The Potential of Territorial Communities as a Factor of Socio-Environmental Development of Territories

Abstract

The aim of the article was to examine the potential of territorial communities as a factor in the socio-environmental development of territories. Comparison and observation were the main methodological tools. The conducted research revealed that the potential of territories in the EU countries serves to increase the capacity of communities in the field of decentralization and socio-environmental development. A public energy system in Oberrosphe, which is based on communal heating, is promising. The project of the city of Tartu which provides for the involvement of the population in the conservation and restoration of biodiversity is worth noting. The appropriateness and potential of using the integrated modification methodology (IMM) in the development of design for sustainable urban development were established. The design maximizes the use of the potential of territorial communities, social and environmental levers. The Porto di Mare eco-project in Milan, which provides for the transformation of a polluted and degraded area into a self-sufficient ecological and social territory with the involvement of territorial potential deserves consideration. Similar initiatives can be implemented in Ukraine in the context of sustainable development of the country in the course of post-war socio-environmental restoration of the affected territories.