Initiatives In Italy Research Articles

Partnering with green start-ups: a vehicle for eco-innovation?

ABSTRACT Established firms are increasingly forming alliances with green start-ups, i.e. newly-started ventures dedicated to eco-innovation. This study explores the rationales for the initiation and continuation of such alliances. We investigate how established firms leverage these alliances to facilitate eco-innovation adoption alongside their pursuit of legitimacy. Findings from a case study on seven alliances focused on food waste reduction initiatives in Italy and Sweden indicate that legitimacy-seeking rationales are predominant during alliance formation. As alliances evolve, they transition into a phase where firms identify opportunities for eco-innovation, while ambitions of capability-building and new revenue creation shape the development of the alliances. This study contributes to eco-innovation and environmental alliance literature by showcasing how the pursuit of legitimacy facilitates established firms’ adoption and implementation of eco-innovation through alliances with green start-ups.

The Right to Oncological Oblivion: A Legislative Response to Cancer Survivor Discrimination in Italy.

Despite the increasing efficacy of modern medicine in diagnosing and treating cancer, survivors often face discrimination in employment, economics, insurance, and society. Law no. 193/2023, also known as the "Oncological Oblivion Law", aims to provide an initial legislative response to discrimination against cancer survivors in Italy. After defining oncological oblivion in Article 1, the Law provides, in Articles 2, 3, and 4, directives to prevent discrimination against cancer survivors in the area of access to banking and insurance services, adoption procedures and access to or retention in employment. The aim of this work is to illustrate the content and the critical aspects of the recent Law 193/2023 in the landscape of European directives. The legislative process at the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Italian Republic has been retraced through the consultation of preparatory works and bills registered on institutional databases. Law 193/2023 represents the first initiative in Italy aimed at the recognition of the right to oncological oblivion, not only in access to banking and insurance services as in other countries, but also in adoption, employment, and re-employment. Our opinion piece highlights the need for further clarification and expansion to prevent discrimination and protect the social-work-relational rights of people who have been affected by oncological diseases.

Mapping Hydrogen Initiatives in Italy: An Overview of Funding and Projects

The global momentum towards hydrogen has led to various initiatives aimed at harnessing hydrogen’s potential. In particular, low-carbon hydrogen is recognized for its crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions across hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement and heavy-duty transport. This study focuses on the presentation of all hydrogen-related financing initiatives in Italy, providing a comprehensive overview of the various activities and their geographical locations. The examined funding comes from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), from projects directly funded through the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and from several initiatives supported by private companies or other funding sources (hydrogen valleys). Specific calls for proposals within the PNRR initiative outline the allocation of funds, focusing on hydrogen production in brownfield areas (52 expected hydrogen production plants by 2026), hydrogen use in hard-to-abate sectors and the establishment of hydrogen refuelling stations for both road (48 refuelling stations by 2026) and railway transport (10 hydrogen-based railway lines). A detailed description of the funded initiatives (150 in total) is presented, encompassing their geographical location, typology and size (when available), as well as the funding they have received. This overview sheds light on regions prioritising decarbonisation efforts in heavy-duty transport, especially along cross-border commercial routes, as evident in northern Italy. Conversely, some regions concentrate more on local transport, typically buses, or on the industrial sector, primarily steel and chemical industries. Additionally, the study presents initiatives aimed at strengthening the national manufacturing capacity for hydrogen-related technologies, alongside new regulatory and incentive schemes for hydrogen. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to foster connections among existing and planned projects, stimulate new initiatives along the entire hydrogen value chain, raise an awareness of hydrogen among stakeholders and promote cooperation and international competitiveness.

They Like to Do It in Public: A Quantitative Analysis of Culture-Led Regeneration Projects in ITALY

This paper presents and discusses a quantitative analysis of culture-led urban regeneration initiatives in Italy. It draws on a database of projects built using the filter of the national funding schemes launched between 2012 and 2018. The main objective of the research is to build an overview of the phenomenon of culture-based urban regeneration in Italy, recognizing common trends and recurring dynamics. The projects in the database are analyzed quantitatively on the basis of 28 attributes, taking into consideration different aspects such as the projects’ localization, the typology, dimension and ownership of the spatial assets mobilized, the relationship with public policies, and the scale of actors and networks involved in the projects. The findings show that culture-led regeneration initiatives “like to do it in public”; namely, to achieve their objectives—to “do culture”—they seek to connect with the public sector to receive forms of economic, material, and organizational support, such as public spaces in which to host their activities. Therefore, the interaction with the public administration is interpreted as the sine qua non condition for the success of culture-led urban regeneration initiatives and to ensure that these are able to generate strong and durable impacts on the revitalization and regeneration of distressed urban neighborhoods.

THE ITALIAN FUND FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE THIRD REICH: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS AND A PROPOSAL FOR FUTURE REPARATION INITIATIVES

Building on the dispute between Germany and Italy over states' jurisdictional immunities, the contribution shows how Italy's recent establishment of the Restorative Trust Fund for victims of the Third Reich is not sufficient to resolve the dispute between the two states. Taking a cue from restorative models adopted domestically by various states, particularly with reference to transitional justice, the contribution outlines a model of a trust fund in favor of victims that can combine the right of access to justice with respect for immunity from the jurisdiction of the foreign state, useful for future restorative initiatives in Italy or abroad. To avoid violations of immunity, the forum state wishing to take over from the responsible foreign state for the purpose of reparation should create a grievance commission with exclusive jurisdiction over applications for access to the reparation fund, so that the proceedings are not brought by the victim against the foreign state, but directly with respect to the reparation fund. The contribution explains why this procedure is not contrary to foreign state immunity with reference to the concept of indirect impleading in Article 6(2)(b) of the UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property. The decisions of a grievance commission would not bring into play the immunity from the jurisdiction of the foreign state as long as they do not affect the property, rights and interests of the latter in the domestic system of the forum state. To this end, the commission's decisions-executable on the ground, subject, therefore, to the property of the foreign state-should be drafted in the form of a finding of victim status, not a finding of responsibility of the foreign state. In order to provide victims with full access to justice, on the other hand, it is necessary for the decisions of the grievance commission to be appealable to ordinary courts.

The Burden of Obesity in Type 1 Diabetic Subjects: A Sex-specific Analysis From the AMD Annals Initiative.

Obesity is a growing emergency in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Sex differences in obesity prevalence and its clinical consequences in adult T1D subjects have been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity, clinical correlates, and potential sex differences in a large cohort of T1D subjects participating to the AMD (Associazione Medici Diabetologi) Annals Initiative in Italy. The prevalence of obesity [body mass index(BMI) ≥30 kg/m2] and severe obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) according to sex and age, as well as obesity-associated clinical variables, long-term diabetes complications, pharmacological treatment, process indicators and outcomes, and overall quality of care (Q-score) were evaluated in 37 436 T1D subjects (45.3% women) attending 282 Italian diabetes clinics during 2019. Overall, the prevalence of obesity was similar in the 2 sexes (13.0% in men and 13.9% in women; mean age 50 years), and it increased with age, affecting 1 out of 6 subjects ages >65 years. Only severe obesity (BMI >35 kg/m2) was more prevalent among women, who showed a 45% higher risk of severe obesity, compared with men at multivariate analysis. Cardiovascular disease risk factors (lipid profile, glucose, and blood pressure control), and the overall quality of diabetes care were worse in obese subjects, with no major sex-related differences. Also, micro- and macrovascular complications were more frequent among obese than nonobese T1D men and women. Obesity is a frequent finding in T1D adult subjects, and it is associated with a higher burden of cardiovascular disease risk factors, micro- and macrovascular complications, and a lower quality of care, with no major sex differences. T1D women are at higher risk of severe obesity.

Validation of the Italian version of the DISCUS (DISC-Ultra Short), a brief standardized scale for assessing experienced discrimination among people with mental disorders.

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the DISCUS (DISC-Ultra Short), a measure which assesses experienced discrimination among persons with mental disorders. Data collected in the three Italian sites (Brescia, Napoli, and Verona) participating at the international project INDIGO-DISCUS. Each Italian site recruited a sample of 50 individuals. Participants were evaluated with the DISCUS. This study evaluated: (a) reliability (internal consistency), (b) validity (convergent and divergent), (c) precision, and (d) acceptability. Participants were also asked to complete three additional measures: Stigma Consciousness, Brief Stigma Coping/Stigma Stress, and Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI-10). Overall, 149 people participated; 55% were males, with mean age of 48 (±12.4) years and on average participants had 12 (±3.4) years of education; only 23% were employed. Internal consistency was found to be good (Cronbach α=0.79). Convergent validity was confirmed (all correlations between DISCUS score and the other measures' scores were greater than 0.30). There was evidence of divergent validity, as the overall DISCUS score was not associated with the variable "sex". Precision showed a high correlation coefficient between the various items and the overall DISCUS score, with only one exception (discrimination when looking for housing), which showed a particularly high frequency of "not applicable" responses. Acceptability [measured with Maximum Endorsement Frequencies (MEF) and Aggregate adjacent Endorsement Frequencies (AEF)] was found to be fair (MEF violated in 2 items; AEF partially violated in 5 item). The Italian version of the DISCUS is a reliable, valid, precise, and acceptable measure of experienced discrimination to be used in large scale studies in the evaluation of anti-stigma initiatives in Italy.

Anticipating Digital Skills Policy Outcomes: A Pseudo-panel Evaluation of Outreach Initiatives in Italy

Anticipating Digital Skills Policy Outcomes: A Pseudo-panel Evaluation of Outreach Initiatives in Italy

Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.), a fruit species that is struggling to spread, but some initiatives in Italy are promising

Jujube (<i>Ziziphus jujuba</i> Mill.), a fruit species that is struggling to spread, but some initiatives in Italy are promising

Contraception free of charge for young women in Tuscany: an interrupted time series analysis

Abstract The Regional Health Authority of Tuscany, ITALY, launched in November 2018 a public program providing all contraceptive methods free of charge to all young residing women after medical evaluation at free family counselling centres. We aimed to explore the effect of the regional program on five outcomes - abortions, contraception provision, access to family counselling centres, conception, and outpatient service utilization for six sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These outcomes were retrospectively computed from January 2016 to December 2020 using regional administrative databases, and then expressed as both annual rates per 1,000 and monthly rates per 100,000 women aged 14 to 25 years and residing in Tuscany. We ran interrupted time series (ITS) models to analyze how the trends in monthly rates changed over time after the intervention (set in November 2018). The decline in annual abortion rates per 1,000 women doubled from 2016-2018 (-9%, from 7.0 to 6.4) to 2018-2020 (-17%, from 6.4 to 5.3). ITS models revealed a significant post-intervention decrease in monthly abortion rates (-0.61, -1.11 to -0.12) and a significant increase in both access rates to counselling centres (87.60, 77.77 to 97.43) and contraception provision rates (16.75, 0.31 to 33.19). Conception rates fell significantly just in under-18 women (-0.84, -1.39 to -0.28). A significant reduction in outpatient service utilization rates for STDs emerged for N. gonorrhoeae, HSV, and HPV. As a prime example of similar initiatives in Italy, the free contraception program of Tuscany promoted access to counselling and contraception services among young under-25 women, empowering the entire care pathway. As a result, abortion rates declined significantly in this group. The wider access to counselling centres to obtain free contraception and overall enhancement of the pathway might have fostered sexual education and reproductive health, leading to a reduction in teenage conception and STD spread. Key messages • This study proves the effectiveness of the free contraception campaign of Tuscany in reducing abortions and empowering the entire care pathway, providing further evidence for policy accountability. • Therefore, this study supports the maintenance of this program and suggests the potential benefits of implementing and promoting similar initiatives in other Regions.

Crowd Dynamics and Co-Creation Practices In Robotics Innovation: An Interpretive Study Of Facilities

This paper aims to investigate the characteristics and organizing forms of facilities where the design and testing of robotics innovation happen. In particular, the paper addresses a gap in the state-of-the-art literature, which has not fully investigated the connection between those facilities, the different types of crowds involved in the design and testing of robotics innovation, and the values embedded in their outputs. To this end, this article presents a qualitative research based on two interpretive case studies of facilities and education initiatives in Italy and Switzerland. The article aims to provide a further understanding of the role of crowds in innovation, especially focusing on robotics, and to contribute to the stream of research connecting open innovation and resource-based view (RBV), by questioning how facilities for co-creation, specifically in robotics, inform the values that make both the testing sites and their outputs valuable resources. Also, the article adds its results to the corpus of studies on the collaboration between universities and firms, by highlighting organizational factors and trajectories that may eventually lead to the creation of innovation ecosystems and infrastructures.

COVID-19 detection and spread control: what initiatives in Italy for the homeless population?

In Italy COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact. The homeless live in situations aggravating their poor health conditions and comorbidities. Although homeless people are a fragile category, no dedicated measures by public health departments seem to be applied infrequently to this population. For these reasons, they are probably one of the categories most affected by the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the current vaccination campaign against COVID-19 can represent an important opportunity for health and social integration also for the homeless. This scoping review performed a map to describe strategies and interventions adopted to protect the homeless population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. The methodology adheres to the PRISMA statement (extension for purpose revision) and follows the framework of Arksey and O'Malley. At the end of the selection process, 7 studies deemed relevant were included. Many strategies have been adopted to counter the spread of the virus to the homeless population, such as rapid and molecular tests with swabs or rapid blood tests. All the tests for diagnosing the infection currently in use have also been used for the homeless.

The Medical Home Initiative in Italy: an Analysis of Changes in Healthcare Utilization.

Seventeen medical homes (MHs) were established in the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Parma (about 450,000 residents), Emilia Romagna, Italy, between 2011 and 2016. To estimate the effects of MH implementation on healthcare utilization. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study (01/2011-12/2017) using the Parma LHA administrative healthcare database. Residents for ≥1 year and older than 14 years of age with a documented primary care physician (PCP) in Parma LHA. MH exposure status was classified for each resident as either receiving care from a PCP that (1) eventually practices in an MH (pre-MH), (2) is currently in an MH (post-MH), or (3) does not join an MH (non-MH). Risks of ordinary inpatient hospital admissions, day hospital admissions, admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), all-cause emergency department (ED) visits, and deferrable ED visits were compared using Cox proportional hazards regression and risks of all-cause 30- and 90-day readmissions for congestive heart failure (CHF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were compared using logistic regression. Prior to MH implementation, the risk of all-cause ED visits for pre-MH residents was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.92-0.94) that of non-MH residents. After MH implementation, the relative risk for post-MH versus non-MH was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.85-0.87) and, over time, post-MH versus pre-MH was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.92-0.94). Hospitalization risks were generally lower among the pre-MH and post-MH, compared to non-MH. However, hospitalizations and HF or COPD readmissions were not generally lower post-MH compared to pre-MH. This MH initiative was associated with a 7% reduction in risk of ED visits. More research is necessary to understand if ED visit risk will continue to improve and how other aspects of healthcare utilization might change as more MHs open and the length of exposure to MHs increases.

PDB25 The Medical Homes Initiative in Italy: An Analysis of Processes of Care in Diabetes

To evaluate changes in the performance of guideline-based diabetes processes of care associated with the implementation of medical homes (MHs) in the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

The Challenges of Promoting Social Inclusion through Sport: The Experience of a Sport-Based Initiative in Italy

Social inclusion is broadly recognized as a priority to accomplish at an international level. While the influence of sport toward this social mission has been largely debated, literature lacks contributions capturing the challenges of sport when promoting social inclusion. Based in case study methodology, the investigation explores the impact of a multi-stakeholder sport initiative developing social inclusion for socially vulnerable youth and the related challenges of the intervention through in-depth interviews with diverse program stakeholders. The main findings indicated the emergence of four challenges: limited transferability of program outcomes for youth in living conditions of severe vulnerability; drop-out of youth in living conditions of severe vulnerability; limited sustainability of program social workers; lack of sports club management skills. The work highlights some limits of sport-based programs for social inclusion and discusses some implications for practice to maximize the societal impact of such interventions.

Status and Evolution of the Community Energy Sector in Italy

Community energy (CE) initiatives have been progressively spreading across Europe and are increasingly proposed as innovative and alternative approaches to guarantee higher citizen participation in the transition toward cleaner energy systems. This paper focuses the attention on Italy, a Southern European country characterized by relatively low CE sector development. It fills a gap in the literature by eliciting and presenting novel and comprehensive evidence on recent Italian CE sector developments. Through a stepwise approach it systematically maps and reviews Italian CE initiatives, to then focus the attention on three specific case studies to further explore conditions for development as well as of success within the Italian energy system. The analysis presents an Italian CE sector still at its niche level, characterized by small initiatives largely dependent on national photovoltaics (PV) policy support. It also points out how only larger initiatives, able to operate at national scale, developing multiple projects and differentiating their activities have managed to continue growing at the time of discontinuity of policy support and contraction of the national renewable energy market. Recent EU and national legislative development might support revived development of CE initiatives in Italy.

Osobennosti kul'turnoy diplomatii Italii na sovremennom etape

The article analyzes the cultural policy of Italy, which is one of the key soft power instruments of the country, along with public diplomacy, the Italian language, education and scientific activities, through the prism of the cultural strategy of the EU. Despite the presence of a large number of articles on soft power implementation, this issue remains insufficiently covered today, since the concept of soft power emerged at the end of the 20th century in the framework of the American international relations school (J. Nye) and the majority of academic foreign papers are still devoted to the American soft power model. It is revealed that scientific community paid not enough attention to the Italian soft power phenomenon. The author’s goal is to analyze the cultural model of Italy, used as one of soft power component. According to the results of the structural, comparative and institutional analysis, fundamental problems in the development of the Italian cultural model were identified, as well as the links between the successful adoption of cultural diplomacy and economic crisis. The governmental initiatives in Italy in realization of cultural diplomacy and the EU cultural strategy are thoroughly reviewed. The analysis of the activities of specialized government institutions responsible for the cultural promotion of the country and the Italian language abroad is carried out. The soft power rankings, reflecting the effectiveness of cultural policy, in particular, Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index and The Soft Power 30 are being analyzed. Measures to ensure the efficient use of the soft power resources in Italy are proposed. They are mostly aimed at combining the activities of existing institutions and forming an integrated strategy for popularizing, financing and broadening soft power components both within the state and foreign policy strategy.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) after elective hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasty: protocol for a prospective cohort study

BackgroundThe number of hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasties continues to rise worldwide. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has launched an initiative (called PaRIS Initiative) for the systematic collection of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in patients undergoing elective hip and knee arthroplasty. The Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute (IOR) was selected as a pilot center for the launch of the Initiative in Italy given that IOR hosts the Registry of Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants (RIPO), a region-wide registry which collects joint implant data from all the hospitals in the Emilia-Romagna Region. In this specific geographic area information related to PROMs after joint replacement is unknown. This paper describes the protocol of a study (PaRIS-IOR) that aims to implement the collection of a set of PROMs within an existing implant registry in Italy. The study will also investigate the temporal trend of PROMs in relation to the type of prosthesis and the type of surgical intervention.MethodsThe PaRIS-IOR study is a prospective, single site, cohort study that consists of the administration of PROMs questionnaires to patients on the list for elective arthroplasty. The questionnaires will be administered to the study population within 30 days before surgery, and then at 6 and 12 months following surgery. The study population will consist of consecutive adult patients undergoing either hip, knee or shoulder arthroplasty. The collected data will be linked with those routinely collected by the RIPO in order to assess the temporal trend of PROMs in relation to the type of prosthesis and the type of surgical intervention.DiscussionThe PaRIS-IOR study could have important implications in targeting the factors influencing functional outcomes and quality of life reported by patients after hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasty, and will also represent the first systematic collection of PROMs related to arthroplasty in Italy.Trial registrationProtocol version (1.0) and trial registration data are available on the platform www.clinicaltrial.gov with the identifier NCT03790267, first posted on December 31, 2018.

Enhancing Psychological Sexual Health of People With Spinal Cord Injury and Their Partners in an Italian Unipolar Spinal Unit: A Pilot Data Study.

Like the slogan of the American Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine says, “No injury, no matter how serious, can take away your ability to have a relationship, experience love, and experience the attraction between two people.” However, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have to fight with their own and societal attitudes and stereotypes that limit sexuality to the physiological functions of genitalia, phallocentric primacy of sexual pleasure, and sexual attractiveness of perfect bodies. The scope of the present study is to evaluate the impacts of a psychoeducational intervention in a personal growth group on the sexual life of seven people with SCI and four of their partners particularly their sexual interest and satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. Due to the small samples size, nonparametric statistical tests were used to compare pre- and post-outcome measures for all participants: patients and the partners group. Possible effects of gender were also considered. The effectiveness of the psychoeducational intervention was clearly apparent, showing a high effect size in improving sexual interest and satisfaction, and the opportunity and ability to enjoy sexuality. A reduction of anxiety was also observed for all participants, although it may not have been related to the psychoeducational intervention. Moreover, the intervention significantly improved the opportunity and ability to enjoy sexuality for the partner and patient group. No effect was found on depression. This was the first initiative in Italy aiming to address the sexual life and not only to cure the sexual dysfunction of people with SCI. The positive, clear evidence of the validity of the Love & Life project’s intervention bodes well for new psychoeducational initiatives that in Italy meet the sexual needs of people with SCI and their partners, providing adequate education and psychological support, involving partners, and creating a space to talk among peers.

Reframing social mix in affordable housing initiatives in Italy and in the Netherlands. Closing the gap between discourses and practices?

European countries are facing rising demand for affordable housing by a widespread and differentiated audience. Both in Italy and in the Netherlands policy-makers and practitioners address this emerging need by implementing new social housing projects targeting diverse social groups – such as students, young households, welfare dependents, and refugees – which results in a fine-grained social mix. This paper discusses the development of these initiatives within wider trends in housing policies and in relation to the domestic debate on social mix in the two countries. Drawing on Magic Mix and Housing Sociale projects as case studies, respectively in the Netherlands and in Italy, we aim to explore and unfold the contemporary meanings and the practices attached to the idea of social mix. In so doing, this paper paves the way for a new conceptualization of social mix in the current post-crisis and hyper-diversified European scenario. We discuss traces of continuity and discontinuity between these forms of social mix and the mainstream idea of tenure mix, which has been a cornerstone of area-based urban renewal policy in many European countries. This paper contributes to the existing literature by offering insights into new practices of social mix in housing sphere.