Development cooperation

ENEA offers developing countries its expertise, experience, technologies and services in several intervention areas, in line with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 Goals and Law 125/2014 on the Italian system of development cooperation.
In the cooperation domain, ENEA operates by stipulating agreements with national and international institutions and bodies, collaborating with Civil Society Organizations and other development cooperation actors, and developing research, technology transfer, capacity building, technical support and assistance, and training projects and programs in different geographical areas, particularly Africa, the Mediterranean basin, Asia, the Balkans, the Middle East, and SIDS - Small Island Development States. By Ministerial Decree of October 27, 2023, ENEA is member of the CNCS – Italian National Council for Development Cooperation. Its representatives participate in the activities of three out of five CNCS Working Groups (GdL1, GdL2 and GdL5) and actively follow the initiatives promoted by MAECI and AICS.
Intervention Areas
ENEA’s development cooperation activities span various intervention areas: renewable energy sources, low-carbon technologies, clean energy carriers and solutions, climate change mitigation and adaptation, agro-industry innovation, efficient use of natural resources, water cycle, integrated waste management, energy efficiency, sustainable tourism, circular economy, health solutions, cultural heritage technologies, urban greening, nature-based solutions, and smart communities’ technologies.
Agreements and Collaborations
ENEA has developed a wide exchange and collaboration network over the years with national and international development cooperation actors by stipulating Agreements, Conventions and Memoranda of Understanding for the definition of joint initiatives. AICS and MASE are among the main national actors in the Italian development cooperation domain with which ENEA collaborates to carry out joint technology transfer and cooperation actions and interventions towards developing countries.
Other cooperation agreements have been concluded over time with MAECI, IILA, UNIDO and the Investment and Technology Promotion Office Italy (UNIDO-ITPO Italy). Back in 2018, ENEA co-signed, with other research organizations, a Memorandum of Understanding with FAO, providing for the creation of a partnership for the improvement of sustainable food production and nutrition in developing countries.
Since 2019, ENEA, has taken over the presidency of MEDENER, the Mediterranean Association of National Agencies for Energy Management. MEDENER’s mission is to implement global and integrated sustainable energy policies, encouraging exchange and sharing of information, solutions, experiences, and best practices, and developing cross-border projects and strategies in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and clean energy carriers. ENEA also holds the role of Secretary General of the Association.
Projects and Technologies
ENEA makes its technologies and solutions available to developing countries (DCs) and carries out technical and scientific support and technology transfer for actions aimed at: combating climate change impacts, promoting initiatives for the diffusion of renewable energy and carriers, and energy efficiency, encouraging the adoption of practices for sustainable and resilient agriculture, water and waste management, marine protected areas and warning and adaptation systems in coastal areas. ENEA implements its interventions through research projects, accompanying measures and technical support in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, Asia, the Balkans, the Middle East, Latin America, and SIDS - Small Island Development States, thanks to the expertise of its researchers and technicians, which allows for optimal use of technologies, properly adapting them to local contexts.
Development Cooperation Atlas
ENEA’s overall technological offer is particularly focused on sustainability and to the local national contexts and realities it is optimized for. With a view to make ENEA expertise, instruments and technologies known and encourage technology transfer to DCs, the Development Cooperation Atlas is an online database allowing to retrieve the Agency’s technologies, projects and cooperation agreements searching them by either Agenda 2030 Goal, or by Country, or OECD-DAC sector.
Task Force for Development Cooperation and Laboratory dedicated to DCs
ENEA has created a cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary Task Force aimed at encouraging interaction among its offices involved in development cooperation activities. The Task Force coordinated by the Technology Transfer Directorate, gathers representatives from departments, offices, and the relevant Technical Units. It ensures continuous dialogue, debate, and interaction among the several cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary expertise domains of the technical structures in the different intervention areas.
ENEA is also endowed with a Laboratory for Impacts on the Territory and Developing Countries, under the Department for Sustainability. Among other things, the Laboratory promotes support actions and technology transfer to DCs to combat anthropogenic and climate change impacts. Within the framework of the Conventions between ENEA and the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE), the Laboratory also provides technical-scientific and operational support to the bilateral and multilateral collaboration activities co-signed by MASE and DCs, including contributing to the definition and planning of technology transfer interventions.
PUBLISHED: 22/01/2018
UPDATE: 30/04/2024