COMMONING E TERRITORI: BREVI SPUNTI SULLE POTENZIALITÀ DELLE COMUNITÀ ENERGETICHE

Abstract This paper explores the potential of energy communities as instruments of urban and territorial governance, framing them within the broader perspective of commoning and the recognition of energy as an urban common good. After tracing the regulatory framework — from the EU "Clean Energy for All Europeans" package (Directives 2018/2001 and 2019/944) to the Italian PNRR and the REPowerEU Plan — the paper examines the dual role of renewable energy communities (CER) and citizen energy communities (CEC) as drivers of ecological transition and as tools to address energy poverty, particularly in inner areas and rural villages. The analysis highlights how energy communities express a "quintuple helix" model of co-governance involving public, private, social, civic and cognitive actors, and how they can contribute to social inclusion, urban regeneration and the redefinition of citizen-territory-institution relations. The paper further investigates the interaction between energy communities and entrepreneurial activities — with specific reference to sustainable tourism and green communities — and their function as expressions of energy democracy and sustainable development, aligned with the multidimensional sustainability goals of the UN 2030 Agenda. Finally, the authors propose an innovative perspective on the integration between energy communities and civic uses (usi civici) and collective domains, suggesting that lands burdened by civic uses, in light of Law no. 168/2017 and the recent reform introduced by Decree-Law no. 77/2021, may be valorised as "suitable areas" for the installation of renewable energy plants, thus reconciling the traditional collective enjoyment of the land with new forms of sustainable territorial development.