The Tuscan member of Organic Cities Network Europe, Loro Ciuffenna, was one of three winners of the prized “Ambiente in Comune” (Environment in the Municipality) award, in recognition of its efforts to promote the cause of sustainability.
The award ceremony, which is promoted by Sei Toscana, was streamed live online via Facebook and YouTube. More than 50 municipalities from Ato Toscana Sud competed for the prize, submitting over 90 projects. The prize was awarded to the municipalities that had distinguished themselves, or will do so in the near future, for projects and initiatives of significant importance in the field of sustainable development.
In the second year of the history of the award, Sei Toscana chose environmental and social projects consistent with seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The commune in the Province of Arezzo, Loro Ciuffenna, and Terranuova Bracciolini won the first prize (ex aequo) in the category of municipalities with between 5000 and 15000 inhabitants. Loro Ciuffenna’s winning project was “Save The Drop,” which provides financial incentives in the form of grants for citizens who want to use special containers to recover domestic rainwater from their roofs.
The project provides a grant to any household with a rainwater harvesting roof equal to 30% of the value of a storage tank to be connected to the guttering along with the cost of a few packets of mosquito repellent. The requirements for access to the grant are simple: not having your own well and agreeing to sanitise the water continuously to prevent mosquitoes from proliferating. The economic return on the investment can be regarded as almost immediate.
