The Di Gennaro Foundation’s first appointment was the “Tortoreto, towards a sustainable future” Convention. The convention was organised in March 2008 in order to instil careful reflection regarding mobility, geology of the territory, town planning and quality of life.

The convention was inspired by the flood which hit the Tortoreto area in October of 2007 and the need to understand the reasons that brought about a series of negative effects. “By analysing the causes at the base of such occurrences”, explained Flavio Di Gennaro, who presented the convention, “the starting point emerges for devising the development of compatible urban planning, which must then express the way in which the future assets of the territory will be planned”.

The efficient running of the territory and the protection of its environmental heritage are vital conditions for satisfying the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy theirs

Professor Umberto Crescenti, lecturer of Geology and former rector of the G. D’Annunzio University of Chieti stressed that “ it is necessary to foresee events and not be surprised by them since the reality is that events tend to recur in the same territory in a repetitive manner” . He continued “it is necessary to adapt defences in order to safeguard against natural events”. Likewise, for the specific case of Tortoreto, the professor underlined the fact that 210mm of rain was registered in the nights from 6th to 7th October the year before the event, a third of the yearly average of the past thirty years.
“The disaster came about as a result of the concentration of water in a weak territory and due to the fact that clay rocks from the hills were washed down to the valley. This, however, could have been predicted, if the appropriate research had been carried out and the fluvial cones, which must be free to collapse, had not been urbanised”.

The interventions of engineer Roberto D'Orazio and architect Mauro D'Incecco, in charge of infrastructure and transport for Proger spa, were called upon in order to, one the one hand, analyse the impact of railway transport in the reduction of traffic on the roads and in the improvement of connections. On the other hand, they were asked to emphasise the profound inconveniences caused by traffic in terms of pollution, accidents and scarce liveability in cities as well as pointing out opportune manoeuvres to improve cities, giving the same importance to the traffic planning scheme as that given to urban planning. Reconciling the town's economic development with viability, developing cycle mobility and distinguishing entry times are but to mention just a few proposals.

Professor Mascarucci, associate professor of Urban Planning at the G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, wishes to underline how difficult it is in this day and age to restructure cities since plan regulators are too old and consider the territory as being made up of small, separate sections without having a holistic, strategic vision. “Territory is a complex system and cannot be simplified with plans… Specifically, in Tortoreto, it is necessary to pinpoint cubic spaces which may be amalgamated, demolishing others in order to free up space”.

Architect Medori, associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Florence, rounded up the convention going back to development emphasising the importance of a vision which integrates all of the components of the environmental system and the subsequent, unequivocal running of infrastructure and settlements.