National Peer Review Meeting in Bologna, IT on 20 and 21 February 2024.
Because of the IMPEL NPRI project, peer review programs are also making progress in Italy.
Thanks to the proposal from ARPAE Emilia-Romagna (Regional Agency for Environment and Energy), a dedicated National Peer Review Initiative focusing on the management of permitting and inspection activities concerning End of Wastes – Biomasses has been organized and executed. This initiative received methodological support from the NPRI Project Team.
The final review mission took place on February 20th and 21st at the headquarters of ARPAE in Bologna. Twenty-seven individuals from nine Italian Regional Environment Protection Agencies (ARPAs) and the Italian High Institute for Environment Protection and Research (ISPRA) participated in the event. Additionally, two coordinators from the IMPEL NPRI Project attended the meeting and provided support in implementing the NPRI methodology and gathering valuable experience and information to improve NPRI Guidelines.
Prior to the meeting, an intense and thorough preparatory activity was undertaken. This included conducting a Survey to understand the methodology adopted by different regional agencies in managing End of Waste activities, in particular mandatory opinions for permitting, the issues faced, and the best practices adopted. Also, a SWOT analysis has been developed, and a Stakeholder Analysis was conducted to identify the relevant authorities to be involved in implementing the outcomes of the Peer Review. The preparatory works were also in support of establishing the appropriate Assessment Framework used in the NPRI.
During the peer discussions, many proposals have been presented for homogenization activities across Italy, both on permitting and inspection issues regarding End of Waste – Biomasses. Additionally, a list of administrative differences and criticalities has been identified, as topics to be submitted to the competent Authorities to start with a general improvement of the whole technical and administrative procedure.
The Peer Review allowed, nevertheless, to further strengthen the relationship between the different parts of the National System for Environmental Protection.
NPRI is already used in Italy in various activities, such as the evaluation of the resources needed to perform typical ARPAs’ activities, as a basis to define, prospectively, their funding.
A comprehensive report is in progress at this moment, to be shared among the Agencies and ISPRA.
The activities carried out with the support of the IMPEL Project team contribute to the capacity building of the Italian System for Environment Protection by using the NPRI as a standard tool for ongoing improvement within the system.
For more information, please visit the project page