Events and News

Observed data and modeling tools for bathing water management

The Bathing Directive (2006/7 / EC) requires that the pressures (eg. river mouths, discharges and urban wastewater treatment plants) having the greatest impact on the environment and health be identified and characterized. The Directive also places emphasis on the concept of prevention and the importance of forecasting possible episodes of pollution.

The objective of the Workshop is to show the potential of the products available under the Copernicus Program, comparing the monitoring and modeling experiences carried out in the various Italian Regions. Furthermore, the Workshop will be an opportunity to collect user needs and to promote the use of a homogeneous approach on a national scale to solve the critical issues related to the management of bathing water.

Program

Pesticides: reduce the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture by 2030, how and why

The conference "Pesticides: reducing the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture by 2030, how and why" will be held on 12 October in Rome. Two ISPRA researchers will participate in the meeting with interventions on the impact of pesticides on species and habitats and pesticides in surface and groundwater.

Groundwater, a fundamental resource. New ISPRA video

ISPRA, on the occasion of World Water Day 2022, created a video dedicated to groundwater, in order to promote the importance of this strategic resource, fundamental for our water supply and to help make visible what to us it is invisible.

The "invisible waters" of Rome : monitoring of groundwater, a precious resource to be protected and enhanced

The Geological Survey of Italy and the Municipality of Rome signed an agreement to monitor the groundwater of the city. The subsoil of the capital of Italy is not only rich in ruins of the Roman civilization, but also in groundwater. The monitoring network has more than 200 monitoring points between wells and piezometers, some of which are continuously monitored. Groundwater level, temperature, pH and electric conductivity data are collected and recorded on a web app that will soon be available online. In order to raise the public awareness of this activity, ISPRA produced a documentary video entitled "What flows under our feet?" in which the monitoring details are explained.

Walking through the environment

“Walking through the environment” is an ISPRA publication aimed at an audience of young students and non-experts. The Ministry of education recognizes it as a contribution to the “RiGenerazione Scuola” National Plan.
The virtual walk stretches through six environmental paths: Crossing the city; Trip to the countryside; Towards the sea; Going up the river; Back home, it comes full circle; Education, a sustainability agenda.

Drought and water resources: in the last 30 years (1991-2020) water availability reduced by 19% compared to the thirty years 1921-1950

What are the short, medium and long-term trends and impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle and, in particular, on the availability of water resources? The situation that emerges from the first assessments carried out by ISPRA is decidedly not reassuring and a reduction in the availability of water resources is expected at national level, ranging from 10% in the short-term projection, (in the case of an aggressive mitigation approach in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions), up to 40% (with peaks of 90% for southern Italy) in the long-term projection, assuming that the growth of greenhouse gas emissions maintains the current trend.

Final Conference of the LIFE project Lagoon Refresh

Next 7 July it will be held the Final Conference of the LIFE Project Lagoon Refresh which had among its targets the diversion of a freshwater flow from the Sile river into the lagoon, necessary for recreation of the typical salt gradient of buffer areas between lagoon and mainland and for restoration of the reedbed habitat and its biodiversity. The project, coordinated by ISPRA, involved the Veneto Region, the Triveneto Public Works Authority, the Ca 'Foscari University of Venice and IPROS as associated partners.

Discussions of Applied Hydrology: cycle of seminars organized by the Italian Hydrological Society

Review and update of the Flood Risk Management Plans. Current situation and next goals

The Italian Hydrological Society (SII)  is organizing a cycle of remote seminars entitled "Discussions of Applied Hydrology" aimed at investigating issues such as the role of Hydrology is particularly relevant, through the analysis and discussion of the most widely used procedures.

Second National Conference on Meteorological and Climate Forecasts

The Second National Conference on Meteorological and Climate Forecasts, organized by AISAM (Italian Association of Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology) and SISC (Italian Society for Climate Sciences), will be held in Bologna on 21-22 June 2022 at the headquarters of Emilia Romagna Region.

A relay race for the environment

50th World Environment Day
With the aim to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Conference, the first world conference on the environment, the UNEP (United Nation Environment Program) has chosen the #OnlyOneEarth theme. In the Universe there are billions of galaxies, in ours there are billions of planets, but there is only one planet Earth. In order for all its inhabitants to survive, humans must lead a sustainable lifestyle, safeguarding limited resources and remaining in harmony with nature. In the Conference of 1972, 26 principles were identified on the conservation and enhancement of the environment, which after 50 years remain a useful guide to follow.

Available online the new number of PRUE

PRUE 1 2022 is online. The bulletin includes information on the European Union's funding programs, ongoing projects, activities of the European Union and international bodies in the field of sea and water.

Seminar for the 30th anniversary of the Natura 2000 Network and the LIFE Program

2022 is a special year as we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of both the European Natura 2000 Network and the LIFE programme, born on the same day, the 21st of May 1992.

Water, drought and water scarcity

Interview with an ISPRA researcher who explains how the situation today is certainly under observation, and why we cannot yet speak of an emergency.

Water unites the World. Climate Change - Reducing the deep impact on water

Sustainable management and technologies to counteract environmental and climatic impacts on water

On March 22, on the occasion of World Water Day, Earth Technology Expo organizes the webinar "Water unites the World. Climate Change. Reducing the deep impact on water".

World Water Day 2022

World Water Day is celebrated on 22 March, an anniversary established by the United Nations in 1992 as part of the directives of Agenda 21, the result of the Rio conference. The theme chosen for 2022 is "Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible".
Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere. Out of sight, under our feet, the water table is a hidden treasure that enriches our life.
Almost all liquid fresh water in the world is underground. As climate change escalates, groundwater will become increasingly critical. We must work together to sustainably manage this precious resource.

AQUAE! World Water Day 2022

The event celebrates the 2022 UN Report dedicated to invisible and underground waters. Institutions, researchers and companies in the presence of secondary school children will illustrate the state of water in Italy and around the world, with the aim of raising  awareness towards public opinion and teenagers.

Presentation of the EcoAtl@nte

Finally a unique single point of access to Italian environmental data, also accompanied by stories, photos and interactive maps: ISPRA presents the EcoAtlante, the journey into the Italian environment that allows you to discover and share the highly topical issues that affect our country today .

An absolute news: the possibility of creating customized national and local maps with data, trends and SNPA percentages from the various themes.

During the presentation, the operation and the different ways of sharing maps and data will be illustrated.

Come and compose your map!

Program

EcoAtl@nte

Program

Press release (ita) 

Video EcoAtl@nte

Interview with Michele Munafò

Fourth National Congress of the Italian Association of Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

The Congress is intended as a moment of reflection for the Italian scientific community that deals with atmospheric sciences, meteorology and climatology and is a valuable opportunity to promote an analysis on these issues.

Documentary of the project FIT4REUSE

The project FIT4REUSE aims to provide safe, sustainable and accepted ways of water supply for the Mediterranean basin by exploiting non-conventional water resources. Treated wastewater and desalinated water can contribute to compensate the gap between agricultural water demand and supply and provide consistently high quality water throughout the year. FIT4REUSE aims to define on innovative, sustainable and safe treatment technologies, and on the use of treated wastewater and desalinated water in agriculture and for aquifer recharge. Also, specific methodological and assessment tools will be created to meet the project objectives.

X World Water Forum 2024: Rome, Florence and Assisi candidates to host the event

The World Water Forum is the most important international event in the water sector, which brings together the scientific community, businesses, the world of cooperation and civil society. Every three years the World Water Council (WWC) of Marseille chooses the country that will host the event.
The candidacy of the cities of Rome, Florence and Assisi to host the X World Water Forum in 2024 was filed in September 2020 by the organizing committee (Italy World Water Forum) and admitted to the final phase of the assignment process.
From 6 to 11 February 2022, Italy will host the WWC delegation in charge of evaluating the Italian proposal for the candidacy, based on the idea of ​​"Water Renaissance".
A large alliance of national institutions, municipalities, regions, research bodies, universities, associations and companies has come together around the proposal of the promoting committee and will welcome the WWC delegation visiting our country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 7 February will welcome the representatives of the WWC during an institutional meeting which will be attended by the president of ISPRA, Stefano Laporta.

Program

Conservation of aquatic ecosystems, spatial planning and involvement: a strategy for the protection of biodiversity

On the occasion of the World Wetlands Day, Legambiente presents the Report on Aquatic Ecosystems with a map of 15 best practices, citing a series of successful projects in the management of wetlands and aquatic ecosystems throughout the Peninsula: from the protection of the Mediterranean trout, at the visitor center on the otter in the Gran Paradiso National Park, monitoring the pink flamingo in the Gran Sasso National Park, up to the census in Sicily of the wetlands of the Mediterranean islands, just to name a few.

World Wetlands day

On February 2, World Wetlands Day to increase awareness on the important role that these areas have for the people and the Plante. The wetland, such as lagoons, are between the environment most productive, with an high level of biological diversity.

Also this year the LIFE Lagoon Refresh project continues its restoration actions in an area of ​​the northern lagoon of Venice to re-establish the saline gradient and improve the quality and conservation status of the lagoon habitats and the species that live there.

The project Life Lagoon Refresh - Coastal lagoon habitat (1150*) and species recovery by restoring the salt gradient increasing fresh water input started in September 2017 and will end in 5 years.

To date, the project is moving towards an end, the concrete actions are completed, while the reed bed transplantation and monitoring activities are still in progress. The monitoring results show a change in the project area: the saline gradient, the key objective of the project, has been restored; flora and fauna are responding to the change in salinity. ISPRA and the University of Venice continue to collect data to verify if the objectives of the project have been achieved.

ISPRA's Hydro-Meteo-Sea Forecasting System: operational implementations in the environmental field, research applications and development lines

The Hydro-Meteo-Sea Forecasting System (SIMM), which became operational at the beginning of 2000, was designed with the aim of providing meteorological and meteo-marine forecasts in an area, that of the Mediterranean, characterized by the interaction of various phenomena on a range of scales ranging from km to the synoptic scale.

Open ecological transition. Where is the Italian environment going?

A country covered almost 40% by forests, more than Germany and Switzerland, and which has seen protected areas of land and sea grow up to 20% of the national territory. Greenhouse gas emissions, which have decreased by 19% in the last 30 years, are reduced, as are the main sources of air pollution. However, ozone, the situation of large urban centers and the Po Valley are worrying. Progress also for the circular economy: the economy uses less and less natural resources, separate waste collection continues to increase and landfill is increasingly reduced. On the other hand, the situation for land consumption is worsening: 60 square kilometers still lost every year or 15 hectares a day.
ISPRA presented the Open Ecological Transition report on 13 December which allows us to interpret the changes that have occurred in recent years in the aspects of the Italian environment.
It is a clear synthesis of the many dynamics that determine the Italian ecological transition, which immediately brings the most important aspects of each problem or phenomenon to the attention of society, highlighting the critical issues but also the results already achieved or achievable.The document is divided into three parts: The Italian environment at a glance, Natural systems, Human systems, for a total of 12 chapters and 66 items.

Press release (ita)

Open ecological transition

Video

Photo gallery

Published "Marine Litter: looking forward a new world" in the frame of the INDICIT II Project

As part of the INDICIT I and II Projects, both financed by the European Commission and with the participation of 14 international partners, ISPRA has produced an ITINERARY EXHIBITION consisting of photographs, comics and a documentary.
Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the exhibition had a limited circulation and thus the idea was born of spreading it in virtual mode through a catalog that represented the works of the Exhibition in order to bear the testimony of the project, waiting for them to resume in throughout Europe the normal activities of scientific dissemination and communication.

The Copernicus Program Services for Flood Risk Management

The workshop, organized with the scientific support of ISPRA, is part of Line 2 "Guidance and coordination of the obligations related to the assessment and management of flood risk" of the Mettiamoci in Riga Project. The aim of the event is to present the national state of the art on services earth observation and applications, with particular regard to flood risk management. The day aims to be a moment of reflection on the opportunity that new technologies make available for the obligations to which the District Basin Authorities are called upon.

Presentation of the ISPRA Report on hazard conditions of flood in Italy and associated risk indicators

On November 16, 2021, the Workshop for the presentation of "The Report on hazard conditions of flood in Italy and associated risk indicators" will be held by ISPRA with data on floodable areas updated to 2020.
The Workshop will be an opportunity to illustrate the activities carried out for the purposes of assessing and managing the risk of floods by District Basin Authorities, Regions and Autonomous Provinces with the coordination and technical support of the MiTE, ISPRA and DPC.
During the Workshop, in addition to the Report, some of the activities developed by the MiTE, the DPC and the District Basin Authorities will be illustrated in the path towards the definition of the new Flood Risk Management Plan 2021.

Program

Press release (ita)

Streaming chanel Youtube ISPRA

Report on flood hazard conditions in Italy and associated risk indicators

The SINTAI system for the dissemination and consultation of national water data

The following webinar aims to illustrate the WebGis section of SINTAI, developed to disseminate information and official data relating to Italian waters, acquired and processed in compliance with the obligations of the European Union and international agreements on environmental reporting.

Days of Hydrology 2021

The days will be dedicated to the study of hydrological phenomena in relation to the protection and safeguarding of the territory. ISPRA will be present with two oral contributions on the national hydrological balance and the availability of national water resources.

National meeting EcoAlpsWater Project

On Friday 10 Septemeber 2021 it will be held “Innovative Ecological Assessment and Water Management Strategy for the Protection of Ecosystem Services in Alpine Lakes and Rivers”.