SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY

The population of industrialized countries exploits ten times more natural resources per capita than those living in developing countries. On the other hand, nowadays and in the years to come, our wealth standard requires unpolluted air, water and food, unspoilt landscapes. Our civilization conceived sustainable development, designed to meet present needs while preserving the expectations and requirements of future generations , pursuing at the same time different aims such as quality of life, peace, an equitable wealth and a clean and healthy environment. This is not a brand new concept. In fact, many cultures have thoroughly accepted the need to strike a balance among different economic, social and environmental requirements. Today, this standpoint has been restated in industrialized and developing countries eventually aware of the of global natural resources . However, sustainable development urges a changeover of growth patterns and socio-economic relations. A developing economical system can be regarded as sustainable only if it exploits natural resources up to a set quantity and quality limit within the earth renewal capacity. New sustainability-oriented projects are most needed in order to reset ecological balances, to change consumption and production patterns, to promote ecological efficiency and to restore social equity conditions. Social sustainability has to do with distributive equity, human and civil rights, social conditions of children, teenagers, women, elderly and disabled people, immigration and cooperation between countries. Sustainable development targeted actions and commitments are closely linked to the implementation of policies to eliminate social exclusion and poverty. Such objective, as expected by the 2001-2003 National Action Plan of Interventions and Social Services, can be achieved through a fair distribution of resources, a decrease of the unemployment rate, the accomplishment of economic measures by means of investments in the national health system, in education and, in social programs that guarantee the access to services and social cohesion.

The inspiring principles of the environmental action strategy for sustainable development in Italy are the following: *integration of environmental issues into other *policy making processes; *the preference for an aware economic and environmental lifestyle; *an increase in the global efficiency of resource usage; *general waste reduction; *stretching the lifetime of goods; *development of local markets and local productions; *promotion of typical products and traditional cultures; *involvement of social parties in setting goals, commitments and sharing responsibilities. GDP 2011 estimate - Total $1.828 trillion - Per capita $30,165 GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate - Total $2.245 trillion - Per capita $37,046 Population growth rate:

GDP growth rate

Italy's agriculture is typical of the division between the agricultures of the northern and southern countries of the European Union. The northern part of Italy produces primarily grains, sugarbeets, soybeans, meat, and dairy products, while the south specializes in producing fruits, vegetables, olive oil, wine, and durum wheat. Even though much of its mountainous terrain is unsuitable for farming, Italy has a large work force (1.4 million) employed in farming. Most farms are small, with the average farm only seven hectares. Annual population growth rate. Population is based on the 'de facto' definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of the country of origin. Life expectancy at birth total population: 80.2 years woman and men 85 years (2009 est.) Infant mortality rate total: 5.51 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.91 deaths/1,000 live births

Therefore, in order to make the development sustainable, some modifications are required. For example, the best thing that could happen is that the government should decentralize economic activity, establish private ownership through clearly defined property rights, and allow people to trade freely both locally and internationally. Moreover, I believe that consumption is another problem, so the solution might be: the more you consume, the better incentive you have to improve your efficiencies and, consequently, improve the environment. Talking about the agricultural field, it seems that the government has been most focused on the industrial sector, because that sector is the most visible sign of economic progress.But, as a result, the industrial sector has barely moved in the past 50 years. Actually, there is no other way to develop economically but to improve and move from one sector to another - primarily to move from agriculture to industry and to services, to move from physical resources to human and intellectual resources. But returning at the agriculture, it is important to outline that increased agricultural productionis contributing to environmental improvement rather than the other way around. Thus, the sustainability dependes on many factors.