Green Infrastructure and Adaptation to Climate Change in Marginal Areas: A Reference Scheme for Implementation Guidelines in Italy

Abstract

Marginal areas (MAs) can show scarce disaster resilience in the context of climate change. Proactive adaptation to climate change (ACC) based on green infrastructure (GI) has the potential to increase the disaster resilience of the MAs. The scientific literature has scarcely addressed research on methods and guidelines for promoting ACC and GI to increase the resilience of MAs. No previous research has focused on a method to set a reference scheme for implementation guidelines concerning the use of GI as an ACC approach to deal with the effects of a changing climate in Italian MAs. In this regard, this study aims to provide planners and public administrations with an appropriate scheme to foster the mainstreaming of ACC and GI into the planning of MAs. To do so, we proposed and applied a methodological approach consisting of the scrutiny of the scientific and grey literature with the purpose of distilling a set of key elements (KEs) that need to be considered as a reference scheme for implementation guidelines. As main findings, we identified ten KEs relevant to drafting guidelines for integrating ACC and GI into planning tools, e.g., a clear definition of GI, participative approaches, public–private cooperation, and others, that will be tested in ongoing research.