• Without doubt, the policy for developing the educational, tourist and cultural values isfocused on the hydroelectric power plants. This may be due to several factors. Firstly, this type of power plant obviously presupposes the presence of a river. In the three cases described – Grosio, Trezzo on the Adda and Vigevano – there are major rivers like the Adda or the Ticino rivers which cross valleys of great importance, (the Valtellina, for example). Thanks to the creation of regional and national parks, these areas have been protected for many years. Many development policies for power plants situated in areas like these may therefore stem from the initiatives of the management companies that run these parks. In addition, some of these plants were designed at the beginning of 19th century by the most famous architects of the day, or have been incorporated in a context of industrial archaeology that hasanundoubted historical value. Roncoval Grande is a particular case amongst the hydroelectric power stations. This plant is newer than the other plants mentioned above, and is situated in a rather isolated zone on the Lombardy side of Lake Maggiore, on the Swiss border. A number of rather diversified initiatives, carried out by Enel in agreement with the local authorities, have allowed the plant to become a cultural and meeting place for the local community and visitors.

• Issues concerning the thermal power plants aremore complex. For many years they have been using polluting substances for producing their power, and this has awakened concerns and negative attitudes on the part of public administrations and local communities. So it is not a good moment to mention developing the value-added of these plants. During the past few years, the thermal power plants have been modernized and thus have very much reduced their negative ecological impact. Moreover, the nationalised companies carried out a number of initiatives designed to improve ‘transparency’ towards the outside world, and to improve their relations with local communities. These measures range from opening the power plants to the public as far as obtaining ecological certificates to show their compliance with European Union regulations. It is important to note that there is still much to do here: the public sector and civil society still harbour a defensive attitude towards these projects, and suspect that some information is still concealed.

• Finally, we are going to examine two highly innovatory power plants. Even though the Milan-Bicocca fuel cell-powered plant has designed by the great architect Vittorio Gregotti, and is situated in a highly dynamic area, it is not at the moment the subject of any particular initiative to develop its educational, tourist or cultural aspects. The Milan-Biccoca University has taken some steps in this direction, though these projects are still at an early stage. On the other hand, the Brescia waste incinerator plant presents a particular issue that is worth highlighting. As has already happened in the past, thermal power stations have often aroused ecological concerns. In Brescia, the plant’s management has adopted a defined attitude of collaboration and transparencytowards the local community, which has led to a considerable reduction in conflicts that could have ended up in court. Instead, the plant, having opened itself to public, has now become quite a popular ‘tourist spot’: now other public administrations and private association representatives want to assess the feasibility and impact of building similar plants on their territories.

The layout of territorial policy files

The above general comments seek to provide understanding on how the explanatory files on territorial policy have been set up. These files consist of:

• An introductory note giving the history and architectural description and main characteristics of the generating plant;

• A ‘geographic’ description that seeks to identify the general ecological elements that are important for territorial policy planning in connection with each specific plant;

• A note on the likely presence in the surroundings of this plant of any restrictions that are important from a historical, cultural or ecological point of view (for example, an industrial archaeology system strongly linked to the plant’s presence). These restrictions contribute to place the power plant in a context of wider interest, and therefore connecting to the territorial policy for developing the power station;

• A section dedicated to territorial policy that pays particular attention to any existing policies that might exist on the educational, tourist or cultural value-added of power plants.