Renewables Energy Communities to Restore the City/Country Relationship: The Case of San Severo in the Apulia Region (Italy)

The interrelation between the processes of urbanization and global issues including climate change, energy shortage and food crisis have an influence on the interaction between the city and rural regions. Given the complexity of such processes, which are primarily the result of human activity, it is evident that innovative policy guidelines, as well as instruments, are needed to effectively address these issues within a multitude of territorial contexts. To revitalize the “peri-urban agricultural” territory as a heterogeneous and dynamic space to be shared between citizens and farmers, with the aim of producing not only food but also energy, it is necessary to investigate potential urban-rural synergies for the adoption of new models according to a holistic and sustainable perspective. These models, also known as energy communities, share energy generated locally from renewable sources. This paper examines EU, national and local instruments or regulatory initiatives in support of energy production from renewable sources, particularly renewable energy communities (RECs), with specific reference to the European and Italian contexts. In this regard, an ecosystemic management model for a peri-urban area is proposed, using the Municipality of San Severo in the Apulia Region (Italy) as the study area. This model connects the spaces surrounding the cities to the rural territory by facilitating the diffusion of food models aimed at bringing local consumption and agriculture closer together (urban gardens). It also makes use of eco-sustainable energy systems, such as agro-photovoltaic, aiming at a proximity integration between these two dimensions for a new “city-country pact.”