Consorzio Venezia Nuova is made up of national and local construction companies and is the concessionary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – ex Magistrato alle Acque di Venezia, now Provveditorato Interregionale per le Opere Pubbliche del Triveneto - for the implementation of measures to safeguard Venice and its lagoon, within the competence of the Italian State, in accordance with Law 798/84.

The measures are implemented on the basis of a single privately negotiated concession responsible for carrying out all the studies, planning and implementation of the safeguarding activities delegated to the State. On December 1st 2014, the Italian Anti-Corruption Authority provided the extraordinary and temporary management of the Consorzio: Luigi Magistro and Francesco Ossola were appointed extraordinary administrators of Consorzio Venezia Nuova. On April 27th 2015 was also appointed Giuseppe Fiengo.

The Special Law 798/1984 identifies the need to delegate all activities falling within the competence of the Italian State (Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport - Venice Water Authority) to a single entity (“the only concessionary”).

Agreements in form of public concession were made between Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and Consorzio Venezia Nuova, concerning the relationship between grantor and concessionary. The first one was stipulated in 1984, then it was modified several times until 1991, when it was established in a General Agreement 7191, in which it has been defined a General Plan of interventions with timelines for works completion.

The measures are implemented on the basis of the single privately negotiated concession responsible for carrying out all the studies, planning and implementation of the safeguarding activities delegated to the State. The Consorzio Venezia Nuova therefore operates on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and, in particular, of the Venice Water Authority, the technical and local organ of the State, with responsibility for controlling the work of the Concessionary.

The subsequent acts implementing and supplementing the General Agreement define the progress of the work in tranches and the correspondent funding. After 1991, the grantor has dictated the procedure and audit lines of all project steps. Due to the complexity of the project, it has been divided into several parts to be executed and financed step by step.

 

To carry out its work as State concessionary responsible for studies, experimental activities, projects and works, Consorzio Venezia Nuova has developed a structure able to plan, organise, manage and control the safeguarding measures during the various phases of implementation, while at the same time acting as the operational interface between the granting administration (the Venice Water Authority) on one hand and those carrying out the work on the other (designers, experts responsible for studies and experiments and companies carrying out the work).

All interventions are at an advanced state of completion and represent a major environmental defence, restoration and management programme, not just in terms of the overall quantities, but also of the know-how acquired in the safeguarding field and in the management of complex ecosystems. This type of project involves a high percentage of unusual work and advanced technology and although projects with similar objectives have also been implemented in other countries, the conditions of the "Venice case" are completely different, as are the constraints to be respected, associated with the specific character of the lagoon environment and the conditions of the historic city and its needs for conservation through innovation. The knowledge, experience and resources (human, technical and scientific) accumulated over the years represent an important asset in a world with ever more need of solutions to protect the land and environment in general and of defence from the sea and coastal defence in particular.

Consorzio Venezia Nuova received RINA certification of its Quality Management System in accordance with UNI EN ISO 9001:2008. This certification covers all Consorzio Venezia Nuova's processes and services connected with measures to safeguard Venice and is aimed at demonstrating respect for the quality requisites established for the studies, projects and works, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement.