The Province of Turin has been celebrating World Environment Day since 1997 and all the social actors committed to environmental issues look forward to 5 June of this year.

From the first, the day has been seen as an opportunity to present the province’s achievements in sustainable development, and to give it credit for working out new strategies.

Among the province’s many environmental policies is strategic planning for sustainable development through a local Agenda 21: this programme is now half-completed and has already fostered many projects and interventions. World Environment Day has been very important for the province in this process. Through it, Turin has become aware of the role played by several active stakeholders, and this has strengthened its will to succeed with the environmental policies they share. Such an approach is the basic principle of Agenda 21.

Particular attention has been given to developing renewable sources of energy and biomass, and to rationalizing the use of hydroelectric sources. Other priorities include implementing new systems for the integrated management of water, aimed at eco-efficiency; a waste disposal programme which aims to recycle 50 per cent of the wastes produced and recover energy from the rest; and shared decision-making on the siting of waste disposal plants.

Emphasis has been given to landscape preservation through a network of provincial parks, and to environmental education through the creation of territorial laboratories.

For years the province has promoted sustainable transport. This is achieving tangible results through the creation of an underground system for Turin and its metropolitan area, the Turin railway axis, inter-exchange areas and other projects that combine to create a coordinated transport system for the wider metropolitan area.

UNEP’s proposal that the Province of Turin should host the celebrations for World Environment Day, involving representatives from different continents, is the natural consequence of the role that the province has assumed for years in creating a lasting network between similar local and foreign communities. At a national level, the province’s commitment over the years has merited the presidency of the body coordinating Italian local authorities involved in achieving local Agenda 21s.