The Blue Mile as a Model of Territorial Governance
As part of the 2025 edition of the Cresco Award for Sustainable Cities, the initiative promoted by the Sodalitas Foundation that recognizes the commitment of Italian municipalities to the sustainable development of their territories, Consulnet Italia awarded the Municipality of La Spezia the special prize “Stakeholder Engagement in Municipalities,” acknowledging the Miglio Blu project as a virtuous example of collaboration between public administration, businesses, institutions, the education sector, and the local community.
Through this recognition, Consulnet Italia sought to highlight the Municipality’s ability to transform a strong territorial identity — linked to the sea, sailing, and the Blue Economy — into a shared vision for sustainable development. The Blue Mile, in fact, is not simply a project dedicated to sailing, but a territorial governance model that connects industry, innovation, education, community, and the city’s international outlook.
It is precisely this ability to create strong connections among different stakeholders that makes the project particularly significant. La Spezia demonstrates how a territory can strengthen its competitiveness when it successfully enhances its core strengths and combines them into a common path forward.
Following this recognition, Monica Mazzucchelli, Partner & Managing Director of Consulnet Italia, spoke at the Blue Design Summit, hosted in La Spezia from May 18 to 20, 2026. The summit represented an important opportunity to bring the experience of the Cresco Awards into a broader discussion about the future of the Blue Economy, design, sailing, and territorial development.
The message that emerged was clear: sustainability can no longer be viewed solely as an environmental or social responsibility, but rather as a strategic driver of growth, attractiveness, innovation, and competitiveness. This is especially true for the Blue Economy, a complex ecosystem that integrates sailing, design, tourism, research, education, industry, and local communities.
In this context, stakeholder engagement plays a central role. It is not merely about communication or occasional consultation, but about a structured process of listening, dialogue, and co-design. In the case of the Blue Mile, this means involving institutions, maritime and related businesses, schools, universities, research centers, citizens, and young people in building a shared direction for the future.
With the “Stakeholder Engagement in Municipalities” award, Consulnet Italia aimed to recognize precisely this ability to transform a strong territorial identity into a shared project capable of generating widespread benefits and sustainable value over time.
The Blue Mile can therefore become a model of sustainable competitiveness, where the sea, industry, innovation, community, and the future come together through collaborative governance based on shared responsibility and the ability to transform dialogue into priorities, objectives, and measurable results.
