products and hospitality”. Awards that are good for tourism, finally pointed out the Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia «by rewarding those areas of the territory, perhaps less known and far from tourist flows, which will be able to attract visitors and thus diversify the creation of wealth in the area; and this is fully part of the government’s action to ease the pressure on the major tourist attractions ”.