**2. Evolution characteristics of the Covid pandemic in Italy and Europe**

#### **2.1 Diffusion and resilience factors**

The analysis of diffusion factors and those of resilience and health risk reduction which have presented themselves in the Covid 19 pandemic, highlight a system contradiction: separating an economy that was united for many years, the resilience of the system and the ability to manage the risk of contagion and its consequences in territories where social equality appears to be greater is magnified, guaranteeing the presence of an effective health, assistance and inclusion system becomes all the more apparent. The Covid 19 pandemic has added gravity, and put emphasis on the contradiction of the system, when a system deemed wealthier, with higher levels of employment, especially in areas where the risk of infection is greater, faces greater risks. This phenomenon is evident in all European regions, but especially amidst the Italian ones, where the spread of infection is entirely linked to the present of air pollution factors and is event in areas with a higher rate of urbanisation and mobility. The risk of contagion, on the other hand, appears somewhat more attenuated in regions such as Emilia Romagna or Tuscany, where economic growth and the presences of a robust entrepreneurial fabric correspond to the presence of a high rate of social and human development and a lower presence of polluting factors.

The Health crisis appears as yet another episode in a sequence of phenomena that contribute to the connection between factors of social unease and the consequences of an economic, financial and productive model that ought to be structurally re-thought, considering aspects that impact the environment, health and society in terms of inequality. This data appears to be present and well confirmed also by the evaluation of the diffusion and resilience factors found in the Italian system, which appears particularly exemplary of the different conditions present in European nations. In fact, Italy includes in its territorial diversity almost all the socio-economic conditions present in Europe and the analysis of the impact of the pandemic shows factors of diffusion and resilience that confirm what can be seen of the broader European framework.

*Inclusion Policies and Territorial Welfare Networks between Society, Work and the Economy… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96035*

In particular, the data concludes that:


The data helps to express how the internal areas of the country have been less affected by risk factors and how the more cohesive local communities with more personal services are able to mitigate the phenomena of post Covid discomfort, as a result, territories characterised by more eco-sustainable productions generally appear less affected by the risk. In light of this, the Covid 19 pandemic has set forth a basic rule of thought: that health security is dependent on how one lives and how one produces. The presence of a system of social services and the people who help to reduce the use of hospitalisation and promotion of production activities capable of limiting the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.

The thousands of villages and small municipalities, which offer high touristic value albeit at the risk of depopulation, are territorial contexts in which the risk factors appear less serious, as do the conditions of social hardship, due to the presence of social networks and stronger community ties. The Italian situation confirms what has been known for some time, and has been reaffirmed in the recent months through the analysis of the impact of Covid 19 derived from individuals, society and the economy, namely that human beings are incredibly sensitive to social circumstances – as put forth in the R. Laing's work '*The Politics of Experience*' (1967) [4]. Verified by social sciences and the growing role of welfare systems, which in recent years see social pathologies being derived from economic-culture factors, the situation that the world is currently experiencing confirms this fundamental assumption of psychiatry, bringing about a risk of dissociative identity disorder, anorexia, schizophrenia and above all depression in the post Covid context. The spread of depression as the "social disease" of this decade stems from the profound sense of inadequacy for what one could do and are unable to do, resulting from the ethics of efficiency at any cost, which coincidently has been an common thought in shaping these past decades and that of late liberalism, such ideals have led to devastating consequences for the human condition and society – from the growth of inequality to the other various forms of unease [3, 5–8].

The risk factors and spread of the Covid pandemic have certainly brought these social issues to light, however, the elements of resilience show how the health crisis is an expression of a wider environmental crisis and a development model that generates situations of crisis, hardship and difficulty. To recall the words of Pope Francis, and applying his rational to the current context in which the epidemic has spread; *"it's not possible to remain healthy in a sick world".*

The response to crisis factors and the consequences on people within a territory ought not to be traced back to the sole dimension of health therapy and pharmacology as they have been in the last phase. Instead, the therapies must primarily concern themselves with risk reduction, and therefore be of a preventative nature. It's not possible to solve structural problems with the logic of merely containing consequences, instead it's necessary to shift the focus and act on the causes. Genetic and biological research is called upon to pay attention to social transformations and the consequences found in the everyday lives of people who live in an economic and productive model that exasperates the individual and the environment [9–12].

The Covid 19 pandemic ought to be considered as the latest example of a continuous acceleration of crises deriving from the current exasperation of economic growth which, like many of the preceding crises i.e. the financial and the employment crises as well as the continuous environmental crisis, puts too much emphasis on the speculative logic of 'short-term advantages' [13].
