By 2100, Sardinia could drop below the one million mark, reaching approximately 900,000 residents . This is the forecast linked to the phenomenon of depopulation, outlined by the President of the Regional Council, Piero Comandini, speaking this morning at the roundtable "The Third Sector Dialogues with Institutions and Regional Politics," part of the regional assembly of the Third Sector Forum "Future Sardinia. The Third Sector: A Place of Citizenship and a Key Player for More Just and Inclusive Communities." While the data for Sardinia are shocking, global demographic projections are even more significant: by the end of the century, Europe's population could be smaller than that of Nigeria . "Political decisions will have to be made taking these data into account," Comandini emphasized.
"If we look at Europe, the countries we used to hold up as models for efficient and cutting-edge services are now among those that have lost the most population. This means," Comandini explained, "that depopulation is not solely linked to a lack of services, but rather to models built over the last 20 years, driven by consumption, and independent of the political affiliation of those who govern. Even in Sardinia, in recent years we have deployed resources for local authorities, with the Single Fund, like no other region in Italy. Yet we are not curbing depopulation, perhaps because we only look at two factors: reporting and the timing of spending these resources, and not the quality of the spending plan ." "We are not in favor of voucher policies," the President of the Regional Council clarified. "We are more interested in service policies, in local healthcare, not centralized in Cagliari and Sassari, in investing in community housing and healthcare, but also considering who will work there."
"We must look at the choices of countries like Spain, which offer healthcare and housing to migrants who decide to stay and work," Comandini argued. "This is how they are growing in productivity and population. Here in Italy, too, in Sardinia, we need real reception and inclusion policies to retain migrants, whom more developed countries see as a great opportunity. Sardinia is currently the region with the shortest migrant stays: as soon as they can, they leave , reaching other parts of Italy or Europe." Comandini called for a united front "in the face of future challenges that are not simple." "As a political entity, as a Region," he concluded, "we can certainly do more and better, but it is important to understand that we can only survive together."
(Unioneonline)
