Public Strategic Plans in Italian Local Governments. A sustainability development focus?

Internationally, the concept of sustainability development has been of increasing relevance since the Brundtland report was published. The European Commission has published a variety of documents that encourage member states to adopt Sustainable Development strategies. This article analyses fourteen voluntary contemporary strategic plans of Italian local governments published on-line, in order to verify if there is a sustainability development focus. From the research emerges that in Italy strategic planning is still in its initial stage. Nevertheless, the study concluded that the group of strategic plans analysed appears to be aligned with European Commission recommendations.