FUTURE4CITIES: the municipality of Bari awarded at the Festival of Milano

FUTURE4CITIES: the municipality of Bari awarded at the Festival of Milano

During Future4Cities Festival, held a Milano on October 25th and 26th, the Municipality of Bari received the national award in the Local Economic Development category for the project A shop is not just a shop, created within the framework of d_Bari, the program to support the local economy City of Bari.

The award, announced by the online community Will Media, From, Base Milano and Italian Representation of the European Commission, took into consideration projects (plans, actions, legislative initiatives, cultural initiatives, participation paths, collaboration agreements, information and communication campaigns) that are developed within 6 macro-categories: mobility, community, local economic development, innovation, urban regeneration, special mentions.

Applications and recommendations – 370 in total, coming from public administrations and private organizations from all over Italy - were evaluated by a diverse jury of experts among the most authoritative professionals in the sectors ofurban innovation. The Municipality of Bari won first prize in the Local Economic Development category, which evaluated applications for policies for the promotion of quality work, initiatives for stimulate innovation in the field of professional training and investment in new skills, local development plans to stimulate and consolidate territorial vocations, territorial marketing actions, festivals and cultural initiatives to attract new flows (of inhabitants, visitors, investments), initiatives to revitalize local trade, initiatives to encourage youth activation and forms of support for entrepreneurship.

The councilor for Productive Activities received the award yesterday afternoon during the awards ceremony Carla Palone, together with Roberto Covolo, member of the mayor's staff for the urban economy and support for new entrepreneurial initiatives. “I dedicate this award to all the traders from Bari who accepted the challenge of A shop is not just a shop - he has declared Carla Palone -: the proximity economy is a resource for the City of Bari, for its identity, for the ability to create jobs, services, relationships, aggregation and safety in the city streets. The recognition received is an incentive to move forward on the path we have undertaken: considering the Bari shopkeepers our allies in Bari's local development strategy".

The project A shop is not just a shop, finances commercial development initiatives by micro and small businesses in the Bari area with non-repayable contributions. In exchange for public incentives for investments, the beneficiary shops undertake to implement initiatives, events and free services for the progress of the local community.

The first edition of the notice involved approx 200 merchants with over 90 projects funded for a total investment of about 4 million euro. The second edition of the announcement will be published in November 2023.