Topic

It is adopted in the study of territorial vulnerabilities due to different hazards and slow-burning issues in the Italian Inner Areas. Particular attention is paid to the different distribution of hazards and slow-burning issues across the different types and locations of Inner Areas, as well as to the effects deriving from their combination (immigration, depopulation, ageing, unemployment, de-qualification of the building stock, closure and relocation of essential services, and the depreciation of real estate are considered slow-burning issues). Moreover, the focus is on defining prevention, mitigation, and adaptation actions to limit the effects of catastrophic and slow-burning issues, which are carried out considering vulnerability, hazards, and exposure factors. In the interdisciplinary approach, the risk analysis considers interactions of vulnerability factors due to social and economic conditions, the geomorphological aspects, and the various hazards of physical-natural origin. An interdisciplinary approach is used in drafting planning guidelines and recommendations for building back better under the banner of transformative resilience. Experts in the design and assessment of the technological performance of complex buildings (with particular reference to community buildings such as student halls of residence, cultural buildings, and public facilities), experts in the design of workplaces for new place-based economies (through the creation of building types capable of regenerating quality and creating value), experts in the definition of reforestation policies for the sustainable development of inland areas and the reduction of risks to people are essential, as well as experts in sociology, participatory techniques, and communication, who are involved in the process of civic engagement.

As the way of interaction between scientists, governments, and local communities, it applies to:

i) identifying territorial actors’ networks, which interact at various government levels, engaging different stakeholders in co-creation processes that strengthen their sense of belonging to the territorial context. In this sense, for the development of WP2, we are already collaborating with some of the Local Administrations of Central Italy to support them in the recovery process of central Italy. In particular, we grasp and develop the follow-up of previous research carried out in 2019 in the Marche Region and in 2022 in the crater of the 2009 and 2016 earthquakes (Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Lazio), to conceive new paths of development for its Inner Areas;

ii) the two-way interaction between scientists and communities, with a double flow of information and data from scientists to communities and from communities to scientists, based on the citizen science paradigm. The use of friendly communication methods based on illustrations and storytelling accessible to everyone facilitates the raising of risk awareness of the involved communities and the relationship among different levels of co-creation;

iii) the engagement of local communities and scientists in decision-making processes (approaching/drafting a Living Lab practice) to introduce the acquired data and finalize the decision-making. Increasing communities' awareness allows for their formal participation in decision-making processes and a joint responsibility on choices.

It applies in studying the comparison among values of places, fragilities, and the ability to respond to external perturbations. Particular attention is paid to:

i) the implementation of plans and projects. The contemporary design approach focuses on urban regeneration and defines the relationship between strategies and tactical actions. The multi-scalar approach builds relationships among different spatial, social, environmental, and economic elements and adapts them to the appropriate scale;

ii) the practice of decision-makers at different levels of governance that change in relation to specific actions, considering that the level of governance changes during territorial management and transformation. Planning activities are carried out at the regional and local levels. The analysis and evaluation of environmental and landscape values (structural components) belong to the regional level, while land use management belongs to the municipal one. In developing WP3, attention is paid to different government levels to provide effective planning guidelines and recommendations, in line with their level of implementation;

iii) the relationships between the local scale and the broader context. In Inner Areas, this relationship corresponds to the interactions between different physical and functional characteristics—mainly areas with higher landscape and environmental quality—and the more intensely populated areas, characterized by a high impact of production and service functions.

Based on a process of monitoring and evaluation, it is applied not only in terms of the disaster management cycle, but also through the several steps of the project actions. Particular attention is paid to:

i) the theoretical development of the whole disaster risk management cycle. The development of the circular model with a view to transformative resilience allows for the introduction of prevention elements already in the recovery phase, effectively strengthening the build-back better principle that characterizes the entire risk reduction cycle;

ii) the learning process, by comparing different case studies at the national and international level on the themes of post-disaster reconstruction, not only in academic and scientific terms but also through the involvement of the communities in the case study in a process of mutual learning and formal and informal knowledge exchange. Great attention is paid to communication strategies (illustrations, storytelling, social media) to establish fruitful interactions between experts and non-experts in the process of continuous improvement of knowledge and scientific assessment;

iii) the progressive revision and adjustment of the first draft of the TRIALs Methodology through the pilot testing in the Central-Italy Inner Areas. In particular, after the implementation and assessment of the application to the case study, strengths and weaknesses are assessed and the approach is adjusted to make it suitable for other Inner Areas;

iv) the progressive revision and adjustment of the first draft of the TRIALs Methodology through appropriate adaptations based on the different characters and typologies of Inner Areas (based on literature review), given possible further applications and testing to other national and international case studies. In particular, after a comparative analysis between the various Italian Inner Areas, we have the elements to implement the initial approach and adapt it to other cases.