It is an initiative promoted by the Fondazione per lo sviluppo sostenibile to develop activities and interventions to make Italian cities greener in accordance with the most advanced European and international experiences. A Green City Approach is an integrated and multisectoral approach to cities, based on the decisive aspects of high environmental quality, resource efficiency and circularity, mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

The Green City Network intends to be a point of reference to promote good green practices in cities, to develop analyzes, in-depth analyzes and proposals, to disseminate European and international studies, to make opportunities for comparison available to the central, regional and local administrations concerned, training and in-depth study to develop and plan green economy policies and measures in cities.

The Green City Network involves:

• Cities, Regions and Central Administrations
• The National Group of Experts of the Green City Network
• Businesses and Business Organizations

To adapt to the changing climate a journey in 10 stages for Italian cities

A 10-point Declaration was signed in Milan on 16 July 2019 with the participation of a good number of Italian cities on the occasion of the 2nd Green City National Conference dedicated to adapting to climate change in cities with the aim of enriching knowledge of climate change adaptation policies and measures and call for greater attention to such a crucial issue for the well-being and quality of life of citizens.

The first 25 cities to have adhered to the Green City Climate Change Declaration are Assisi, Belluno, Bergamo, Casalecchio di Reno, Chieti, Cisterna di Latina, Cosenza, Florence, Genoa, Imola, Livorno, Mantua, Milan, Monterotondo, Naples, Padua, Palermo, Parma, Pordenone, Syracuse, Sorradile, Tivoli, Turin, Venice.

Italy is more exposed than other countries to the impacts of climate change and is in 2nd place in Europe for the economic losses generated by climate change with over 63 billion euros (EU Commission, 2018). Future warming in the Mediterranean region is expected to exceed global rates by 25%, with summer heating 40% higher than the world average. Recently the European Copernicus Program published the data for the temperatures of June 2019 and the statistics confirm it: it was the hottest June in Europe since the measurements exist with temperatures of about 2 ° C higher than normal.

Overall, the economic losses recorded in Europe in the period 1980-2016 caused by meteorological phenomena and other extreme weather-related events exceeded 436 billion euros. Against these impacts, at European level, only 26% of cities have implemented a climate adaptation plan, 17% a joint plan for mitigation and adaptation, while 33% have no local climate plan.