Costruire immaginari sociotecnici. Correnti e attriti nelle Alte Madonie (Sicilia)

The process of developing RECs (Renewable Energy Communities) in Western Sicily is still incipient. In this regard, it must be emphasised how the way of reception of the EU directives on the RECs by the Italian State and, in particular, of the Region of Sicily (an region with a special autonomous statute) have imprinted particular connotations on this process. In Sicily, the legislation on this matter initially gave the municipalities a central role in the constitution of the RECs, stipulating that they were to be chaired by the mayor of the municipality in which they were established. This legislation, as well as that on the attribution of incentives, has been partly modified over time, also in order a to adapt to the development of the legal framework at a national level. Nonetheless, these norms promoted a predominantly bottom-up model of organisation of RECs, configuring in a peculiar way the issues of private citizens' involvement and the underlying motivations for their membership. The chapter intends to focus on a case study, that is the process of organising Cer in the territory of the Alte (Higher) Madonie. The Alte Madonie constitute a hilly and mountainous area, part of the Madonie mountain chain, within the province of Palermo. Home to centuries-old urban settlements, this area, historically linked to a prevalently agro-sylvo-pastoral economy, has been suffering from a process of depopulation since several decades, which its inclusion in the National Strategy for Inner Areas aims to counteract. A large part of this area is also included in the Madonie Park, a protected natural area that is also part of the European Geopark system. Finally, the historic centres of most municipalities are subject to constraints linked to the laws on historical heritage, which implies strong limitations to the installation of renewable energy plants. In this context, the main impetus for the initial organisation of Cer was given, as mentioned above, by the municipal administrations, assisted by So.Svi.Ma, an autonomous public body that promotes economic and social development in the Madonie’s area. This case study is fundamentally based on continuous field research, conducted from September 2024 to June 2025, and in which the ethnographic method of participant observation was combined with the conduct of semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders (REC’s members, municipal and So.Svi.Ma administrators, energy managers, staff of global partners). Through the research data, the chapter addresses, from the perspective of the social sciences and socio-cultural anthropology, issues and themes that are important for the study of processes, conflicts and expectations linked to the ongoing development of the RECs, such as: the socio-technological imaginaries encountered among the different stakeholders; the factors, perceptions, circulation of information, and previous experiences that influence the bottom-up participation of citizenship; the legal form to be adopted (association or cooperative); the relationships with the broader political-institutional contexts and with the different decision-making levels. More generally, the chapter intends, with respect to both the theoretical debate and the case at hand, to explore the link with the “commoning” perspective and the meanings that the notion of “community” takes on in the research area. From this point of view, REC's offer a very interesting, and as yet little explored, ground for reflecting on how the debate on new forms of energy production, distribution and use can be cross-referenced with debates on the sharing of common pool resources.

Il processo di sviluppo delle CER (comunità energetiche rinnovabili) nella Sicilia occidentale è ancora agli inizi. Il capitolo si concentra sul processo di organizzazione delle CER nel territorio delle Alte Madonie, parte della catena montuosa delle Madonie, nella provincia di Palermo. Sede di insediamenti urbani secolari, questa zona, storicamente legata a un’economia prevalentemente agropastorale, ha subito negli ultimi decenni un processo di spopolamento, che la sua inclusione nella Strategia nazionale per le Aree Interne mira a contrastare. Basandosi sui dati raccolti durante una ricerca sul campo condotta in modo continuativo da settembre 2024 a giugno 2025, il capitolo affronta questioni rilevanti per lo studio dei processi, dei conflitti e delle aspettative legati all’attuale sviluppo delle CER, quali gli immaginari sociotecnologici e le percezioni degli attori locali e i dibattiti sulla forma giuridica da adottare. Vengono inoltre presi in considerazione i collegamenti con i dibattiti sul commoning delle risorse condivise.