January 20, 2024

Italy’s “inland areas” cover a total of 60% of the entire national surface. They are 52% of the municipalities and 22% of the population. They are fragile territories, far from the centres of essential services, often left to their own devices and whose need is to combat depopulation and develop conditions for rebirth. Many migrants have left these areas and many Italian-descendants return to these areas, sometimes to reside there and sometimes, as travellers of roots, to get to know the lands of origin of their parents or grandparents.

The UNCEM – National Union of Municipalities, Communities and Mountain Authorities, calling for a new policy to support these areas, today drew attention to the words that Pope Francis dedicated to them:

Small municipalities, especially those that are part of the so-called inland areas, and which are the majority, are often neglected and find themselves in a condition of marginality. The citizens who live there, a significant portion of the population, suffer from significant gaps in terms of opportunities, and this remains a source of inequality […] Marginal areas have always been, and even today, those that can become laboratories of social innovation, starting from a perspective – that of the margins – that allows us to see the dynamisms of society in a different way, discovering opportunities where others see only constraints, or resources in what others consider waste. Innovative social practices, which rediscover forms of mutuality and reciprocity and which reconfigure the relationship with the environment in the key of care – from new forms of agriculture to community welfare experiences – need to be recognized and supported, to nurture an alternative paradigm for the benefit of all”.

It is therefore necessary to support small municipalities, local authorities, communities that want to combat depopulation and abandonment. Replacing the logic of the WE with that of the I, making relationships and relationships grow, reducing inequalities and encouraging dialogue, meeting, reorganization of services to citizens, co-responsibility. And to request new laws that are more appropriate to meet the needs of communities in inland and mountain areas, in Italy and in Europe.