Preventive Public Action and Trust: Legal Transparency in Risk-Related Expenditures

Trust between public institutions and communities is essential for effective natural risk prevention, particularly in contexts marked by high exposure to environmental hazards and increasing social sensitivity to public decision-making. This paper analyses how transparency in public spending and public contracting contributes to the social acceptance and long-term sustainability of preventive measures. Focusing on territorial risk management, the study examines the legal and administrative frameworks that govern openness, traceability, and accountability in procurement processes related to prevention, mitigation, and adaptation policies.

Through a legal and institutional analysis, the paper highlights how transparency obligations—such as access to information, justification of choices, and clear allocation of financial resources—play a crucial role in shaping public trust. Particular attention is paid to the preventive phase, where investments often produce benefits that are indirect, delayed, or not immediately visible to affected communities. In this context, the absence of transparency can foster mistrust, resistance, and social conflict, undermining the effectiveness of risk prevention strategies.

The analysis shows that preventive investments, when clearly justified, proportionate, and legally sound, strengthen institutional credibility and enhance cooperative relationships between public authorities and local communities. Transparent procurement procedures not only reduce the risk of corruption and mismanagement but also function as instruments of communication, making public action intelligible and socially legitimate.

The contribution ultimately frames transparency as a preventive tool in itself, capable of reinforcing both social cohesion and legal compliance. By integrating legal guarantees with participatory and informative practices, transparency supports a model of risk governance in which prevention is understood not only as a technical or financial issue, but also as a relational and institutional process grounded in trust.