Institutional Projects

The Covenant of Mayors

The Municipality of Busseto’s commitment in favour of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources

After the adoption of the European package on climate and energy in 2008, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors to endorse and support the efforts made by local authorities in implementing policies in the sustainable energy field. In fact, local governments play a vital role in mitigating the effects resulting from climate change, especially if we consider that 80% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions is associated with urban activities.

The Covenant of Mayors is the main European movement involving local and regional authorities that have undertaken to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in their territories. Through their efforts, the signatories of the Pact aim to achieve and exceed the European goal of 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020.

For its unique characteristics – being the only movement of this kind to mobilise local and regional players to pursue the European objectives – the Covenant of Mayors is considered by European institutions an exceptional model of multilevel governance.

The Municipality of Busseto joined the Covenant of Mayors in September 2012.

Virtuous Municipalities

The City of Busseto has become part of the VMA – the Virtuous Municipalities Association. In January 2013, in fact, the Association’s management, active since 2005 and coordinated by Marco Boschini (councillor in Colorno, Parma) accepted the candidature submitted by the Municipality of Busseto. As stressed in the association’s statute, the municipalities participating: “consider that intervening in defence of the environment and improving the quality of life, and protecting community property, in the sense of natural, relational and non-transferable assets that belong to humanity, is possible, and that they want to take advantage of this opportunity no longer just as a slogan, aware that the challenge today is represented by the transition from a statement of principles to everyday practice.”

The statutory aims concern in particular a commitment to:

  • “aspiring to optimal management of the territory, under the banner of the guiding principle behind “zero land consumption” (zero cementing option, recovery and redevelopment of brownfield sites, design and programming of territory investee, sustainable building, etc.);
  • reducing the ecological footprint of the municipal machine through concrete and efficient measures and interventions (energy efficiency, green purchasing, organic canteens, etc.);
  • reducing air pollution by promoting concrete policies and projects for sustainable mobility (car-sharing, bicycle-sharing, car-pooling, integrated public transportation, “walking buses”, choice of alternative and less polluting fuels, in compliance with local agricultural production, designed to satisfy the food needs of their communities and biodiversity, etc.);
  • promoting proper waste management, no longer seen as a problem but as a resource, through separate waste collection “door to door” and the activation of concrete projects to reduce waste production (including projects for recycling, etc.), in a policy aiming for “zero waste”;
  • providing incentives for new lifestyles among local authorities and their communities, through policies and plans designed to stimulate in the citizenship sober and sustainable daily choices (self-production, short supply chain, organic and seasonal food, supporting the creation of purchasing groups, sustainable tourism and hospitality, promotion of a culture of peace, cooperation and solidarity, “unpacking” of territories, diffusion of fair-trade, time banks, ethical finance, etc.), favouring as much as possible self-production of goods and the exchange of “services”, removing them from the market for a society of sobriety inspired by themes of de-growth.”

For further informations visit www.comunivirtuosi.org, Associazione Comuni Virtuosi – Sito Ufficiale.