The "SABBIA" project for shore requalification

Daniela Minetti*, Rosanna Dursi**, Roberta Ivaldi***, Valentina Marin***, Francesca Palmisani*, Mauro Fabiano***

*Regione Liguria (I), **FEEM (I), ***University of Genova (I)

Abstract

The Environmental Management Systems are rapidly becoming one of the mostly used tools by local administration to start their integrated policies. That is the case of Liguria Region where this approach is now largely used, also thanks to the good results obtained by some pilot experiences of local administrations. In this context, in 2002 the municipalities of Arenzano, Cogoleto, Varazze, Celle Ligure, Albissola Marina and Albisola Superiore have started together the path to obtain the EMAS certification of the so called "Riviera del Beigua". This experience has been allowed thanks to the decision of investing a share of the refund obtained by the Riviera for the damages from the oil spill from the ship Haven occurred in 1991. The ultimate aim of this highly innovative project is the environmental certification by UNI EN ISO 14001 of the six municipalities and the EMAS registration of at least some of them, to be obtained no later than December 2004. Within this project, the experience of Celle Ligure is of great interest, having obtained the ISO 14001 certification since 2000 and having applied for three years a specific A21L Local Action Plan. The choice of the Regione Liguria and of the local municipalities is thus devoted not only to the restoration of the environmental impacts but also to the creation of new basis for environmental issues, also considering the socio-economic development. One of the more valuable elements of this project consists in the approach: the municipalities of the Riviera del Beigua are not working separately on this goal, but on the contrary they are doing it together as a territorial district. The six Municipalities, located between the cities of Genoa and Savona and belonging to two different Provinces, have thus acquired their common identity and are now looking forward to a new territorial and socio-economic development based on environmental quality. In this direction, important results have already been obtained such as the creation of a Sustainable Development Education center and the adoption of the Quality Chart for tourism and environment.
In this contest, the University of Genoa (Dip.Te.Ris.) and the Fondazione ENI - Enrico Mattei (FEEM), in collaboration with the Liguria Region and the Municipalities of the Riviera del Beigua have started the SABBIA project, an integrated environmental study carried out to assess the quality of local beaches and to propose tools and guidelines for the management of resort beaches, supporting local planning and management. The project has been developed in three phases:
1. Phase One, characterized by the collection and review of existing local data (environmental, socio-demographic, economic, tourist-oriented and political-managerial) and their integration with specific surveys (i.e. a questionnaire has been distributed to beach users, in order to obtain information related to people's perception). Moreover, the existing literature about indicators for ICZM in general and especially for beach management issues was reviewed.
2. Phase Two moved to the systemisations of data into a qualitative SWOT analysis which allowed to single out and to highlight synthetically all Strengths, Weaknesses and Risks related to the selected territory, in order to define different scenarios, highlighting the managerial Opportunities. A set of indicators for the assessment of the state of the beaches has then been defined, paying a specific attention to local problems and issues.
3. Phase Three foresees the use of this set of indicators for the formulation of a quantitative and territorial SWOT model, which allows to obtain numerical results.A great value of this tool is that it has not only analytical importance, but also a managerial and comparative one. This determine a plurality of output, useful for the beaches managers. For these reasons, outputs will be available to Local Authorities and divulged to stakeholders and end-users in order to help beach management practice and to enhance public awareness.