One of the most important challenges humankind has to face is to prepare the society for the goal of a decarbonized society by 2050, as also clearly stated by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “We are doing everything in our power to keep the promise that we made to Europeans: make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world, by 2050”.
It is, therefore, necessary not only to move towards production systems based on circular economy but be especially ready to transform the current social behaviors.
One possible way is to aggregate individual consumption (both of individual citizens and industries) in groups called energy communities, where on a medium / small scale they will reconcile and even negotiate individual needs to ensure the average needs of everyone. We could thus move to a vision (whose realization today is facilitated by the digital revolution) in which the communities’ sustenance is provided by the resources that one is able to self-produce. Specifically, in the case of communities of users that are close even geographically, the self-produced energy may also depend on the agro-energy resources locally available, thus also preserving biodiversity.
The UNESCO Chair is an opportunity to implement research activities aimed at the creation of new strategic ideas for sustainable development studying new paradigms for energy production from renewables and people behaviours with regard to energy use. Furthermore, it can improve academic educational programmes, steering them towards a global vision.
The UNESCO Chair is also focused on the relationship with local institutions in order to achieve a wider vision, to provide new and useful tools, through a responsible cooperation, for a rapidly changing world.
The UNESCO Chair will provide a further development of the international relations network with other universities and research institutions in the developing countries and help to address the purposes and methods of interaction, cooperation and exchange. Eventually, education and dissemination instruments will be defined to inform students and citizens on the clean and affordable energy goals as clearly stated in the SDG 7 to strengthen the principles of Sustainable Development and Agenda 2030 goals.