Bellezza Italia - Paestum

Recovery and restoration of degraded areas, culture of legality and rights, synergies between citizens, companies and institutions to return compromised areas to the common good.

Development of active policies and suitable instruments in order to improve resilience to climate change.

From the Memorandum of Understanding between Unipol and Legambiente Bellezza Italia is born: the first project, Operation Argonauta, is underway between the dunes of Paestum.

Imagine the Paestum archaeological area, the Greek colony located in the province of Salerno dating back to VII century BC, restored taking into account the original geographic unit and reconnected to its ancient sea access by a path joining the main decumanus of the ancient city to the beach, passing through the western gate of the Polis (Porta Marina). All this accompanied by clear signposting, creating a single environment that extends towards the protected dune area, an extraordinary and popular site essential for the conservation and enhancement of the delicate costal habitat. From the entrance of the Oasis, a path reconnected to the existing one, upgraded and made accessible for the disabled and visually impaired, will lead all the way to the beach. The trail will be equipped with information stations, dedicated to the learning and discovery of the environmental, historical and cultural aspects of the area.

Finally imagine being able to visit this entire fascinating zone by foot, in complete safety, passing through a picturesque promenade that was once the landing place of the Greek colonists who founded the city, thus being able to newly appreciate that ancient and essential relationship between the city and the sea, currently lost.

In summary, imagine the first project to be implemented by the Unipol Group and Legambiente as a part of Bellezza Italia, the campaign born as a result of the collaboration of the two entities that signed a Memorandum of Understanding today in Rome, jointly engaging them in the proposal and implementation of the recovery and restoration of degraded areas in Italy, that may then be enjoyed by citizens. But not only: the project, over the coming years, will also be an instrument for spreading a culture of legality and rights, and for promoting all possible synergies between civil society, companies and institutions involved in compromised or abandoned areas that may be recovered and made available to the common good.

Yet “Bellezza Italia” will not be the only area of collaboration between Unipol Gruppo Finanziario and Legambiente. The partnership will in fact cover many different fields, with the dual objective of consolidating the environmental commitment of the Unipol Group in the country and increasing the awareness of its direct stakeholders concerning the importance of protecting and enhancing the Italian territory, and result in a number of actions aimed at the development of active policies and suitable instruments in order to improve resilience to climate change in Italy.

“Bellezza Italia,” stated the Chairman of Legambiente Vittorio Cogliati Dezza, “aims to enhance the most characteristic locations and experiences of the country from an environmental and social standpoint, those places of inestimable value due to their historical and artistic wealth and beauty, but also the environmental and social issues that make Italy unique, forming its identity. The active citizenship of Legambiente, together with Unipol’s commitment to creating a virtual community able to report areas of intervention for future analysis and direct voluntary contributions in time and/or funds, will allow the implementation of concrete environmental and social projects aimed at returning degraded urban and suburban spaces to proper use by the community. Returning beauty to local territories,” continued Mr Cogliati Dezza, “is not only a crucial restoration project, but above all it is the best way to restore hope and a future vision, towards viable development.”

“The Memorandum signed today by the Unipol Group and Legambiente,” highlighted Pierluigi Stefanini, Chairman of Unipol Gruppo Finanziario, “intends to initiate a long-term partnership, since we are convinced that environmental protection will become increasingly important for domestic wellbeing, welfare and security policies. There are many issues to work on together: from protecting the territory, to ensuring the safety of degraded areas and identifying new ways to address climate change, reducing the damage and anticipating the risks, all central aspects in the social role of insurance companies.”

Information on the collaboration between Legambiente e Unipol Gruppo Finanziario and more in general will be published on the national portal of Legambiente, www.legambiente.it, on the website www.sostenibilita.unipol.it/ and on the corporate website www.unipol.it under the section Partnerships. To follow the works of the Operation Argonauta project live, please visit http://www.legambiente.it/bellezza-italia, http://www.facebook.com/progetto.BellezzaItalia, http://twitter.com/BellezzaItalia/