A manifesto to relaunch the development of Marche

We adhere to the invitation of Buti, Casini Benvenuti and Petretto to flank their Manifesto per la reindustrializzazione della Toscana with a Manifesto dedicated to Marche. We share the aim of soliciting a reflection on the relaunch of regional development, in the face of the persistent decline of our regions over the last fifteen years. From 2009 to 2023, the regions with GDP per capita above the European average fell from 12 to 7. Tuscany and Marche have retreated, after remaining above the European average for a long time, in line with Italy. The post-2007 crisis has highlighted the structural fragility of the Marche production system: less powerful in terms of its capacity to produce income, but less disruptive of territorial, environmental and social balances. In fact, welfare indicators placed Marche at the top of the Italian regions, higher than income indicators. The GDP slowdown implies less capacity to invest in innovation, but also in health, environment, education, culture, to the detriment of individual and collective wellbeing. The nightmare of deindustrialisation has taken over from the pride of being the most manufacturing region in Italy.

A realistic diagnosis must be based on two central issues to be resolved: the capacity of the regional system to innovate and the quality of the ruling class.

The European Commission has released the Ris 2025, a measure of the 'innovative health' of the Italian regions, looking at human capital, R&R investment, the ability of companies to innovate and economic impact, compared to the European average. The tail end is represented by Umbria and Marche. Both classified as 'Moderate Innovators', they have recorded a significant drop in the last two years: -5.8% and -8.1% respectively. The Marche region shows international peaks of excellence in design and manufacturing, but is penalised by structural weaknesses in two areas that are decisive for competitiveness: widespread digital skills and the endowment of ICT specialists. In applied research, in the generation of skills and technologies and their transfer to companies and workers, the Marche region has gone into reverse gear by misspending the major resources available precisely on innovation. This is a serious observation at a time of great transformation in which manufacturing will change its face thanks to digitalisation and industrial Ai. A region that is particularly isolated in terms of infrastructure, which is ageing and does not innovate, is giving up any chance of attracting people and investment.

On the second node, the 'contraption' fuelled by entrepreneurial vitality has jammed with the difficult generational transition in family businesses, the sale of several companies and the polycrisis that has mown down hundreds of small entrepreneurs. The central role of the endogenous entrepreneurial ruling class was weakened. The institutional ruling classes have not compensated for the gap with competent and dynamic leadership to cope with the difficulties and uncertainty that have undermined the technology- and finance-driven global economic order. Thus technology and finance are still two weaknesses of the regional economy, which cannot be compensated for by the growth of service activities with low added value, sources of precariousness and underemployment.

The judgement that emerges from the multi-voiced analyses in the volume on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the region (1970-2020) is emblematic. The regional authority cannot claim credit for the industrial take-off that preceded it. Trapped in petty parochial interests, it has not overcome the disconnect between the statutory objectives of planning and the actual ability to govern the region on a programmatic basis. The plans drawn up have often remained on paper, especially at each change of legislature. There has been a lack of a culture of open construction, which requires knowledge of the problems, clarity of objectives, and continuous monitoring of the implementation phases.