The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of specific population sections, with regards to economic and work conditions, mental and physical well-being, and context-based factors, emphasizing the need for timely policy measures aimed at counteracting the Italian economic framework’s fragility—which poorly adapts to unexpected circumstances. Identifying the most vulnerable groups is, therefore, essential with a view to carrying out targeted measures. Concerning University, the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 could likely result in a decrease in enrollments to both the first and further years of study, with significant consequences on the future of students and the system as a whole. The class of students is of great interest, as it is made up of individuals differing from each other in many ways. Our investigation is aimed at observing anxiety levels filtering the perception of one’s anxiety state in a highly stressful time such as the pandemic from the usual anxiety levels. This evaluation allows us to evaluate the similarity of individual behaviors during the lockdown period with those from the previous period.

Most studies on the management of COVID-19 have analyzed the issue from the perspective of the central government, while only a small portion have focused on local institutions, especially in countries such as Italy that are characterized by a multilevel governance system. Our study focuses on Peccioli, which is a municipality of under 5,000 inhabitants in Tuscany. We will investigate the citizens’ perceptions of the various actions that were put in place by the local government of Peccioli to manage the emergency. We aim to understand the ranking of the priorities that municipalities are required to accomplish for their citizens. A survey of a representative sample of the local population has found that citizens’ evaluations of municipal initiatives are overall positive, but that culture (defined here as cultural initiatives and events) and funding (and culture before funding) are considered to be more important than services. In particular, cultural events played an important role in the citizens’ perceptions because they strengthened community resilience during the emergency. This result can inform public administrators, who in times of crisis tend to make the first investment cuts in culture. This study underscores the importance of understanding how to effectively reach all citizens.

The objective of this research is to investigate the awareness and opinions concerning forest therapy within a public health institution, specifically as a green prescription for patients with stable chronic disease. Through qualitative preliminary analysis, this study compared the responses of a group to gather physical activity and wood frequentation insights, as well as forest therapy patients’ attitudes. The results underline a general predisposition among respondents to engage in moderate physical activity and visit natural environments for relaxation purposes. Emerging parallelly is how forest therapy is largely an unknown practice, although it draws considerable interest and a general predisposition to participate. This research outlines the ideal conditions that emerge for participating in forest therapy sessions, including the availability to pay, pointing toward environmentally and socio-economically sustainable reflections. Further studies should extend this preliminary investigation using appropriate statistical methodologies on larger samples, involving different regions and medical conditions.

This article presents an evaluation of the “Friuli Venezia Giulia in Movimento” project, aimed at promoting the culture of movement and well-being in a region which is particularly affected by population ageing. The goals of the project reside in promoting appropriate lifestyles through the endorsement of healthy behaviours (physical activity, healthy nutrition, well-being); increasing the number of physically active people in the various municipal territories, by enhancing or creating new pedestrian paths that reflect the 10,000-step goal; enhancing the local territory by promoting the existing paths and the initiatives already in place; promoting new paths and environments conducive to physical activity for people of all ages; encouraging the creation of new “walking groups” and the adhesion of people to them to promote physical activity and socialisation, with the consequent improvement of psychophysical well-being. Although the evaluation is still on-going, the preliminary results—obtained by means of two surveys and a multilevel model—show that the initial steps of the project have been carried out satisfactorily and that Municipalities still need to be supported in order to achieve good participation on part of the citizens.

Many scholars today are deepening economic issues by looking at new paradigms based on the relationship between communities and the resources of the territory. The proposals are different, mainly focusing on economic theories such as solidarity economy, a mix of theories and practices based on equity, sustainability, democracy, and reciprocity. The growing legislation on solidarity economy implies to develop tools to support Administrations and Communities throughout the process of effective realization. The aim of this study is to propose a methodology for evaluating the Vocation to Solidarity Economy (VSE) by means of a composite indicator (VSE index) and apply it to the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region in the northeast of Italy. A series of basic factors concerning social, economic, and environmental aspects was defined by multidisciplinary experts and used for VSE index calculations. The spatialization of VSE index allows the assessment of the vocation of territories in supporting the paths to become Communities of Solidarity Economy as defined by a recent regional law. As results of subsequent VSE spatialization we obtain the maps which highlight different characteristics within the Region (i.e. urban/rural relations) helping local administrations to improve current policies towards sustainability.