From October 7th to 11th, the Study Visit took place in Sicily, between Marsala and Alcamo. This activity was carried out in the framework of the project Green City – Territorial Partnerships for Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development AID 012314/02/3 – financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), within the framework of the Call for Territorial Entities.
Green City aims to promote sustainable and resilient urban development through the strengthening of urban planning capacities in the field of energy and Municipal Solid Waste Management (SWM); ICU participates in the project with Municipality of Marsala, lead partner.
The two municipalities, Marsala and Alcamo, supported by the Institute for University Cooperation (ICU), welcomed the delegations from Lebanon and Jordan, hosting a total of 9 actors, including counterparts and territorial partners, represented by the Municipalities of El Ain, Hermel, Boudai, Dekwaneh, and the local OSC Arcenciel and Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC), in Lebanon; and the Municipalities of Irbid and Karak and the German Jordan University (GJU) in Jordan.
As part of the programme, a dissemination event was held on Sunday 8th at the Complesso Monumentale San Pietro in Marsala, focusing on sustainable territorial urban planning and development in the energy and waste management sectors. The aim of event was to enhance the widespread diffusion of good practices in this area, with particular emphasis on the centrality of Municipalism.
Following the institutional welcomes of the Hon. Massimo Grillo – Mayor of Marsala – and Dr. Alberto Donato – Environment Councillor of the Municipality of Alcamo – Dr. Rosa Maria Dragone – representative of AICS Rome – intervened with a speech about the Territorial Entities’ projects and the exchange of good practices, and Dr. Sara Immè – Deputy Director of the ICU – who instead spoke about the partnerships between CSOs and Territorial Entities. Other interventions were then followed, focusing on topics such as the circular economy, sustainable development, and energy efficiency.
The next few days were dedicated to field visits, which made it possible to share with the visiting delegations some of the most innovative and successful best practices implemented in Sicily in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy and waste management.
The visits included, among others: the Sarco Company’s Glass Recycling Plant – a leader in Sicily in the environmental and waste services sector – where was given a detailed illustration of the various phases of the glass recycling process and how this waste is treated to recover useful material for the creation of new products; the Marsala and Alcamo Municipal Waste Collection Centres; the CEP Company – Componenti Elettriche Prefabbricate, which designs and manufactures electromechanical components necessary for energy distribution. A meeting was also held with the Istituto Comprensivo S. Bagolino of Alcamo, which participated in several initiatives related to energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies, and energetically requalified the building where its premises are located by installing photovoltaic panels. Finally, the Hon. Domenico Surdi – Mayor of Alcamo – received the two delegations for a meeting with representatives of the Lebanese and Jordanian local authorities and local counterparts.
ICU thanks the municipalities of Marsala and Alcamo for the hospitality and wishes the representatives of the Lebanese and Jordanian delegations a safe return.
