Events and News

On February 27, a new Copernicus Land Monitoring Service training course will take place: Bio-geophysical Variables at the European scale

The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) is launching a new training course focused on Bio-geophysical Variables products at the European scale, with particular emphasis on HR-VPP, Water Bodies, Snow, and the EU-Hydro dataset.

When the land disappears: the future we will not see

The Upper Valdarno, an area that includes territories within fifteen municipalities across the provinces of Arezzo and Florence, has experienced significant land consumption over the past 20 years, both permanent and reversible.

The workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss land consumption, the recent flooding events that reflect the ongoing effects of climate change, and territorial restoration projects.

Lotti 2026: One Hundred Years of Geological Research in Umbria

One hundred years after the publication of Geological Description of Umbria by Bernardino Lotti, the conference “Lotti 2026: One Hundred Years of Geological Research in Umbria”, to be held in Spoleto from 18 to 20 February 2026, aims to retrace the evolution of geological knowledge of the Umbria–Marche region and to highlight the most recent developments as well as the issues that require further investigation. Umbria, in fact, has been and continues to be a natural laboratory for geology, and from here research has originated that has developed topics of general interest, including at a global scale.

The Hydrogeological Map of Italy at the 1:500,000 scale has won the “Elio Botti – Come Acqua Saliente” Award

The seminar “Water Well Design” was held on February 18 in Padua. During the event, the awards of the 21st edition of the “Elio Botti – Come Acqua Saliente” Prize were presented.

For the third time, ISPRA has won this prestigious award, which recognizes projects and activities focused on groundwater. The prize is supported by leading scientific and technical institutions, including the Università degli Studi di Padova, Gruppo Italiano della IAH, Ordine dei Geologi del Veneto, Parco Regionale del Delta del Po, Confindustria Veneto, ANIPA and AIGA.

Following the two awards received during the 18th edition, ISPRA has now received, in collaboration with Università degli Studi di Milano (Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”), ISTAT e CMCC, the “Jury’s Special Mention” for the project CII500K — la nuova Carta Idrogeologica d’Italia alla scala 1:500.000.

ISPRA Participation in the Workshop “SiCon – Contaminated Sites 2026”

ISPRA actively participated in the 17th edition of the workshop “SiCon – Contaminated Sites 2026: Experiences in Remediation Interventions,” held at the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome, from February 11 to 13, 2026.

The event, a national reference point for professionals in the remediation sector, involved researchers, institutions, environmental agencies, and companies, with over 300 scientific contributions presented across plenary, special, and technical sessions. The workshop represented an important opportunity for exchange and discussion with academia, environmental agencies, institutions, and industry professionals.

R3 Materials -> Next Materials

Institutions, Research, and Businesses Discuss Critical Raw Materials
Relevance, Regeneration, Recycling
Will these new buzzwords inspire the governance of critical and strategic raw materials in global supply chains marked by technological, energy, and industrial transformations? And how can they be reconciled with imports and domestic mining activities?

TAIEX-EIR multi-country Flagship workshop on the Soil Monitoring Law

The "TAIEX-EIR multi-country Flagship workshop on the Soil Monitoring Law," organized by the European Commission on the Soil Monitoring Directive, will be held on January 27 in Brussels.

The evolution of geological and mining cartography

On Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 4:00 PM, Diego Pieruccioni (ISPRA) will participate in the webinar "The Evolution of Geological and Mining Cartography."

The webinar is jointly organized by the History of Geosciences Section and the Strategic Raw Materials and Mineral Deposits Development Section of the Italian Geological Society.

Tandem – Discovering Circular Italy

The return of mining: new sustainable extraction techniques and a legacy to keep alive are at the heart of the second episode of Tandem – Discovering Circular Italy, the podcast series that shows how sustainability and beauty can grow together through the circular economy.

Beneath Mount Amiata lies one of the richest geothermal areas in Europe: a place where the earth holds energies and materials that could shape our future. From the mountain’s slopes, Edo and Marti travel along ancient mining routes and then set sail for Elba, in search of a past that deserves to be preserved.

Tandem gives voice to the commitment of ISPRA and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy which, through the Facciamo Circolare (“Let’s Make It Circular”) campaign, promote a more sustainable development model—one in which every daily choice can make a difference.

Regional Sites, an update on remediation: nearly one in two municipalities involved, over 16,000 active proceedings in Italy

Published the IV ISPRA report "The fourth report on the contaminated sites management at regional level"

The 46% of Italy’s municipalities, equal to 3,619 municipalities, are affected by at least one remediation procedure ongoing as of 1 January 2024; 70% of regional remediation procedures have been concluded without the need for remediation and/or safety measures; on average, 1,190 new remediation procedures are initiated nationwide each year.

This is highlighted in the 4th Report on the Remediation of Regional Sites published by ISPRA, which presents and analyses data relating to remediation procedures updated as of 1 January 2024. The report is based on data submitted by SNPA, the Regions, and the Autonomous Provinces for the 2024 population of MOSAICO, the national database on remediation procedures. The analyses cover 16,365 ongoing remediation procedures and 22,191 completed remediation procedures.

The GeoSciences IR research infrastructure is open to everyone

On Monday, 12 January 2026, at the Serra Hall of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, the GeoSciences IR research infrastructure will be opened to the public.

The infrastructure, developed for the Regional Geological Services, was funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) with contributions from 13 universities and 3 research institutes, coordinated by ISPRA.

The event will offer public administration technicians, professionals, and citizens the opportunity to access for the first time more than two hundred products developed during the project, including datasets, services, viewers, applications, tools, software, and vocabularies.

The GeoSciences IR e-learning platform will also be inaugurated, offering numerous training and outreach resources covering the main areas of geology.
The workshop will also provide an opportunity to discuss the products developed, in view of the final release of the infrastructure scheduled for 31 March 2026.

Program

Land cover databases in Veneto

Innovative Tools for Land Planning

The conference "Land Cover Databases in Veneto" will be held in Venice on December 18th, organized by the Veneto Region.
Michele Munafò, Head of the National Environmental Information System at ISPRA, will be participating.

20th Meeting of the ReMi Network - National Network of Mining Parks and Museums

On Monday, December 15 at 10:00 a.m., the SNPA Hall at Via Brancati 60 in Rome will host the tenth anniversary of the National Network of Mining Parks and Museums. This event is part of the GeoSciences IR project, part of the PNRR URBES (National Network of Mining Parks and Museums) program, and is sponsored by ANIM.

The event includes a visit to the ISPRA Geological Collections recently exhibited at the Museum of Labor Civilization.

The ISPRA IdroGEO platform awarded among the Design Excellence in Lazio 2025

The Industrial Design Association (ADI), under the patronage of the Lazio Region, has awarded the annual recognition celebrating Design Excellence in Lazio to IdroGEO, the national platform on hydrogeological instability.

The award was presented to ISPRA and Studio Brillante/Sciamlab, which oversaw its design and development.

Version 2.0 of IdroGEO, developed as part of the PNRR Geosciences IR project, ensures intuitive and accessible consultation of complex data, thanks in part to the integration of Artificial Intelligence tools and a design that streamlines the user experience.

World Soil Day: New Horizons

The conference “World Soil Day: New Horizons” is the national event in which researchers, companies, and public administrators will look to the future of this essential yet fragile resource. They will come together to explore in depth the many interactions between soil, human activities, and the environment, based on scientific evidence and good practices.

Four technical-thematic round tables are proposed: urban soils and city regeneration; waste management; land remediation and water in agricultural fields; and the production of natural textile fibers, all understood through the lens of sustainability and the circular economy.

Soil, in short, serves as the common thread linking everyday life to the major ecological, political, and land management challenges of our time.

Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities

The event, organized by the Italian Composting Consortium, will be a forum for discussion dedicated to the value of soil as an essential resource for the quality of life in our cities and for the resilience of our territories.

Institutions, experts, research organizations, and representatives from the environmental world will participate to explore the issues of soil protection, urban greenery, and the circular economy.

Soil monitoring

European perspectives compared with national and regional realities

On October 23, the European Parliament approved the European Soil Monitoring Directive (SMD) in its plenary session. With the adoption of the Directive, soil is finally receiving the attention it deserves, as it already does with water and air, because "Healthy and resilient soil is essential to ensuring safe and nutritious food and cleaner water for future generations."

On December 5, a review of knowledge and experience in monitoring soil quality, land use, and the remediation of contaminated sites at the national and regional levels will be held, and future perspectives will be discussed in light of the implementation of the new Directive.

Experts from ISPRA, ARPAV, the Veneto Region, and CREA will participate in the event, with presentations comparing European perspectives with the national and regional realities.

World Soil Day 2025

The World Soil Day is celebrated the 5th december, established by the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the crucial importance of this vital resource. The theme chosen for the 2025 edition is "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities," which emphasizes the essential link between soil quality and the well-being of urban populations.

Beneath asphalt, buildings, and roads lies soil that, when permeable and vegetated, helps absorb rainwater, regulate temperature, store carbon, and improve air quality. But when sealed with concrete, it loses these functions, making cities more vulnerable to flooding, global warming, and pollution.

Therefore, this day invites everyone, from politicians to citizens, to rethink urban spaces from the ground up, to build greener, more resilient, and healthier cities.

Calita Landslide: Experimental and Numerical Analysis for the Study of the Triggering Mechanism

ISPRA technologists, in collaboration with technicians from the Territorial Safety and Civil Protection Agency of the Emilia-Romagna Region and the River Po District Basin Authority, describe in this video the experience gained during the study of the Calita landslide (Reggio Emilia). The landslide covers an area of over 900,000 square meters and extends longitudinally for about 2 kilometers. The type of landslide movement is classified as “complex,” as it consists of a roto-translational rock slide that evolves into an earth flow.

During the study, results were produced regarding monitoring activities, as well as geological and geotechnical modeling, including laboratory tests carried out in the Institute’s facilities. The results of these studies were used to evaluate the triggering causes, kinematics, and propagation of the landslide movement. These insights are shared in this video

Webinar "GSEU" project

Geothermal Energy: Pan-European Characterization and Inventory; CRM Assessment and Management: Towards a European International Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Resource Management (ICE-SRM EU)

The specific objectives of the Geological Service for Europe Project are to develop harmonized pan-European data and information services across Europe, with particular focus on: critical raw materials; geothermal energy resources and subsurface storage capacity for sustainable energy carriers and CO₂ sequestration; groundwater dynamics and quality; geological and climate change information for coastal vulnerability assessment; and basic geological information.

The Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive has been published and approved by the European Parliament.

After a long and demanding preparation process, the European Parliament approved the Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience on October 23, which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on November 26.

The Directive allows the beginning of the construction of a common framework for monitoring soil health in Europe, with the aim of improving soil resilience through sustainable management, combating soil consumption, and managing contaminated sites, with the ultimate goal of achieving a good level of soil health in the EU by 2050.

The Directive is based on the understanding that globally healthy soils are the foundation for the availability of 95% of the food we consume, host over 25% of the world’s biodiversity, and constitute the largest carbon reservoir on the planet. Increasing negative pressures are leading to the rapid degradation of soils, disregarding the fact that soil is a limited resource that requires recovery efforts. In the European Union, it is estimated that over 60% of soils are not in good condition.

CARG Project: Italy’s 1:50,000 Cartography Continues to Evolve

A press conference dedicated to the official presentation of the Geological Sheets of Sciacca, Brescia, and Taranto—produced within the framework of the CARG Project, the Geological Map of Italy at a 1:50,000 scale coordinated by ISPRA—will take place on Friday, 21 November at the Senate of the Republic.

Rome: stories of stones, quarries, and ingenious visionaries

As part of the "Scuola Aperta" project, promoted by the City of Rome, students from the "Via Santi Savarino" Comprehensive Institute have created an ecomuseum dedicated to the geological history of the area and the sense of belonging to places.
This innovative educational program enhances the relationship between nature, culture, and collective memory, demonstrating how geology can become a narrative, an identity, and an active citizenship.

The National Geodatabase of Artificial Cavities

Artificial cavity databases as a knowledge and documentation tool aimed at risk mitigation

ISPRA, in collaboration with the Italian Speleological Society, has created the National Geodatabase of Artificial Cavities (GNCA), accessible on the National Environmental Information System (SINA) portal.

The GNCA is a database containing the locations, data and documentation, plans, cross-sections, and inspection reports relating to artificial cavities surveyed throughout Italy. The data comes from the Italian Speleological Society database and various datasets developed by ISPRA as part of specific studies and projects.

When the Earth Reveals History: Cavities and Sinkholes in the Appian Way Park

The initiative, organized by the Appia Antica Regional Park Authority in collaboration with ISPRA and the Order of Geologists of Lazio, aims to present the initial results of the ISPRA–Appia Antica Regional Park Agreement, dedicated to the study and monitoring of underground cavities and sinkhole phenomena within the Park.

ISPRA at the China-Italy Science, Technology and Innovation Week

Boosting Innovation, Building a Sustainable Future Together

The 14th edition of the Italy-China Week of Science, Technology and Innovation opened today in Beijing, under the theme “Boosting Innovation, Building a Sustainable Future Together.” The initiative, in which ISPRA is participating, takes place alternately in Italy and China and continues to serve as a key event for the joint promotion of scientific research, technology transfer, and sustainable development. This edition also marks the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

22nd Edition of Urbanpromo

As part of the 22nd edition of Urbanpromo – Projects for the Country, held in Florence from November 11 to 14, 2025, Michele Munafò, Head of the National Environmental Information System Service at ISPRA, will participate in two conferences: Toward the 2026 Territorial Report: Visions, Knowledge, and Interpretations in Urban Planning and Policies and Environment, Innovation, and Territorial Economy

The Role of Geosciences: From Basic Knowledge to Satellite Data to AI for the Country's Sustainable Future

ISPRA, in collaboration with the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), will participate in the "OrientaTalenti 2025" event, scheduled for November 6 and 7, 2025, at MIND – Milano Innovation District, the innovation hub located in the former Expo Milano area.

Promoted by OrientaTalenti, the event is dedicated to students and aims to foster connections between the worlds of education, scientific research, and institutions, offering young people the opportunity to gain a firsthand understanding of the professions of the future and the skills required by the ecological and digital transition.

During the event, ISPRA will offer a thematic session entitled "The Role of Geosciences: From Basic Knowledge to Satellite Data to AI for the Country's Sustainable Future," which will be held on Friday, November 7, from 1:45 PM to 3:00 PM, at MIND (Valore Italia headquarters, Sala Platino 1P).

ISPRA in Ecomondo 2025

From November 4th to 7th, Rimini Fiera will host Ecomondo, the international trade fair that spotlights the circular economy, the green economy, and the blue economy, bringing together companies, researchers, and institutions for global dialogue. The event is divided into seven thematic macro-areas, each dedicated to a key aspect of the ecological transition. In addition to the areas and districts to explore, sustainability professionals and stakeholders can delve deeper into the key themes of the ecological transition by attending the numerous scheduled conferences.

The Geological Map of Italy at a scale of 1,50,000: Sheet No. 493 Taranto

The event, organized by ASSET in collaboration with ISPRA and the Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences of the University of Bari, will showcase the results of a project of national interest and promote geological knowledge as an essential tool for informed territorial planning, supporting responsible, resilient, and low-impact interventions.