Inland areas, 36 Sicilian villages network with Pnrr funds

Redevelopment of the cultural heritage with the restoration of historic buildings, museums and other places related to culture, improvement of public spaces with the redevelopment of squares, streets, parks and gardens, support for cultural and creative activities with the creation of spaces for events, workshops, exhibitions, festivals and other initiatives. And again, the promotion of sustainable tourism, with the development of tourist itineraries, the creation of information points and the improvement of reception services, also by developing the organisation of scattered hotels, strengthening of the social fabric with the creation of aggregation centres, coworking spaces and other initiatives to encourage participation and social inclusion. These are some of the objectives for the regeneration of the 36 Sicilian villages where the 25 projects financed in Sicily, thanks to the NRP funds, related to the 'Attractiveness of Villages' investment, for a total of approximately EUR 44 million, are located.

Line B of measure M1C3, Investment 2.1 of the NRP finances local cultural and social regeneration projects in historic villages with a resident population of less than 5,000. The overall objective is to revitalise small historical villages, making them more attractive places for residents, tourists and investors, thus contributing to counter depopulation and to promote the economic and social development of inland areas. Approximately 370 million euro have been allocated to this line of investment, at a national level, to 294 municipalities. In Sicily, in particular, 25 projects have been financed for a total of about 250 interventions. "This is a great opportunity," says Salvatore Militello, mayor of Ustica, one of the localities involved, "and the Sicilian municipalities involved must network and enhance the territories in an attractive way, giving a perspective to the investments being made today.

The Pnrr's horizon and timeframe, in fact, are stringent and the current planning must be completed by June 2026. But as the mayors involved in these initiatives emphasised at a conference held in Palermo on 9 April, 'the real project begins when the individual projects end'. Yes, because soon the NRP funds will run out, but the legacy of these enhancement interventions will have to be managed in future years, in territories struggling with depopulation, where it is often difficult to find labour. 'The real bet,' explained Lucenzo Tambuzzo, artistic and general director of the Ustum project, 'is the sustainability of the results over time. What will happen when the Pnrr funding runs out? It is necessary to activate the communities of these territories and strengthen the third sector, avoiding localistic, isolated and punctiform implementations of these interventions. On the contrary, we must develop a common, broad and interconnected vision'. The meeting between the mayors of the 36 Sicilian municipalities involved in the NRP funding ended with the - shared - conviction that it is necessary to define a system strategy among the projects, capable of outlining thematic paths of regional networking and capitalisation of the efforts deployed.

With the hope that the Region and the Ministry of Culture can support the local communities, the mayors together imagined a future capable of translating individual efforts into a single proposal. Networking can be translated into concrete elements: the development of a business incubator capable of supporting the activities that will be set up in these territories; the activation of a shared calendar of festivals and cultural initiatives capable of traversing the entire region; tourist itineraries on a regional basis through the riches of these territories; and so on.

The Sicilian villages financed are the following: Alcara Li Fusi with aggregate San Marco d'Alunzio (Me), Santa Lucia del Mela (Me), Bivona (Ag), San Mauro Castelverde (Pa), Castel di Lucio (Me), Sant'Angelo Muxaro with aggregate Joppolo Giancaxio and Santa Elisabetta (Ag), Biuscemi (Sr), Casalvecchio with aggregate Antillo and Limina (Me), Ustica (Pa), Polizzi Generosa (Pa), Gratteri (Pa), Tusa (Me), Santo Stefano Quisquina (Ag), San Biagio Platani (Ag), Assoro (En), Ventimiglia di Sicilia (Pa), Ciminna (Pa), Novara di Sicilia (Me), Roccavaldina (Me), Villafrati (Pa), Ucria (Me), Poggioreale (tp), Isnello (Pa), Tripi (Me) and Bisacquino (Pa). 'Networking,' said Angelantonio Orlando, director general of the Ministry of Culture for the implementation of the NRP, 'means being able to multiply and implement interventions in the territory. All the municipalities of the 'borghi line' are included in an easily accessible platform and can exchange good practices as well as report on the various activities and actions that are carried out so that they can be shared'.