A new sustainable governance approach for industrial areas in Italy

The presence of a productive area in a territory generates changes to the elements that make up that ecological environment, to the economic flow and to the supply and demand of social services. The three systems, Environmental, Social and Economic, are often interdependent, and the changes they undergo, due to the presence of an industrial area, may be negative on a system, meanwhile positive on another, or manifest diverse effects over time. But they cannot be ignored by a logic of sharing and partnership between installed businesses, institutions and public companies that operate in this context and other parties present, in order to achieve new models of development that point towards economy widespread, the ability to improve the quality of life and economic future of our cities. The new sustainable governance approach for industrial area in Italy (APEA model) proposed, aims to develop innovation in production, strengthening research and development already carried out by leading companies in the territory, focusing attention and using available resources to save energy and concentrate on renewable sources as an opportunity for a wide range of innovations not only linked to the energy field, by also to production processes, the civil sector and transport. This approach, in line with the principles of Industrial Ecology, offers a valid alternative to achieve the goals of sustainability in this sector, by adopting the principle of precaution and prevention of pollution and abandoning the end-of-pipe approach that is typical of traditional linear production systems.