DARE

Project

In Ravenna there is a district called “DARSENA”, the city docks. It used to be the city's business and lively pole, until the Port developed outside the city. Moreover, the railway has divided the historical city center and the suburbs.

These factors made Darsena an abandoned industrial area (as large as the city center, with 32 private owners) side to side with a densely populated residential area (20.284 people, 16% non-nationals, 23% over 65 y.o., low incomes). Environmental situation, security and cohesion are challenging, as well as developing new functions and assets for the district, where major business investment was recorded in the last 30 years.

After unsuccessful top-down attempts to redevelop, in 2010-15 a new path was started. An integrated strategy was designed through a participatory process, and in 2016 an infrastructure action plan was started-up by the Municipality and some private investments popped-up. DARE moves from such a complex context to engage a powerful Urban Regeneration Process based and enhanced by digital transition.

The DARE project of the Municipality of Ravenna is the winner of the 4th Urban Innovative Actions European call for tenders. It aims to create and test a path that combines digital transition and urban regeneration of the Darsena, in order to promote digital culture among citizens. A redevelopment plan that combines innovation, efficiency and sustainability for the creation of a digital environment to develop collaborative alliances between urban ecosystems.

DARE relies on the funding of the 4th European call for tenders UIA, also known as the "urban laboratory" (2014 - 2020) which aims to develop and support innovation border projects of European cities. 176 projects were presented, but only 20 were selected. The project presented by Ravenna was one of the 6 Italian winners of this edition, with the highest funding.

Goals

The project partners will collaborate in the construction of the first digital infrastructure of the port-industrial area of Ravenna. Digital innovation will be on the top of physical and infrastructural transformations that will led to develop new forms of management, control and knowledge of the territory thanks to data sharing. In fact, DARE aims to create regeneration interventions regarding environment, housing and tourism, based on four major guidelines:

The diffusion of IoT sensors in order to connect the environment with the infrastructures;

The creation of a digital environment aimed at managing the data and “listen” to the environment, the territory and the infrastructures;

An innovative plan for the Public Administration role, with the purpose of finding a synthesis between public policies, business opportunities and citizens' needs;

The diffusion of a digital culture among citizens for the exploitation of the acquired data knowledge in support of the development of tourism, work, health, safety and quality of life of the territory.

The objective of the project is to put citizens first by growing their digital culture and to benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital society. In this regard, it is necessary to create a digital infrastructure that allows the collection, management and creation of data relating to the Darsena (vehicular traffic, economic data on local activities, environmental data, data relating to the population, etc). A collaborative approach will be used: citizens will be involved through various tools (portal, apps, information totems and events) for a collective narration of the territory and the regeneration path.

The process of digitalisation also aims to share the evolution of the territory through the establishing of a digital historical archive of the Darsena, to create a path for social, environmental and economic improvement of the area.

Role of
Certimac

Certimac is very proud of the project partnership, which includes public and private entities, both national and European: Cineca, Enea – Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Chia Lab srl, Alma mater studiorum - University of Bologna, European crowdfunding network AISBL, Studiomapp, CIFLA - Foundation Flaminia Innovation Center, BiPart Social enterprise, CAN and Legacoop Romagna.

As a project partner, Certimac will have an active role linked to the connection between urban regeneration, digital and real estate technologies. The goal is to promote urban regeneration through energy, environmental sustainability and people's well-being.