The river in the city: requalification and shared management of the water resource. – The watercourse of the Basento river, in the segment that runs through the regional capital of Basilicata, Potenza, has undertaken enhancement and redevelopment initiatives, in order to allow its reintegration into the urban fabric. The pourpose of this contribution is to outline the process that is leading to the requalification of the river area – in the context of the Basento River Park – as well as the ex Cip-Zoo, a former industrial area. The aim is to return them to the community, which is attempting to participate in decision-making processes through voluntary and spontane-ous actions. A qualitative analysis, based on questionnaires addressed to citizens, reveals that the community is searching for a space of agency, hence the demand of governance tools that can make these participatory processes more structured and effective.

E-participation in River Contracts in the Campania Region. The Case of the Tusciano River experience. – The paper explores the contribution of Information Communication Technologies to local participation in River Contracts. These forms of agreement enable the adoption of a system of rules in which environmental sustainability criteria are implemented through effective solutions for the redevelopment of river basins. The prerequisite for the establishing of a River Contract is the involvement of all interested parties at the various levels of management. However, the widespread distribution of experiences in River Basin Districts and the application of innovation are not homogeneous in Italy. In particular, in the Campania Region both notable delay and poor participation have been evidenced. The analysis of the case of the Tusciano river continues to confirm a wide gap between the rhetoric of participation and effective operational practice.

“Oltre la strada”, within the neighborhood. Grassroots initiatives for the urban periphery in Fiumicello, Brescia. – The paper deals with the urban regeneration of the western periphery of Brescia (Lombardy’s second largest city). More specifically, the work focuses on “Oltre la Strada”, one of the winning projects of the “Bando Periferie” in 2016. Conceived as a tool against urban decay, the project seems to have only partially achieved the object of solving the urban fragmentation, and there are still several doubts and concerns among residents and local associations from the area where the redevelopment processes took place. In particular, the paper analyzes the case of Fiumicello – a neighborhood characterized by an industrial past, immigration and grassroots initiatives – and of the association Via Milano 59, which carries out every day the mission of encouraging dialogue and filling in the institutional gaps in this small neighborhood.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan: recovery of inner areas for sustainable tourism and economy. – European Commission and European Parliament have issued the Recovery Plan, also called Next Generation EU, to revive the finance and the economy of European countries compromised by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Italian Government has developed a specific plan for the recovery of inner areas with particular attention to the redevelopment of the villages: very emblematic, in this sense, The National Borough Plan, promoted and managed directly by The Italian Ministry of Culture. The Recovery of inner areas perfectly coincides whit the great challenges of contemporary society: ecological transition, climate change, environmental sustainability, better quality of life. Concepts such as slow philosophy, slow food, slow tourism are increasingly popular and form the basis for a profound cultural change, to build a slow life that is more compatible with the needs and sensibilities of humanity.

Migrants, abandonment and reuse of historical centers. The case of Riace in Calabria. – Italy, a migratory crossroads between Europe, Africa and Asia, has always been affected by migratory movements that have affected its regions in different ways. In recent decades, they have assumed a synergistic demo-graphic dimension between population and depopulation, which modifies the structure and composition of the population, mitigating the unstop-pable demographic decline along with the depopulation of historic cen-ters. This is possible through urban redevelopment and socio-economic revitalization paths linked to the reception of migrants. The contribution analyzes possible causes and effects of migratory processes on the Cala-brian population, using the Riace case study as a model in which the “wel-come path” has had positive results and revitalized the historical center with the return of residents and the construction of a society with high values of cultural pluralism.

Covid-19 and tourism in Italy: from the devastating effects of the pandemic to the relaunch policy for a strategic sector. – The world is facing an unprecedented global health, social and economic emergency as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 has gravely wounded the world economy with serious consequences impacting all communities and individuals. Moving rapidly across borders, along the principal arteries of the global economy, the spread of the virus has benefited from the underlying interconnectedness – and frailties – of globalization, catapulting a global health crisis into a global economic shock. Travel and tourism is among the most affected sectors with a massive fall of international demand amid global travel restrictions including many borders fully closed, to contain the virus. Looking at this context, the contribution aims to evaluate the pandemic effects on this strategic sector. The research, in the future, opens a direct focus on the impact of the virus on some specific sectors of Italian tourism, to identify priority and useful guidelines for relaunching the sector.