Resilient Livelihoods and Behavioural Adaptation to COVID-19: What can we learn from the unique economy of the Messina, Italy and other case studies?

Messina is a small city in Sicily, overlooking the eponymous strait that serves as the island’s gateway to mainland Italy and Europe. Sicily’s economy and society have long been crippled by high unemployment, inefficient public services, corruption and organized crime. Yet, over the past decade or so, a small cohort of about 120 enterprises in Messina, working closely together, have managed to build a solid, long-term, fair, human-centric economy – and achieve stability and prosperity in the process. They call themselves “the Messina advanced cluster”.

In this listening session, we will present this and other case stories of creative responses to economic and social crises. We will look into the challenges they faced and conditions that enabled them to thrive. We will use them as a point of departure to reflect together on what we can put in place now to better equip us all for the transition to green, inclusive and resilient local economies.