Can environmental agreements represent an opportunity for green jobs? Evidence from two Italian experiences

Until today, following the rise of the so-called “green economy” paradigm, research into green jobs has mainly focused on the relationship between the rise of the green economy and the effects on creation of new opportunities of green employment. This study aims to link new green jobs and new green business models with industrial reconversion through the experiences of environmental rehabilitation in two Italian industrial areas characterized by the implementation of environmental agreements. The two cases are compared on the base of an analysis of formal documents and through semi-structured interviews with local representatives. The analysis highlights a series of enabling conditions and barriers to the creation of green jobs and local green businesses development. Stakeholder cooperation, as well as industries and research interaction, emerge as the main driving factors. Conversely, bureaucracy and lack of infrastructural investments are revealed as barriers to the creation of green jobs and local green businesses development. This study enriches the academic literature, shifting the attention from the impacts of green policies and green jobs, to those factors that are able to stimulate the employment growth. The definition of enabling conditions and barriers could support policy makers and other local stakeholders in implementing future programmes and actions for local development in areas characterized by similar conditions.