Events and News

Mitigation interventions for flood and hydrogeological instability

The technical seminar is organized by the Order of Engineers of the province of Ferrara and by the Order of Geologists of Emilia-Romagna.
In the light of recent events in Emilia-Romagna, the seminar aims to explore the issues of prevention and mitigation of the effects caused by flood and hydrogeological instability.

"What flows under our feet? - Groundwater monitoring activities in Rome"

ISPRA has produced the documentary "What flows under our feet?" which explains what the aquifers of Rome are, how they move and how they are controlled.
The subsoil of the capital of Italy is not only rich in remains of Roman civilization, but also in underground waters; a precious resource that has always characterized this place. The monitoring network has about 200 measuring points between wells and piezometers, some of which are monitored continuously. The level, temperature, ph and conductivity data of the aquifers are collected and recorded on a web app that will soon be available online

Golden Spike Ceremony for the CAMPANIAN GSSP

The Golden Spike Ceremony of the CAMPANIAN GSSP (Golden Stratotype Sections and Points) was held on Wednesday 26 July at the Gola del Bottaccione (Gubbio). The "Golden Spike" ("Golden Nail") represents the physical expression of the boundary between Santonian and Campanian, dated 83.6 million years ago. This is a scientific recognition of international value, which makes Bottaccione one of the 100 most important geosites in the world.

Record heat and drought in 2022

Italy's climate in SNPA report. Peak temperature anomaly in June (+3.09°C) and lowest rainfall levels (-22%) since 1961

The "Climate in Italy in 2022" report, published by ISPRA annually since 2006, becomes a SNPA product this year.
Thanks to the involvement of the National System for Environmental Protection, it is enriched with insights on climate also at regional and local scales, as well as on the most relevant hydro-meteo-climatic and meteo-marine aspects of the year under review.

The year 2022 was the least rainy year since 1961, marking -22% below the 1991-2020 climatological average, with precipitation below normal (-39%) from January to July. The anomalies were most pronounced in the North (-33%), followed by the Center (-15%) and the South and Islands (-13%)

Tools and services for evaluating farm performance

In the 2014-2022 programming period, the National Rural Network worked to improve the implementation of rural development policies with services, tools and methods for partnership, with the aim of promoting the affirmation of an increasingly sustainable agriculture and innovative.

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Understand and contrast the dynamics of abandonment of historic villages

The online seminar on the abandonment of historic villages will be held on Monday 17 July at 3 pm, an ISPRA researcher will participate with a speech on the interaction between geological and technical-economic-social causes in the abandonment of villages.

Challenges and opportunities in Europe in the raw materials sector - Circularity and sustainability in the extractive sector

As part of Spirit of Rocks, the event with which the Municipal Administration of Buddusò aims to launch a new idea of ​​experiencing Sardegna and its territories, the conference "Challenges and opportunities in Europe in the raw materials sector" will be held on 15 July - Circularity and sustainability in the extractive sector."

Water, a common front against the climate crisis

In Parma on 14 and 15 July 2023 two days of study and discussion on the water resource and its delicate environmental, economic and social balance.

The centrality that the water resource is increasingly assuming in the environmental, economic and social balances requires a reflection on the part of the institutions and stakeholders on the sustainable management of the water resource. May's flood events in Emilia-Romagna teach us.

For these reasons, the Po River Basin District Authority has decided to organize, with the support of the Globe Italia National Climate Association, two study days on the subject, to formulate a series of concrete proposals, based on solid scientific foundations.

XXI INQUA Congress

The 21st INQUA Congress, the international scientific association of reference for Quaternary scholars all over the world, will be held in Rome from 14 to 20 July 2023.
The INQUA 2023 Congress will have a scientific program featuring 143 thematic sessions, 8 workshops and 3 short courses in the field of geology, paleoclimatology, natural hazards, marine and continental ecosystems, human evolution, environmental changes and much more. Furthermore, in the days preceding and following the Congress, 20 scientific excursions will be organized to the places of greatest interest for Quaternary experts in Italy and in the Mediterranean countries.
The very title of the Congress "Time for change" clearly indicates the centrality of the issue of climate change underway.

XXI INQUA Congress

The XXI Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) will be held from 14 to 21 July 2023 at the Sapienza University of Rome. The congress will have ISPRA as a protagonist both as a sponsoring body and in the scientific organization.

Land consumption: web application for sharing preliminary data deriving from the monitoring activity

ISPRA and the National System for the Protection of the Environment (SNPA) have launched an experimental initiative aimed at Municipalities and Observatories of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces for the sharing of preliminary data deriving from the monitoring of land consumption, in order to make the process more effective and participatory.

The CARG Geological Sheet Messina - Reggio Calabria. Geological knowledge to support infrastructure development

ISPRA and CARG project

On 12 July, ISPRA, on the occasion of the conference 'Geological knowledge to support the development of infrastructures', will present the Geological Sheet at a scale of 1:50,000 n. 601 Messina-Reggio Calabria, created as part of the CARG Project and just published. An opportunity for discussion to make citizens and administrators aware of the importance of the CARG Project, as a source of knowledge of the territory and, therefore, an indispensable tool in defining sustainable development planning and programming strategies.

The geological representation of the CARG Sheets helps to better understand the territory in which we live, notoriously very complex from a geological point of view, and supports the planning and programming of strategies for the construction of environmentally compatible works, in order to define the interference and contain the possible impacts that the construction of such infrastructures can produce.

Program

Project  CARG

Video CARG project

Photo gallery

The National Geodatabase of Artificial Cavities (GNCA) is online

The National Geodatabase of Artificial Cavities (GNCA) collects the location, data and documentation, plans, sections and inspection reports relating to the artificial cavities surveyed throughout the country as part of an agreement stipulated in 2020 between the Department for the Geological Survey of Italy (ISPRA) and the Italian Speleological Society (SSI).

Geodatabase Nazionale Cavità Artificiali (isprambiente.it) 

Published the text for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience

On 5 July, the European Commission published the text of the proposal for a Directive on soil monitoring and resilience (Soil Monitoring Law), with the aim of building a solid and homogeneous monitoring system for all soils in the Union territory , necessary to achieve the soil health objective by 2050 and to comply with the international commitments relating to reset from zero land consumption and neutrality to soil and land degradation.

Advanced forms of geological modeling in 3D: knowledge tool for planning and design

Modeling and 3D representation, even digital, of subsoil geology represent a new way to transfer geological knowledge. The technological development of software suitable for this representation and modeling of the dynamics of geological and hydrogeological processes has made possible to have new tools for representing and communicating the phenomena of the physical environment.

Emilia-Romagna after the flood. Reflections on climate and territory

Hydrogeological instability, climate change and soil consumption are some of the topics that will be addressed during the conference to be held in Bologna on June 30, more than a month after the devastating floods of last May 16.

Landscape Metropolis: a strategic vision to tune urgencies and change music, paradigm, perspective

The Metropolis of Landscape Association and the Consortium for the reclamation of the Plain of Ferrara are organizing a meeting on 30 June in which they will talk about the territory, between urgencies and restarts and the projects of Metropolis of Landscape will be presented.

Final conference LIFE project Desert-Adapt

On 23 June the European partners will meet at the final conference of the LIFE Desert-Adapt project. With a group of invited experts, the risk of soil desertification and the pilot strategies that have been implemented to achieve land degradation neutrality will be analysed.

The round table will be an opportunity to debate on the initiatives tested in the LIFE Desert-Adapt project and on their potential to respond to the climate crisis through regenerative agricultural, ecological, economic and social practices.

Floods in Emilia-Romagna: ISPRA working in the areas affected by landslides

The experts, as part of the activities in support of the Civil Protection Department, are carrying out surveys and analyzes of landslides in flooded areas, also with the use of drones.

The data and information collected will help to identify the need for urgent interventions and to estimate future scenarios of a possible reactivation of landslides.

Video Emergenza Emilia Romagna - Centri di competenza ISPRA e CNR IGAG effettuano rilievi sulle frane

Galleria fotografica

Innovation for Drought and Agriculture

On the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought - 17 June - an event will take place on 19 June, organized as part of the activities set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by FAO with the Italian Research Institutes - ENEA, CNR, CREA and ISPRA - with the aim of improving sustainable food production and nutrition in developing countries.

World day against desertification and drought

The "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" proclaimed by the United Nations with a 1995 resolution is celebrated every year on 17 June.

The proposed topic for 2023 is "Her Land. Her Rights". The UNCCD strongly urges greater access to rights to the land that women very often cultivate but often they do not have sufficient rights to own it or in any case manage it and are often the first victims of desertification.

The attention towards the role of women in the direct management of the soil of the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) has grown considerably in recent years, with the adoption in 2017 of a Gender Action Plan, first, and then with actions aimed at supporting national governments to adopt appropriate tools to promote gender equality and access to rights.

DD-day 2023: World day against desertification and drought

In Sassari, the Department of Agriculture and the Desertification Research Unit of the University in collaboration with the Institute for the Sustainable Protection of Plants (Cnr-Ipsp), DesertNet International (DNI), the Global Network of Dryland Research Institutes (GNDRI ) and under the patronage of the UNCCD, will celebrate DD-day 2023 with an international event that will involve the world of research and civil society committed against desertification and land degradation.

150 years since the foundation of the Geological Survey of Italy

The Royal Decree n. 1421 of 15 June 1873, signed by King Vittorio Emanuele II, established the Geological Survey of Italy, which marks its 150th anniversary on 15 June.
The Decree, kept in the original in the ISPRA library , determined the rules for the preparation and publication of the Geological Map of Italy, entrusting them to the Geological Office set up in the Section of the Royal Mining Corps in Rome, dependent on the Ministry of 'Agriculture, Industry and Crafts and placed under the high scientific advice of the Geological Committee.

Remote sensing and satellite technologies at SatTech4EO

SatTech4EO is a two-day meeting which aims to engage the industrial (up-stream), institutional and research (midstream and downstream) community in a common forum to share knowledge of the Copernicus programme.

The meeting aims to make the participants of the user forum aware of technological advances and support the industry understand application needs and improve competitiveness in future Copernicus infrastructure development programmes.

ISPRA at the Flowpath 2023 conference

From 13 to 16 June, ISPRA participated in the Flowpath 2023 conference in Malta, the sixth edition of the hydrogeology biennial of the Italian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH). The meeting, which was also attended by international experts, was organized this year by the Government of Malta. The ISPRA Geological Survey of Italy participated with presentations regarding some of the projects and activities underway on hydrogeological issues.

The social relationship, balance of values ​​and spending capacity as a measure of performance in territorial rehabilitation activities

The first Social Report of the mission of the Commissioner for the implementation of the interventions necessary to adapt the illegal landfills present on the national territory to the current legislation highlights the favorable impacts on the territory of the clean-up actions set in motion since 2017, the year of assignment to the Arma dei Carabinieri for this mission and the appointment of the Commissioner. Making citizens accountable for the work carried out to be transparent and not to appear, but to show the actions carried out and the results achieved in terms of sustainability ensured for the country, this is a non-secondary objective of the mission.

Urban Geology Workshop 2023

ISPRA participates on behalf of the Urban Geology Expert Group (UGEG) of EuroGeoSurveys at the Urban Geology Workshop 2023 organized by "Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP)", the Geological Survey of Korea KIGAM  and by  Mines and Geoscience Bureau of Philippines, and which is taking place these days in Davao City (Philippines). The workshop entitled "Understanding and Mitigating Subsidence Hazards in Urban Areas" focuses in general on geological hazards in urban areas, with particular reference to problems relating to subsidence.

CARG Geological Survey and Cartography Summer School

The Summer School, organized by the Italian Geological Society with the collaboration of the ISPRA Geological Survey of Italy, aims to disseminate the survey methodologies and criteria adopted for the CARG Project, through survey days on the ground, lectures and exercises.

Soil care also cures drought

The Festa del Bio will be held in Rome on 27 May, with the participation of an ISPRA researcher at the Talk "The care of the soil also cures drought".

XV National Mining Day - Edition 2023

The National Mining Day, promoted to spread the value and cultural significance of mining tourism, has reached its 15th edition this year, recording growing interest throughout the country.
The initiative, organized by REMI, ISPRA-SNPA, AIPAI, ANIM, ASSORISORSE, G&T with the sponsorship: Consiglio Nazionale dei Geologi, EuroGeoSurveys, Sigea e Primavera della Mobilità dolce includes the organization of dedicated events throughout the country and the creation of a "national calendar" with all the initiatives promoted by the Sites/Museums and Mining Parks.

Brochure

Registration form of the initiatives

List of the initiatives