Valdichiana4green

The experimental project Valdichiana4Green, selected along with 10 other areas in Europe by the Futural initiative funded under the Horizon Europe program, addresses the challenges of Valdichiana Senese, a rural area in the Tuscany Region, with the goal of strengthening citizen engagement and promoting local participation in decision-making processes for more resilient development. The project aims to foster rural development through the integration of sustainable tourism and the agri-food sector, contributing to the ecological transition and the economic growth of the territory.

An initial context analysis highlights the need to diversify the economy and integrate production chains (agriculture and tourism account for over 60% of the local GDP), to organize and promote sustainable tourism through the provision of green services, to strengthen innovation in local businesses (as rural SMEs face difficulties in accessing digital infrastructure and innovation financing), and to support young entrepreneurs in developing their activities.

The key objectives of Valdichiana4Green include supporting (tourism and rural) businesses in adopting sustainable practices (and, ideally, sustainability certifications), enhancing competitiveness through digital tools, and engaging young entrepreneurs in sharing knowledge and experiences on sustainability practices. The project also aims to foster dialogue between the public and private sectors, with a view to sustainable planning aligned with EU and national policies and financial instruments. 

The objectives can be achieved through two coordinated dimensions, which enable experimentation:

• Digital dimension: a collaborative technological platform will be developed, structured around four tools:
  1.  “Valdichiana Going Green” certification software, providing information and measurements on sustainability certifications for tourism and agri-food businesses (e.g., farm stays, wineries, etc.). The software, already developed at prototype stage for hospitality businesses within projects carried out by Ecotrans (a European network of sustainable tourism experts, of which ACTA was a founding member in 1993) in collaboration with the German Ministry of the Environment, capitalizes on Ecotrans’s 30 years of experience with certification programs. It represents an advancement by also including assessments and evaluations for agri-food businesses (farm stays, wineries, travel agencies, etc.).
  2. “Green Travel Map”, offering a clustered representation of all public and private stakeholders engaged in sustainability pathways (or certified). The graphic visualization—and related data—will be integrated into the Going Green Ecosystem, the ecosystem for sustainable businesses and destinations within the Destinet.eu platform.
  3. Online training courses, designed to encourage sustainable practices and facilitate the circulation of information among different local stakeholders—both public and private—with particular attention to young entrepreneurs.
  4.  A digital and community-based feedback system to ensure a participatory approach and propose a new local business model. Accompanied by various co-design and design workshops, the system will promote dialogue between policymakers and local businesses, aiming to leave guidelines for local policymakers and foster inter-institutional dialogue.
• Participatory dimension: through a method internationally recognized (the Spectrum of Public Participation, IAP2), several phases of territorial engagement will be implemented (inform, consult, involve, collaborate, empower). The goal is to validate the certification software for businesses and jointly define criteria useful for clustering, while also fostering dialogue between public and private stakeholders, addressing inter-institutional cooperation dynamics (Union of Municipalities and individual Municipalities, Inner Areas, Tourism Districts, Local Action Groups, Region, Province), and identifying forms and methods of co-design for future tourism and rural planning.

Valdichiana4Green enables the Valdichiana area to engage with the European context through its network of partners and the projects funded by Futural, adopting an experimental approach based on innovation and transnational cooperation. Within this framework, the reference to Horizon Europe — the European Union’s Framework Programme for research and innovation — positions local activities within a system structured according to international criteria and standards, facilitating access to European resources, methodologies, and networks focused on scientific excellence, sustainability, and social impact.

Project partners

Within these processes, the four partners forming the Valdichiana4Green Consortium will take on differentiated yet complementary roles:

ACTA- Sensi Contemporanei srl Impresa Sociale: Through the 3P® method (Policies, Processes, Projects), ACTA guides the territory on a path toward sustainable development, supporting local communities in strengthening their skills and co-creating effective solutions. ACTA’s methodological approach ensures that the project is rooted in local needs, that decisions are made participatively, and that they are consistent with relevant public policies starting from the community level.

Futural Project

Futural involves 21 partners across 10 countries, with the Agricultural University of Athens as the lead institution, engaging academic and research institutes, industrial companies, service providers, and non-profit organizations from the fields of computer science, social and human sciences, economics, rural research, policy, and public administration. This setup, combining the research and innovation capacities of research institutes with the technological development expertise of industry and the dissemination and communication skills of non-profit organizations, covers a broad spectrum. It thus encompasses the wide range of practical and theoretical competencies needed to achieve the project’s objectives and follows a well-defined organizational structure based on the DESCA (Development of a Simplified Consortium Agreement) model, providing a reliable framework for the FUTURAL consortium.

The multi-stakeholder approach is essential to bring all the key actors of the value chain to the table and involve them in developing and implementing realistic solutions aimed at effectively addressing the challenges faced by rural communities.

The consortium is well-positioned to deliver the results promised in this proposal. Moreover, it boasts extensive experience in the Social and Human Sciences, as well as in open science practices applied to research and development. Finally, the consortium partners ensure that gender equality is considered internally at all stages of research and innovation and subsequently implemented throughout the entire collaboration.

Why in Valdichiana?

Valdichiana Senese has been chosen as a testing ground because it represents a particularly favorable context for social, cultural, and economic innovation. Here, collaboration between institutions and local stakeholders is already well-established, and concrete steps toward sustainability have been initiated, such as the GSTC certification of the Municipality of Montepulciano, participation in the National Strategy for Inner Areas, and the LEADER program.

The experiment involves the ten municipalities of Valdichiana Senese (Cetona, Chianciano Terme, Chiusi, Montepulciano, Pienza, San Casciano dei Bagni, Sarteano, Sinalunga, Torrita di Siena, and Trequanda), offering tourism, agricultural, and wine production entrepreneurs the opportunity to take an active role in a forward-looking project, strengthening the competitiveness of local businesses and the international appeal of the territory.

The ecological transition and digital transformation are not costs, but extraordinary growth opportunities for territories and businesses. This is the direction indicated by the latest European Union policies, which have provided significant investments specifically to support experimental projects that combine innovation, sustainability, and the active participation of citizens and economic operators.

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