For over 30 years, the concept of the ecological network has been the subject of several strategies and projects aimed at improving ecological connectivity. The efforts to create ecological networks have been several (from the European to the regional level), but often they have not been turned into concrete actions, thus not achieving the expected results. This work focuses on a new methodological approach to create effective ecological networks through an analysis that considers both the geography of the infrastructural gaps of the main roads and the framework of the new urbanization of the involved territories. In particular, it describes a case study about the territory adjacent to two Italian parks: Maiella

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Coastal areas are complex and fragile nature environments, they are strongly anthropized with a high level of pollution, habitat and ecological functions loss. The study area is the Italian coastal belt between Conero Promontory and Punta Aderci. The main goal of the work is both to analyse the present mosaic of land use/cover and investigate the morphodynamic processes to define rules necessary for the sector planning (e.g., Coastal defense planning, water catchment planning) and local planning.

The earthquake in central Italy in 2016 led to a profound urban and natural landscape transformation. The role of territorial planning in this kind of situation is extremely important because it allows the orientation of future settlement choices through appropriate interpretative keys of the existing territorial dynamics. This work aims to analyze the effects of the planning choices made in the post-earthquake period in the seismic crater municipalities of the Umbria region. Using the InVEST models, these studies regard the comparison of the effects of in-force plans on ecosystem services such as habitat quality and carbon storage. The data about the mosaic of the municipal urban planning tools are derived from specific actions produced under two LIFE projects (SUNLIFE and IMAGINE). The comparison makes it possible to identify how and to what extent the transformative scenarios, linked to the new condition, change the spatial planning compared to the previous one and the effects on the provision of ecosystem services. The knowledge of the latter aspect allows optimization of the methods of urban transformation that will be implemented. Moreover, this process of optimizing the provision of essential ecosystem services could certainly play a key role in the enhancement and economic recovery of these areas.

At a time when wars and pandemics have disrupted the world order and deeply damaged international agreements, more people are talking about the energy and food independence of the nation-states. It is clear that the achievement of these objectives will not be rapid, but it is also clear that land use must take account of these important aspects. The over-dimensioning of the settled areas presents illogically in almost all municipal urban planning plans regardless of their geographical location, demographic dynamics, and values of the administered territory; it certainly constitutes an obstacle to effective land use. The work presented here aims to analyze the effects on agricultural production of the transformations envisaged by the plans of the provinces of Modena and Reggio nell’Emilia, while also providing solutions that could promote the sustainability of the interventions planned in these areas of high agri-food value.