Coping With A Natural Disaster: The L'Aquila Quake

The objective of this paper is to analyze some priceless lessons that can be learned from natural disasters. Undoubtedly they raise a series of interdisciplinary issues, encompassing regional growth and local development, not to mention sustainability and legal implications; within this framework, finance plays a key role and useful insights can be gained by exploring the process of financial innovation. No surprise that disaster management stands as a new discipline aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice; the major goal is to prevent natural disasters. Afterwards, considerable efforts are required to quickly restore vital energies and hopefully carry out specific improvement projects as a sort of compensation for the (both personal and economic) losses suffered. A case in point has to do with the earthquake that devastated L’Aquila and its environs – in Central Italy – in 2009 causing more than 300 deaths, apart from extensive damage; the economic environment of a large portion of the Abruzzo Region was obliterated in a matter of seconds. Much remains to be done in L’Aquila and its surrounding boroughs, which sounds like an invitation to gather ideas for turning the crisis into an opportunity in the affected area, as elsewhere under similar circumstances.