The Cusio area, in the northwestern Alpine foothills of Italy, exemplifies the complexities and opportunities of intermediate territories. Centered around Lake Orta in the Piedmont region, it features a mosaic of small towns, dispersed settlements, productive zones, and natural landscapes. Historically shaped by a robust manufacturing district, particularly in metal and household goods, the territory underwent intense industrialization throughout the 20th century. This left spatial and ecological imprints, most notably the severe pollution of Lake Orta, later reversed through one of Italy’s first integrated environmental remediation efforts.
Today, it is undergoing a multifaceted transition: the decline of traditional industries, coupled with a growing tourism sector and renewed environmental awareness, frames current debates on regional regeneration. Seasonal tourist flows challenge local infrastructure, housing, and services, while public institutions and community actors seek to balance ecological preservation, economic revitalization, and social inclusiveness.
The area is characterized by fragmented governance and institutional landscapes. Yet, it benefits from the presence of engaged civic networks, which have played crucial roles in heritage valorization and public engagement. In this context, where spatial dispersion intersects with environmental fragility and active civic practices, it becomes a highly relevant site for exploring sustainable energy transition pathways embedded in territorial regeneration.
The intersection of spatial fragmentation, industrial legacy, and ecological innovation shapes the implementation of Positive Energy Districts in Cusio. PEDs in this context are not imagined as compact urban enclaves, but rather as multi-scalar infrastructures distributed across small towns and productive landscapes. The challenge lies in translating the PED concept into a form that resonates with the socio-spatial logics of intermediate territories. The project leverages the presence of public and private actors already engaged in sustainable initiatives, such as community energy cooperatives and municipal green infrastructure plans.
A core aspect concerns the reuse of former industrial sites as nodes for renewable energy generation and storage, integrating photovoltaic, micro-hydropower, and potentially biomass solutions. These are not conceived as isolated technical interventions, but as part of a broader territorial vision that includes mobility, housing retrofitting, and ecosystem services. Co-design methodologies are central to the process, involving local institutions, cultural and environmental organizations, and residents in shaping energy scenarios and governance models.
The existing collaborative platforms play a crucial role in ensuring institutional alignment and long-term capacity building. Rather than replicating a standardized PED blueprint, the project explores modular and adaptive configurations suited to Cusio’s hybrid morphology and governance landscape. This involves addressing regulatory bottlenecks, engaging with national and regional policy frameworks, and enabling cross-sectoral coordination across energy, planning, and environmental domains.
Expected outcomes in Cusio include the co-development of PED models tailored to intermediate territories, which will contribute to both energy transition and territorial regeneration. The project aims to produce spatially embedded strategies that integrate decarbonization goals with broader socio-ecological priorities, such as landscape preservation, public space requalification, and heritage reuse. Key outputs include territorial energy scenarios, participatory governance frameworks, and site-specific design guidelines, all co-produced through living labs and stakeholder workshops.
The Cusio case also serves as a testing ground for assessing the replicability of PED strategies in similar contexts across Europe. Particular attention is given to evaluating implementation conditions and to identifying levers for policy innovation. The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between regional planning instruments and local energy practices, fostering a culture of energy citizenship and inter-municipal cooperation. Among the anticipated impacts are the activation of community energy initiatives, improved integration of dispersed infrastructures, and the valorization of disused industrial assets for renewable energy production.
Furthermore, by anchoring energy strategies in the specificities of place, the project aims to reduce energy poverty, strengthen territorial identity, and promote environmental justice. Challenges include the complexity of coordinating actors across scales and sectors, overcoming institutional inertia, and ensuring long-term sustainability of the interventions. Nevertheless, the Cusio case has the potential to demonstrate how PEDs can act as catalysts for holistic and equitable transitions in peripheral and semi-rural regions.
