Parma Futuro Smart

By project POTEnT

Published on 13 July 2022

Italy

Emilia-Romagna

Parma

About this good practice

Given that the ultimate goal of cities’development is to serve their inhabitants and future generation without whom they become empty. The sharp increase in urban population and climate change represent two mayor challenges for cities. A succesful integration of technology in policy making can be a valid instrument for a smarter and data driven city’s management. To this end, decision makers require a holistic model for shaping Smart and Sustainable Cities. The prerequisite is a quadriple helix principle at the base of Cities’policies: administration, science, business and residents should cooperate with the overriding goal of improving residents quality of life and preserving the environment of future generation.

(How does the practice reach its objectives and how it is implemented?)
The City of Parma launched the initiative PARMA FUTURO SMART to co-design and co-manage the smart city process. Together with the most relevant stakeholders, the City of Parma will define the Smart City Plan working with 4 different thematic tables:
• Economy | Innovation
• Society | People
• Energy | Environment & Grid | Infrastructure
• Transport | Mobility

Resources needed

380 000 euros

Evidence of success

Parma City Council established a Smart City Protocol on May 28th 2019 between approx. 30 stakeholders from research institutions, public authorities (environmental agencies, territorial research organization), public companies, NGO’s and associations, industries and SMEs.
The goal of this Protocol is to institutionalize the 4 working tables launched in the phase 1 of the project in order to co-design a Parma Smart City Plan 2030.

Potential for learning or transfer

Through the multi-sectorial stakeholders engagement we learned that: a genuine long-term perspective beyond the current political cycle, agreed upon with the stakeholders, is key to ensure that short-term actions during the political cycle contribute to long-term aims, and helps cities to fulfil their obligations and reach 2030-2050 objectives.
Furthermore, Internal and external vehicles for collaboration in smart city projects, such as interdepartmental taskforces, special staff units, or legal entities as associations and public- private partnerships (PPP’s) are needed to overcome siloes within government sectors and businesses and to enable public-private collaboration.

Parma City Council Parma is learning to act in a practical and tangible way, through innovative tools and actions to develop a new scenario of growth and sustainable development. Key in this renovation is public and private partnership, bbuilt through a strong relationship with stakeholders.