Considering this future perspective appears necessary to seek alternative energy sources that don’t endanger the environment

The thesis develops the theme of environmental sustainability, focusing in particular on the role that energy plays in this context. The three main concepts that have allowed the relationship between the two issues are energy efficiency, use of renewable energy sources and the reduction of CO2 emissions, issues at the heart of the European debate.

These concepts constitute the overall theme of the thesis, which has been developed from the experience of internship, done at the research department of Hafen City University of Hamburg (GE), which is the academic partner of the European initiative “IMAGINE low energy cities”. The initiative has the specific aim to help cities, stakeholders and citizens to think, evaluate and accept the changes necessary from the point of view of energy to ensure environmental sustainability. In Particular, IMAGINE focuses on inspiring change and developing the concept of “low-energy city with a high quality of life for all” in order to contribute to inspiring the reflections and strategies of social, institutional and economic players at all levels. As well, IMAGINE intends to contribute to the success of the Covenant of Mayors, encouraging local authorities to define long-term visions. In this regard, has provided to the eight cities a grid to be filled out, which has allowed these to develop an analysis regarding the specific governance information and energy sectors.

During the internship in fact, the aim was to think a method to evaluate the quality of the grids compiled from partner cities. The individuated method allows an easy reading of the tables and provides for the development of the overall results.

mes introduced and the internship, the objec concerns the assessment of the progress made to daield, of the uate in energy projects as IMAGINE, of benefild draw and the elaboration of some recommendations/s to the itself and to keep up with the times.

Ting developed primarily by deepening the themes oftainabconsidering the European targets, analyzing tment of the EU in this context, noting in particulard analysis undertaken for the IMAGINE initiative and then using Torino and its Atainable Energy (TAPE) as a assessment of the plan, similarto that used in IMAGINE, and providing recommendations to the city to improve its performance in the field of energy . This will assess the effectiveness of IMAGINE and its chance to become a good practice to follow.

The subject of the thesis, in particular, has been developed and articulated from two major issues, environmental sustainability and energy issues (Chapter 2) and the concept of exchange of good practices (Chapter 3). The unifying element between the two themes is represented by the role that the EU plays in this context and by the European IMAGINE initiative, the subject of chapter 4.

In fact, once described the nature of the problem in relation to the European energy major theme of environmental sustainability and understood the concept of good practice and its exchange, is introduced the European IMAGINE initiative, conceived as a possible good practice by its nature of platform exchange of ideas, information, promotion and encouraging the development of actions for the energy shift. Here are also described and introduced the analyzes carried out in the internship experience for the eight European cities participating, by which develops the discourse on participation and the benefits that the initiative may involve.

Chapter 5 therefore focuses on the case study of the City of Turin, offers a description of the context and the plan that has been chosen to analyze, indicating the reasons and the methodology used for the evaluation. This chapter concludes with some final considerations by which are developed some recommendations to provide to the city to continuously innovate and improve itself on energy and on the environment field.

In other words, the analysis above described, has the purpose to provide the City of Turin, a new key of lecture and a real tool to be apprehended as an opportunity for development and change, IMAGINE objectives.