Towards greener and more sustainable villages by 2027

Locorotondo hosts the launch meeting of the European project RealUrbanGreen.

Locorotondo, May 12, 2025 – The picturesque town of Locorotondo, one of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, hosted the kick-off meeting of the RealUrbanGreen project, funded by the Interreg Euro-MED programme. The project brings together institutional and technical partners from across the Mediterranean region, with the shared goal of strengthening urban and environmental resilience in small towns through the implementation of green and sustainable solutions.

The meeting officially marked the start of project activities and included a technical visit to the pilot areas identified within the municipality of Locorotondo. These areas will, over the next few years, become the focus of ecological regeneration efforts, participatory planning processes, and the testing of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). The aim is to develop a scalable and replicable model of green urban development.

RealUrbanGreen will support participating villages through to 2027, with coordinated actions aimed at achieving its core objectives: improving environmental quality, enhancing urban biodiversity, mitigating the effects of climate change, and increasing the wellbeing of both residents and visitors.

The Association of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, a key partner in the project, reaffirms its commitment to promoting environmental innovation and sustainable development in small communities, which represent the living heritage of Italy’s cultural, landscape, and social identity.

“Our villages are strategic places for testing new models of sustainable territorial development,” stated Fiorello Primi, President of the Association I Borghi più belli d’Italia; “Initiatives like RealUrbanGreen offer a concrete opportunity to reinforce the role of small communities in shaping a greener, more inclusive, and more resilient Mediterranean.”