InvestEU: the collaboration between the Municipality of Livorno and CDP continues

InvestEU: the collaboration between the Municipality of Livorno and CDP continues

The programme for the urban and social renewal of schools is now in full swing thanks to the AdvisoryHub Protocol signed by the two institutions

Draw up a comprehensive overview of the existing real estate in order to initiate a sustainable redevelopment of scholastic facilities as part of the local community's urban and social renewal project. As part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2023 by the Municipality of Livorno and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the first phase of strategic planning aimed at promoting and improving the energy efficiency of the city's schools has been completed.

The collaboration was made possible thanks to the resources of the European Union under the InvestEU Programme and CDP itself, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Advisory being a partner of the European Commission to support and strengthen the technical and administrative capacities of those implementing investment projects.

On Tuesday, 24 September, a meeting to discuss the progress of the works was held at the town hall. The participants of the meeting were: for Cassa Depositi e Prestiti the Scholastic Infrastructure Competence Centre team comprising Massimiliano Pulice, Marco Salone, Domenico Contino and Maria Luisa Mattei; the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Energy Competence Centre team of Roberto Ferrante, Andrea Petrina, Gianluca Trotta, Federico Zizzini and Alessandro Petrucci; Livorno Deputy Mayor Libera Camici, the councillors Silvia Viviani and Federico Mirabelli, and staff from the administration's technical offices dedicated to the initiative.

The study, which began last December, included an initial phase to survey scholastic facilities and define the perimeter under analysis, focusing on approximately 60 institutions: nursery schools, pre-schools, primary and secondary schools.

Thanks to the synergy of the administration’s offices (Public Works Department, Education Sector and Information Systems), it was possible to gather a great deal of information on the buildings in order to create a database of details related to maintenance, structures, plants and energy use, which made it possible to produce a unified, organic overview of the scholastic building stock.

The analysis was then extended to the surrounding area, taking into consideration urban planning programmes and projects in order to incorporate and frame the development of the schools within the future vision of the city.

To ensure that the redevelopment of the scholastic building stock was consistent with the actual educational needs of the local community, an in-depth study of demographic trends and the schooling of the population of Livorno was also completed, calculating projections as far out as 2040.

The study also developed a detailed analysis of possible solutions to improve the energy efficiency of all schools, in harmony with European and national regulations. The goal is to reduce energy consumption and the carbon footprint, considering both environmental impact and economic and financial sustainability. This will make the schools more efficient, comfortable and less costly in the long run, as well as reduce CO2 emissions almost completely.

The study then outlines a series of strategic actions, offering the administration various scenarios and proposals for the strategic planning of the modernisation of the schools’ facilities.

The final phase of this activity, which will take place from October to December 2024, will result in the planning of investments that meets the criteria of sustainability and feasibility of the works.

The goal is to provide comfortable spaces for students and teachers while also promoting sustainable practices (such as the installation of renewable energy and low-consumption heating systems) to contribute to the environmental education of future generations and their local communities.

"We are quite satisfied with the results of the collaboration with CDP", said councillor for Urban Planning Silvia Viviani, “established some time ago with a memorandum of understanding concerning two strategic focuses of our administration, namely housing and schools. Given the European investment support programme, the relevant regulations and the zero cost for the municipal administration, we considered it useful to work with CDP, which has the role of advisory partner to the European Commission for this programme. We are pleased that the results of the activities carried out to this point have confirmed the choices we made in our urban plans, which were specifically drawn up to integrate housing, school and urban policies. Our vision for the various urban contexts focuses on the key infrastructures that support communal life, and we have committed to improving both the quality and quantity of public assets. In fact public initiatives are the most significant tools for regenerating the city and fairly redistributing the value produced, offering efficient, ecologically oriented services as part of the overall redevelopment of school buildings in an effort to pursue urban regeneration and social inclusion. This is what emerged from the wide-ranging presentation made yesterday morning. Also on behalf of Deputy Mayor Camici and Councillor Mirabelli, who are sitting next to me, I would like to thank the CDP team and our offices, in particular the 'Technology Transition and Smart City' Sector Manager Daniele Agostini and the 'Energy Manager' Daniela Villa. We are now in a position to plan investments and projects to make each school not only safe and thermally efficient, but also a renewable energy community that is well integrated with the rest of the city. We will continue to work with CDP to launch the first pilot projects in Italy that apply the European InvestEU programme dedicated to investments for recovery, green growth, employment and people's well-being”.
 
"Supporting local administrations in their plans for growth, sustainable development, increased energy efficiency and urban regeneration is at the heart of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti's mission, the commitment to meeting the needs of local communities being deeply rooted in its DNA", underscored Roberto Ferrante, Head of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment at CDP. Nearly a year after the agreement with the Municipality of Livorno was signed, we can now implement concrete projects, shared solutions and investment opportunities for the Tuscan city. What we are presenting today is the consolidation of a relationship that can be an example of efficient cooperation between institutions working with the aim of improving the liveability of cities, the viability of schools and the growth of services as well as the environment".