FIST Geoitalia, 2011 - Session F4 (Turin, 23 September 2011) "Men and Reasons: 150 years of geology in united Italy”
The Geoitalia Forum 2011 was held in Turin, the first capital of the unified state of Italy, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the national unification. Italian geologists celebrate their 150th anniversary as well, reflecting on the identity of the geology as a science deeply linked to the knowledge of the territory, of its resources and its evolution. With this intention, it was decided to devote a session to the commitment and the insights of the Italian geologists, active since long before the country’s political and administrative unification, reached in 1861. The session addresses: the work of the first Italian geologists to build the knowledge of the territory of the new unitary state; the evolution of the disciplines that since then have contributed to the understanding and description of the structure of the country, modifying the approach toward the territory dynamics and monitoring the changes that influenced also the technical applications; the debates relating to the development of diagnostic tools and the interpretation and prediction of phenomena (landslides, floods, earthquakes), as well as to the development of increasingly diversified products (such as the basic and thematic cartography) providing precise data and information. It is indisputable that the Italian geological community played a special role in fostering the unification of Italy, but it has not been rewarded as it deserved, with serious consequences for the country. The consequences of the lack of a unified territorial planning are evident. It allowed an extensive and uncontrolled urbanization activity in floodplains and areas characterized by a high volcanic or hydro-geological risk. Other examples are the construction of the hydroelectric system in the years 1930-1950, which has been managed only by engineers, and the sudden increase of residential buildings in the years 1950-1970, with the consequent increase of soil sealing and therefore of hydro-geological instability between 1970 and 1985. The residential buildings were realized by architects and politicians, unable to predict the maintenance costs and impacts on the territory. The exploitation and then the abandonment of the countryside and of the artificial landscape of the crops, and the consequent displacement of settlements to the coast, which is undoubtedly an ineluctable process of modernization and prosperity, has not been managed considering the territory constraints, as only the geologist with their specific knowledge could have done.