ISOLA BELLA
The general aim of the project ISOLA BELLA is to strengthen the governance of minor islands’ Public Administration in order to transform them from marginal and peripheral communities of the Mediterranean into a “networking” system, able to promote new development models, instruments and strategies based on a participatory decision-making process in order to manage the territory according to the principles of sustainability. Minor islands represent an invaluable resource from the point of view of culture, landscape and business for the entire Mediterranean area. They convey added value to the Mediterranean and have become, at international level, a strong pole of attraction that is increasingly fragmented and diversified in terms of seasons and types of services. The island situation can represent a serious threat for the development of the territories and, if overlooked, it can worsen a socio-economic gap already existing between the costs and the islands. The project’s strategic objectives are therefore: • Fostering the growth of local communities through the creation of a concerted and permanent platform to share development strategies and negotiate good methodological choices; • Increasing the sustainability of actions undertaken by Public Administrations through the development of territorial development models; • Safeguarding and upgrading islands as a sort of “product”, through the activation of innovative information and technological platforms to be used as instruments to support decisions; • Enhancing human resources through training courses, addressed to local people also via Internet and using IT to reduce geographical isolation; • Promoting a common identification of different islands by means of networking and territorial marketing actions in order to offer to the economic and social partnership a reference framework for investments and competition on different quality segments.