This year, from 21 to 26 August, ISPRA and the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA) will take part in the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, to be held at the Rimini Exhibition Centre. SNPA will be present with an exhibition area within the institutional space of the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), offering meetings, information materials and in-depth insights on environmental protection, environmental monitoring and inspection activities, and scientific research aimed at safeguarding the country's natural environment.

On Monday, 24 August, at the MASE Talk Area, ISPRA/SNPA President Maria Alessandra Gallone took part in the round table “Humanising Energy: The Public and Social Value of Renewable Energy Communities.”

The President highlighted how “ISPRA is well placed to address the theme of ‘humanising energy’, because its role is not to produce or sell energy, but to measure its effects on people, the environment and territories. In its 2026 Report on the electricity sector, ISPRA found that between 1990 and 2025, CO₂ emissions from electricity generation fell by 48.8%, while renewables accounted for 48% of national electricity generation in 2025. But the transition cannot be measured solely in terms of MW installed or CO₂ avoided: we must ask ourselves where these facilities are being installed, what consequences they have for the landscape and biodiversity, what benefits remain in the local area, and above all whether citizens are spectators or protagonists.”

“This is where Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) come in. ISPRA has already identified them as a model capable of generating local economic and social benefits. With RECs, citizens are no longer simply recipients of an energy bill; they become producers, consumers and co-responsible stakeholders. Humanising energy means moving from energy as infrastructure to energy as community.”

“For me, humanising the transition means putting people back at the centre: technology is a tool, while the ultimate goal is quality of life. An REC does not simply produce clean energy; it creates communities: it reduces costs, combats energy vulnerability, empowers citizens and strengthens local areas. This is where ISPRA’s scientific expertise meets the social dimension of the transition, measuring not only the energy produced, but also the quality of life and the quality of the territory that we build through it.”

At 4:00 p.m., Gallone also took part in the round table “Public Energy Companies at the Service of Citizens,” together with MASE Minister Hon. Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.

On 25 August at 11:00 a.m., the roundtable discussion “A Dive into the Bluer Sea: People and Actions to Safeguard Our Marine Ecosystems” will take place, featuring Maria Alessandra Gallone, President of ISPRA/SNPA, Donato Ramunno, Vice President of SNPA, and other leading representatives of the National System for Environmental Protection.

The discussion will focus on the state of health of the Mediterranean Sea, the blue economy, the protection of marine biodiversity, bathing water quality, and the monitoring and control of marine ecosystems.

More detailed information and the full roundtable programme will be available soon.

Information on how to access the event is available on the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples website.