Tuesday 7 February 2023 | 17:30 – 19:00 CET
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The European Recovery and Resilience Facility is providing a major injection of public funding into the economies of EU countries. It has been spun as a green response to the current economic crisis following the Covid-19 pandemic. Regrettably, a glance at the various national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) of each state, as well as other public investments proposed by governments, reveals a different situation.
So far, mega-infrastructure projects proposed long before the pandemic have been typical within NRRPs. This is despite them propping up an environmentally, climatically and socially unsustainable economic model. They have been signed off by authorities without sufficiently consulting local communities and risk exacerbating the climate and economic crisis, instead of accelerating the transformation to a socially just society.
During this webinar, we will look at two major Italian infrastructure projects - the new breakwater in Genoa and the widening of the Bologna highway bypass. The Genoa breakwater is funded by the Italian NRRP, while the Bologna bypass expansion is somehow being presented as a symbol of ecological transition.
We will also turn our gaze to Estonia. The Estonian Green Movement will testify on the Rail Baltica railway project, funded by the Estonian NRRP also using the European Recovery and Resilience Facility.
We will hear some alternative proposals from Italian regions, emphasising the economic, climatic and social justice perspective. These alternatives will serve as a catalyst for an extended exchange with and between webinar guests in the second part of the meeting.
Speakers:
- Filippo Taglieri, ReCommon - The new breakwater in Genoa
- Maurizio Würtz, biologist - The Genoa breakwater’s impact on the marine environment and biodiversity
- Luca Tassinari, Comitato “No Passante” (Bologna) - The Bologna highway expansion and bottom-up alternatives
- Johanna Kuld, Estonian Green Movement - EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funding for the controversial Rail Baltica railway through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Moderator:
- Eva Pastorelli, CEE Bankwatch Network
This webinar is organised by the 'Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing' project, financed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), and is the first in a series that will continue over the coming months.
Participation is free of charge. Please register here to participate.
The webinar will be in Italian with English translation simultaneously provided.