CONTACT DETAILS

Project manager: Francesco FIORINO, f.fiorino@comune.palermo.it

Communication /Financial Manager:

Vincenza CONIGLIARO, v.conigliaro@comune.palermo.it

Caterina TARDIBUONO, c.tardibuono@comune.palermo.it

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The municipality of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is a public body al local level. The mission of the city of Palermo consists in recognizing, identifying and responding to the demands of citizens related to the social, cultural, economic and urban land.

The structure of the Municipality of Palermo is composed of 16 specific areas related to the activities of the macro- areas.

The macro-areas involved in the project in question are:

• Area for Development Policy and the Structural Funds - Europe Service
• Area for Environment and Liveability - Service Environment

The main tasks of the Europe Service, within the area of reference mentioned above are:

- To inform different sectors of the municipality of Palermo on the publication of tenders financed directly from national and regional resources or from European funds managed by our Regional Authority, as well as the European funds managed directly by Brussels;
- To coordinate, monitor and follow the steps to get to the financing of the project;
- To coordinate various stages of implementation of projects approved for funding;
- To start and run, for each funded project, a system of monitoring and evaluation in order to achieve the objectives and expected results;
- To activate contacts with partners from other EU member states and non-EU countries;
- To participate, representing the city of Palermo, at meetings at European and international level , involving issues concerning the activities of the municipal administration;
- To treat and monitor the relevant part of the compilation, entry and processing of documentation generally requests for access to non-municipal funds.

The main tasks of the Environment Service, within the area of reference mentioned above, are:

- To target actions and proposals for environmental protection: initiatives and actions aimed at improving environmental quality; arrangements and agreements with agencies, organizations and third institutions in environmental matters; waste and contaminated sites; issues related to the abandonment and uncontrolled storage of waste; emission measures (injunctions and orders) against those responsible for wrongful acts related to the waste;
- Rational use of energy and renewable energy sources: initiatives aimed at reducing the energy consumption of municipal facilities; initiatives concerning the use of renewable energy sources; air pollution; initiatives to reduce air pollution and noise; actions and interventions on sustainable mobility aimed at environmental protection; management of supply of electricity, water and natural gas, municipal utilities and monitoring; consumption and expenditure; inspections and tests to ensure proper identification of the points of delivery; environmental education activities, information and training; designing interventions for the protection and conservation of sites of the community’s interest;
- Actions aimed at enhancing areas of natural value subject to European legislation in the field of habitats (Natura 2000 network).

The local government, through the action of Environment Service, intends to play a decisive role in the transformation of the area, taking into account also the interventions in mitigating the effects of climate change, given that 80% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions are associated with urban activities.

In order to translate the political commitment into concrete measures and projects, the Municipality of Palermo joined the Covenant of Mayors, with the goal of reducing by 2020 more than 20 % of the CO2 emissions. The City Council has, therefore, undertaken to prepare a Baseline Emission Inventory and submit a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), outlining the main actions that they intend to start.

The Covenant of Mayors and the SEAP include actions on three thematic areas:

- ENERGY actions to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings and public lighting systems and installation of plants using renewable energy sources, promoting energy saving among citizens and businesses, check the energy efficiency of air-conditioning systems, promoting electric mobility powered by photovoltaic systems, etc.;
- LIFE: actions for the development of sustainable mobility, such as mass public transportation, car sharing, car pooling, bike sharing, bike lanes, etc.;
- ECONOMY: the promotion of energy efficiency and reduction of environmental impacts in accommodation and in commercial establishments, the spread of the environmental European Eco-label, development of ICT applications for tourist services and commercial activities.

Thanks to the work done in the last decade, through participation of the Environmental Department in the preparation of the Municipal Energy Plan (approved in 2000) and the projects MedClima Climate Alliance for Mediterranean Cities, and ZEN - Zero Emission Neighbourhoods, the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) was prepared, which analyzes the municipal energy balance compared to the reference year (1990) and the following decade.

This disaggregated analysis of the final energy consumption in Palermo clearly indicates the energy categories that must be addressed by policies to reduce energy consumption. Starting from the analysis of data contained in the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), the city of Palermo has identified priority areas for action and initiatives to be undertaken in order to achieve the reduction targets of CO2:

-The construction industry, which is the second most energy-intensive sector. The actions of energy savings to be realized in buildings and public lighting systems of the city of Palermo will be carried out after proper "energy audits" and retrofit projects. The municipality will develop an Energy cadastre, a detailed database on the thermo-physical properties of buildings and of associated facilities and a plan of public lighting;
- The transport sector has been faced with the aim of developing a "sustainable mobility " through a gradual renewal of the fleet of vehicles circulating in the area and the implementation of sustainable mobility systems such as trams, and through- ring rail, carpooling, car sharing and bike sharing;
- The city wants to facilitate the diffusion of photovoltaic systems on private buildings through initiatives to "Green Public Procurement” (GPP) to reduce the costs of provision of photovoltaic panels.