• Energy Research

Cultural heritage is recognized as a key element for local sustainable development, contributing to the identity of territories and cultural diversity of local communities. The concept of “heritage community”, as expressed by the Faro Convention, can be enhanced in decision-making processes for the adaptive reuse and valorization of cultural heritage to build shared and sustainable development scenarios. Communities represent fundamental actors able to drive active reflection and implement the exercise of civic responsibility and (inter)cultural policies. This paper explores how local communities can have an active and effective role in the adaptive reuse and valorization of cultural heritage, through a field experimentation conducted within the Horizon 2020 project “CLIC—Circular models Leveraging Investments in Cultural heritage adaptive reuse” in the area of Rufoli, Salerno (Italy), in the perspective of the circular economy/circular city model. Starting from heritage mapping and key stakeholder’s engagement, a local working group was built, and processes of knowledge building, envisioning, and community engagement were activated. The results showed that building a heritage community can be an effective starting point for “circular” adaptive reuse of cultural heritage, stimulating not only its recovery but also community bonds, civic responsibility, and potential entrepreneurial activities for longer-term sustainable development.

Purpose This paper aims to critically analyse the circular economy (CE) models adopted in hospitality and tourism to tackle societal challenges in the current Anthropocene era, exploring the driving values and sustainability approaches. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was carried out with an increasing level of analysis to delve more in-depth into the ability of the CE models to respond to current societal challenges. The review involved a stepwise analysis, starting with a thematic analysis of 151 papers to create a conceptual structure map of circular hospitality and tourism literature. Based on originality and representativeness, 22 papers were selected and analysed according to Hoffman and Jennings’ (2018; 2021) institutional approach to sustainability, which entails specific archetypes to address the Anthropocene society: market rules, technology fix and cultural re-enlightening. Findings The hospitality and tourism industry has made progress towards implementing CE models. However, CE models in market role and technology fix archetypes may fail to address the current challenges of the Anthropocene era. New culture-led approaches within the cultural re-enlightening archetype, such as the regenerative land practices, a-growth and place-making, and circular society, can foster a more radical shift towards strong sustainability. Research limitations/implications The paper highlights the urgent need for a cultural shift towards radical and strong sustainability, identifying future research directions. Policymakers have a crucial role in shaping sustainability practices consistent with an ecological culture centred on acknowledging planetary boundaries. Originality/value Despite the increasing interest in CE models, it is still debated how the hospitality and tourism industry can continue to thrive while avoiding harmful impacts on the environment and local communities. The study critically reflects on the current contribution of CE models towards strong sustainability in hospitality and tourism.

The circular city is emerging as new concept and form of practice in sustainable urban development. This is a response to the complex and pressing challenges of urbanization, as highlighted in the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The concept of a “circular city” or “circular city-region” derives from the circular economy model applied in the spatial territorial dimension. It can be associated with the concept of a “self-sustainable” regenerative city, as stated in paragraph n.71 of the NUA. This paper aims to develop an extensive form of “screening” of circular economy actions in emerging circular cities, focusing on eight European historic port cities self-defined as “circular”. The analysis is carried out as a review of circular economy actions in the selected cities, and specifically aims to identify the key areas of implementation in which the investments in the circular economy are more oriented, as well as to analyze the spatial implications of the reuse of buildings and sites, proposing a set of criteria and indicators for ex-ante and ex-post evaluations and monitoring of circular cities. Results show that the built environment (including cultural heritage), energy and mobility, waste management, water management, industrial production (including plastics, textiles, and industry 4.0 and circular design), agri-food, and citizens and communities can be adopted as strategic areas of implementation of the circular city model in historic cities, highlighting a lack of indicators in some sectors and identifying a possible framework for “closed” urban metabolism evaluation from a life-cycle perspective, focusing on evaluation criteria and indicators in the (historic) built environment.

In recent years, there has been a growing international governmental focus on the emergencies of climate change and biodiversity, in relation to the objectives of the Paris Agreement. There is a strict relationship between climate change and the city. All the activities that take place in an urban context contribute to climate change. In fact, a large amount of resources is consumed in cities with negative external effects in terms of pollutants and climate-altering emissions. In this scenario, the construction sector is considered one of the fields that contributes more to environmental depletion and climate change due to the continuous use of materials, energy and manufacturing technologies. Governments are striving to find new sustainability solutions and strategies both for the construction of new buildings and for the redevelopment/reuse of existing ones, including historic buildings. This contribution aims to identify strategies and tools for historic buildings renovation and energy retrofit to reach climate targets in the perspective of a more circular and sustainable building stock. A review of recent literature was developed to explore innovative materials and technologies that can be employed for energy retrofit of historic heritage buildings, including the analysis of exemplary case studies, taking into consideration the needed balance between cultural values conservation and climate change-related objectives. An abacus of suitable materials and technologies was developed and overall recommendations are proposed to enhance policies on historic buildings retrofit regulations.

The aim of this paper is to assess the strength and weakness factors of post-industrial cities located in the Gulf of Naples in order to propose the most effective regeneration strategies towards a sustainable development of the urban coastline. This paper focuses on the city of Torre Annunziata and in particular on its industrial port area and waterfront. The analysis suggests that a sustainable development would be possible through the redesign and new functionalization of the waterfront and port area, improving resilience and creativity in order to integrate economic growth, ecological preservation and social opportunities. Thus, this paper is a proposal for a participative approach to the regeneration of the urban waterfront, enhancing the creative potential of the city and developing a new image for the waterfront that could become the strategic vision for a future economic, environmental and cultural development. A comparison between the waterfronts of Torre Annunziata and La Spezia has been carried out in order to assess what are the most effective choices for the future of Torre Annunziata, followed by an applicative process based on interviews.

Abstract Modern cities are not only magnets of economic growth and prosperity, but also suppliers of cultural resources, both in a tangible or physical sense and also in a spiritual, political or historical sense. In the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) strategies for cities, a sustainable and inclusive development of cities necessitates a balanced development of the urban fabric, from both a socio-economic and ecological-cultural perspective (e.g., in a circular city context). The economic and environmental conditions for achieving the SDG achievement levels have been extensively discussed in the past years, but the supporting and intervening role of urban cultural resources still needs a more thorough scientific reflection. The present paper aims to offer a systematic approach so as to clarify the critical drivers of a sound urban development, including the implications for sustainable urban development (e.g., in the form of urban dashboards).

Terraced landscapes were for centuries forms of sustainable and multifunctional land management, results of a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment. They demonstrated a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems. These productive cultural landscapes in many cases were expressions of a pre-industrial circular model of rural development, where no resource was wasted. However, not all terraced landscapes have to be considered sustainable in themselves: in recent times, the terraces have undergone changes that have threatened their sustainability with abandonment and degradation as well as exclusively productive exploitation. This paper explores whether and how terraced landscape can recover an active role in modern society, analyzing emerging terraces recovery practices from the perspective of the circular economy. Innovative circular and productive uses of abandoned terraced landscapes aim at reducing the waste of natural and cultural resources, enlarging the lifetime (use value) of landscapes and preserving cultural and natural values for present and future generations. Results show that new functional uses of terraced landscapes are able to enhance in different ways their role as “middle landscapes” or places of mediation among economic, ecologic, ethical and aesthetic needs through circular adaptive reuse practices, becoming key drivers of new “circular” economies and a new pact between rural and urban regions.