Valdichiana4Green
- European experimentation serving sustainability in rural areas
Valdichiana4Green is the European project aimed at supporting rural development through the integration of sustainable tourism and the agri-food sector, contributing to the ecological transition and the economic growth of the territory. The Strada del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano e dei Sapori della Valdichiana Senese is one of the project partners, together with the lead partner ACTA – Sensi Contemporanei, Ecotrans and the Union of Municipalities of the Valdichiana Senese.
Valdichiana4Green was created as an experimental initiative, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, within the framework of the Futural project, which stands for Empowering the FUTure through innovative Smart Solutions for rURAL areas. Futural selected Valdichiana among the 10 most innovative projects in Europe, which will be included in a dedicated Meta Search Platform, scheduled to be presented in March 2027.
European policies for the ecological transition, digital transformation and the involvement of younger generations, in line with Next Generation EU, were the starting point for identifying the Valdichiana Senese area as an ideal context for an experimental project combining tourism, agri-food, technology and participation.
A European project with local roots
Valdichiana4Green was created as a concrete response to the development challenges of rural areas: enhancing tourism and agri-food supply chains, promoting economic diversification, stimulating innovation in SMEs, supporting youth entrepreneurship and strengthening sustainable planning skills among public and private stakeholders.
The project is built on a solid network of relationships: ACTA coordinates the entire process, in collaboration with Ecotrans, an international network of sustainable tourism experts of which it is a founding member, with the Union of Municipalities of the Valdichiana Senese and with the Strada del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano e dei Sapori della Valdichiana Senese, each playing a key role.
Within the project framework, Strada contributes to the enhancement of local supply chains, namely tourism and food and wine, and to the processes aimed at involving local businesses.
Why the Valdichiana Senese?
The European programme requires the design, development, application and testing of new ways to address complex problems in real-life contexts. The Valdichiana Senese was chosen precisely because it represents many of the challenges faced by European rural areas: an economy strongly based on agriculture and tourism, an ageing population, fragmented businesses and difficulties in accessing innovative tools.
However, the local context is particularly favourable to social, cultural and economic innovation, also thanks to the well-established collaboration between institutions and local operators. In fact, the partnership includes Strada, which represents a formal aggregation of economic operators, and the local Union of Municipalities, which represents institutional cooperation.
A digital ecosystem to go “green”
In the project, digital transformation is not an end in itself, but an enabling tool for the ecological transition. Digital technology serves to translate the principles of sustainability into clear, accessible and usable information, helping businesses make more informed and progressive decisions and becoming a bridge between European policies, international standards and everyday local practices.
The technological core of the project is the Going Green Check, a sustainability software for tourism businesses created from a pilot experience funded by the German government and developed by Ecotrans. ACTA is currently working on its adaptability and replicability in different European contexts, starting precisely from Valdichiana, where it has been tested in synergy with local businesses.
Through a collaborative digital platform, the following will be made available:
- The Valdichiana Going Green Check, a self-assessment tool for tourism and agri-food businesses
- The Going Green Map, an interactive map of actors committed to sustainability, integrated into Destinet.eu
- Online training modules dedicated to sustainability
- A community feedback system, co-designed during the workshops, to guide future policies and business models
Expected results
- Promotion of widespread sustainability expertise
Standard solutions are not applied to the businesses involved; instead, personalised training and support pathways are developed, tailored to the specific needs of each organisation. The aim is for these pathways to become a replicable model, progressively extendable to other businesses in Valdichiana. - European positioning
The Valdichiana Going Green software and the entire digital system developed will gain visibility and be available for use through the FUTURAL platform, entering into dialogue with other European rural territories. This makes it possible to move beyond the local dimension and position Valdichiana as a case study and reference laboratory. - Definition of shared sustainability guidelines
The work with businesses is accompanied by structured discussion with local policy makers, aimed at defining guidelines that are consistent with international standards but adapted to the local context. This step is essential to transform experimentation into more stable and integrated public policies. - Qualifying the Valdichiana Senese as a green destination
This objective should be pursued not only through visibility on European portals, but above all by closing the supply chain: creating direct connections between local businesses and European distributors and operators sensitive to sustainability. In this way, the ecological transition becomes not only a declared value, but also a concrete lever for positioning and market access.
This sub-project has received funding from the project FUTURAL, Grant Agreement number: 101083958, through its Open Call, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
