La Sardinia is the our Wales. It houses what remains of our mining system, the mino-metallurgical one and part of the basic chemistry. Unlike Wales, however, almost all of these activities were promoted by the state: to deal with the sanctions in the 30s and the first oil shock in the 70s (carbosulcis), to give an initial response to the onset of banditry ( Ottana), to manage the consequences of chemical warfare (Porto Torres and Assemini) and to exploit low-cost energy (aluminum). None of these initiatives (with the only relevant exception of Sir di Rovelli) saw the competition of private entrepreneurship and, above all, none has generated a healthy induced activity or fueled a significant secondary processing cycle.
From '92 to today regional and national governments (all) have, in reality, had to manage the long agony of this industrial system. However, no one has honestly and clearly posed the problem of its radical reconversion. And this is the second and crucial difference with Wales.
After the dramatic defeat of the miners (a glorious working class that deserved respect as those of Sulcis deserve it today) and following Thater's decision to privatize businesses and public property in Wales this problem he asked himself and faced it head-on. The industrial areas who were of the state were conferred to an agency (WDA) who was entrusted with the task of reclaiming them, infrastructure them and reusing them by making them available to new entrepreneurs whom the same agency was responsible for looking for all over the world, including in Italy - Fumagalli della Candy and D'Amato among others - and of accompany facilitating their establishment in any way. Cardiff Bay itself, which, in addition to being incomparably uglier, was also in much, much worse shape than Bagnoli, has been redeveloped on the basis of a project that included residential and commercial buildings, hi-tech manufacturing activities, research centres, hotels, cultural centers and sports facilities. The cost of the reclamation was largely repaid by the valorisation of the areas. An example of virtuous collaboration between public and private that worked and that Bagnoli didn't want to follow with the results that everyone can see.
The results of this vast conversion and development program have been very positive for Wales both in terms of employment and economic growth. Of course, Wales is not an island and is close to the Greater London Basin. But also Sardinia has resources and potential that would allow it to trigger a positive reconversion process. Of the existing, what has a future should be kept, while what no longer has should be gradually disposed of. The emphasis should be placed on the launch of new initiatives and it is on this terrain that the State and the Region should collaborate.
Reconverting the island's economy by enhancing its vocations and potential without dispersing its industrial heritage, albeit small, requires a planning, financial and managerial effort that the Region alone is unable to make. We need the State and we need Europe! If we knew how to seize it, this could truly be an opportunity to put into practice that principle of subsidiarity which must increasingly inspire both the action of nation states and the new Europe.
