The UN has recognised the key role that cities and towns have in achieving global sustainability goals (including the reduction of per capita pollution produced by cities, particularly with regard to air quality and waste management) with the inclusion of Goal 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities’” within the 2030 Agenda.

This goal can only be achieved through a participatory, integrated and sustainable planning and governance of urban settlements, to be used across the different sectors and levels of the government, and through the promotion of synergies and joint actions between public administrations (top-down approach) and citizens (bottom-up approach).

In this context, Life HELP is a European project that aims to improve the planning, management, and evaluation of environmental policies to achieve sustainable development goals and is part of the LIFE program, the European Union’s main financial instrument that supports the development, implementation, and updating of the Union’s environmental policies.

The project is being carried out by the Municipality of Rimini, in the role of coordinator, together with theIstituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), the environmental and civil engineering company Vie en.ro.se. and the Rimini Strategic Plan Foundation, an entity that has been involved in integrated and participatory strategic planning for the Rimini area for more than 15 years.

Life HELP wants to experiment a new governance model of environmental policies – to be tested in the City of Rimini and replicable in other cities – by promoting an integrated and intersectoral approach aimed at achieving the environmental and climate goals set by the EU and the 2030 Agenda in a more efficient way.

The project will be implemented through a series of strategic actions that will work on three main dimensions:

• The decision-making and planning system of the Municipality of Rimini concerning the environment;
• The collection, management and use of environmental data, also used to monitor the environmental performance;
• Un cambio comportamentale misurabile sui temi ambientali da parte del grande pubblico (cittadini, studenti, aziende).

The main results the project aims to achieve by 2026 are:

• The achievement of direct environmental benefits through the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification, EMAS Registration and the signing of the Green City Accord;
• The adoption of a model for the management, monitoring and communication of environmental performances (that can also be replicated in other cities) through the adoption of specific guidelines and a new adimensional index;
• A measurable change in the general public’s behavior about environmental issues (citizens, students, companies).

The project will involve a wide pool of territorial and national stakeholders, including the various technical sectors of the administration and the contact persons of the companies responsible for the management of public services (water, waste, public transport, managers of parks and protected areas, control bodies), as well as theentire community, which will be involved in the various stages of the project through various participatory activities.

Beginning of the project: July 2023

Duration: 36 months

Budget: € 1.515.506,27 (60% co-funded by the European Union)

For more information about the project and to download the deliverables and public documents produced, visit: https://www.comune.rimini.it/progetti-europei/life-help

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