Events and News

ADI Design Index 2025: ISPRA's IdroGeo national platform selected

The IdroGEO National Platform has been selected for the ADI Design Index 2025 in the Service Design category. The selection, made by the Permanent Design Observatory of ADI (Association for Industrial Design), aims to convey the complexity and richness of contemporary Italian design, intertwining languages, materials, and design visions.
The presentation of the selected projects was held on October 15, 2025, at the ADI Design Museum Compasso d'Oro in Milan.

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is celebrated on October 13.
The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989.
The objective of establishing this day is to send an important message to the governments of all countries around the world, as well as to international organizations and the global population, to reflect on the ever-increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters.

Among the institutional tasks of ISPRA is the collection, processing, and dissemination of maps and data on hydrogeological instability for the entire national territory, making them available to the country for risk prevention and mitigation.

Geodiversity and geological heritage in urban areas

October 6th marks UNESCO's Geodiversity Day, an essential expression and component of natural heritage and a key element for understanding the geological processes that shape the landscape.

Knowledge and promotion of geological heritage also play a strategic role in urban environments, both as a parameter for risk assessment and as a source of valuable cultural, educational, and environmental resources.

The conference aims to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue aimed at recognizing and integrating geodiversity into urban contexts, contributing to a broader reflection on conservation, spatial planning, and land development policies.

XIII Edition of Planet Earth Week

Earth Week is a science festival that, since 2012, has annually transformed Italy into a stage for science and nature, with the aim of spreading knowledge of the geosciences and raising public awareness of the value of our geological, environmental, and cultural heritage.

The 13th edition of Earth Week will take place from October 5th to 12th, an event that will involve ISPRA researchers in an intense scientific outreach program. The initiative will offer the opportunity to explore the complex connection between geology, the sea, biodiversity, and our country's historical and cultural heritage, highlighting the fundamental role of public outreach in understanding and sustainably managing our environment.

A geodiversity discovery tour of some geosites in the Maiella Geopark

ISPRA, in collaboration with Maiella Global Geopark UNESCO, is organizing an excursion on October 4th to celebrate UNESCO's International Geodiversity Day.

International Geodiversity Day is celebrated worldwide on October 6th, promoting the many aspects of geological diversity.
This year's theme is "One Earth, Many Stories."

The day will be celebrated in the geopark on Saturday, October 4, 2025.

Animals, Plants, Rocks and Minerals: The ISPRA Collections > A Multispecies Museum

On Friday, October 3rd, the MUCIV – Museum of Civilizations in Rome presents the new permanent display of the paleontological and litho-mineralogical collections of ISPRA – the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research – alongside the solo exhibition Elisa Montessori. The Dream of the Red Room, an unprecedented dialogue between a selection of MUCIV’s Chinese collections and the work of one of Italy’s leading contemporary artists.

Organized in collaboration between ISPRA – Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research – and MUCIV – Museum of Civilizations in Rome, with the support of ALES – Arte Lavoro e Servizi S.p.A., an in-house company of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the project for the new permanent exhibition – Animals, Plants, Rocks and Minerals: The ISPRA Collections > A Multispecies Museum – represents the culmination of a process launched in 2022. This process involved the study, restoration, and renewed presentation to the public of collections of extraordinary historical and scientific value.

Comprising more than 150,000 specimens (fossilized animals and plants, rock and mineral samples, geological surveys, scientific instruments, busts, portraits, memorabilia, and archival documentation), the ISPRA collections reflect the work of the Italian Geological Survey and its scholars, who, in line with 19th-century thought, assigned science an essential role in the development of the modern national industry, placing humankind and its control over the environment at the center of complex and long-term processes.

The contribution of Italian Geological Cartography in the search for Critical Raw Materials

Geological and thematic mapping (geological, geomorphological, hydrogeological, geochemical, hydrogeological instability, mineral resource maps, etc.) represents not only the basis for in-depth knowledge of the territory and the management of natural and anthropogenic risks, but also a fundamental tool for the potential identification and extraction of critical raw materials. These raw materials, of increasing strategic importance for the environmentally sustainable technological and industrial development of a modern country, require in-depth knowledge of georesources, an accurate estimate of available reserves, and a proper assessment of the environmental impact of their extraction.

Deeply Earthly

New technologies and new observatories for an Earth science open to the future
Renewing and expanding the monitoring network for a positive impact on society, both present and future. This is the focus of the MEET Project – Monitoring Earth’s Evolution and Tectonics, coordinated by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and funded by the PNRR, which will be at the center of the infoday on September 30.

Published EEA Report Europe's Environment 2025

Despite significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, the overall state of the environment in Europe is not good, particularly with regard to nature, which continues to suffer from degradation, overexploitation, and biodiversity loss, as well as from the acceleration of climate change, which poses an urgent challenge.

These are the conclusions of the Report Europe's Environment  2025, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The report provides the most comprehensive analysis of the current state and outlook for the environment, climate, and sustainability on the continent, based on data from 38 countries. The outlook for most environmental trends is alarming and poses serious risks to economic prosperity, security, and quality of life in Europe.

CARG Summer School of Geological Survey and Cartography

The Summer School aims to disseminate the methodologies and criteria of geological surveying and cartography, conceptual organization of data and digital archiving system in accordance with the criteria of the CARG Project. The School includes: one day of distance learning, days of field surveying in small groups followed by experts, frontal lessons and practical exercises. The School is aimed at geologists with surveying skills (graduates, PhD students, PhDs, freelancers, officials of institutions) interested in deepening the methodologies of field collection and archiving of geological data according to the criteria established for the Geological Map of Italy - CARG Project.

Reportage "Vulci. Geology, Prehistory, History, and Nature"

The Vulci Archaeological Natural Park is one of the most important archaeological areas in Lazio, where Etruscan, Roman, and medieval remains coexist. The park offers visitors the opportunity to admire the remains of an ancient Etruscan-Roman city, immersed in a natural landscape characterized by volcanic rocks and travertine, while walking through an area characterized by high biodiversity, included in a Special Area of ​​Conservation (SAC) that protects a river system with typical wetland formations, riparian forests, and holm oak forests.

The report was produced by ISPRA on the occasion of the Planet Earth Week 2024.

Summer School “Mineral Deposits”

Last September, the "Mineral Deposits" Summer School was held at the San Silvestro Archaeological Mining Park in Campiglia Marittima. Organized by the ISPRA School of Specialization in Environmental Disciplines, the Italian Geological Society (GGM and GIGS sections), and the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology, the school was open to 25 undergraduates, graduates, doctoral students, and young researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds. The school aimed to provide a solid theoretical and, above all, practical foundation for mineral deposit exploration, from planning to fieldwork. It combined theoretical lectures with hands-on fieldwork, including visits and surveys in the Park's mining galleries. The activities, led by mineral exploration experts from both academia and research, as well as industry, allowed participants to gain a comprehensive overview of the different roles a geologist can play in mineral deposit exploration, including the need to approach mining activities within a framework of sustainability that is not only economic but, above all, environmental and social.

City, volcanoes, and mammoths: the metamorphoses of the ancient Appian Way

The Appian Way, one of the world's most fascinating archaeological parks, will be the narrative center of a trek led by university professors and researchers from ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research). The changing landscape will be explored with the help of zoology, geology, and urban planning to explore the multiple perspectives through which the history of the Regina Viarum can be interpreted.

ISPRA in RemTech Expo 2025

RemTech Expo, the leading event for remediation, environmental risks, and land regeneration, will be held this year from September 17th to 19th in Ferrara. The event is composed of twelve segments – REMTECH and REMTECH EUROPE remediation of contaminated sites, COAST coastal protection, ports, sustainability, HYDROGEO natural risks, instability, landslides, CLIMETECH climate change, mitigation, adaptation, INFRATECH monitoring and safety of strategic infrastructures such as railways, bridges, roads and dams with particular attention to the prevention of hydrogeological instability, floods, landslides, CIRCULARTECH circular economy, sustainable technologies and waste management, RIGENERACITY urban regeneration, CHEMTECH innovative and sustainable chemical industry and FIRE prevention-innovation-research, fire prevention and safety of Italian Cultural Heritage, ENERGY new energy topics such as solar, wind, offshore renewables, geothermal, hydroelectric, hydrogen, nuclear – and a special segment HUTTE dedicated to the themes of sustainability and integral well-being.

ISPRA at the "Geosciences and the Challenges of the 21st Century" conference.

From September 15 to 18, the Joint National Congress of the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology and the Italian Geological Society will take place in Padua. 1,000 scientists will attend, presenting 1,100 new studies on the challenges facing the future of our planet, environmental risks, raw materials, and the new opportunities opened up by space exploration.

New challenges for Earth Sciences: geological mapping and critical raw materials

The roundtable will be held on September 15th in Padua as part of the "Geosciences and the Challenges of the 21st Century" conference.
Earth Sciences are called upon to provide our country with the scientific and technical knowledge needed to address the complex environmental and resource-related challenges—energy, raw materials, water—of the 21st century. Geological and thematic cartography (geological, geochemical, hydrogeological, mineral resource maps, etc.) represents not only the basis for in-depth knowledge of the territory and the management of natural and anthropogenic risks, but also, for example, a fundamental tool for the potential identification and extraction of critical raw materials.

RemTech Europe

The conference's goal is to share knowledge, innovation, and case studies, encourage the development of remediation processes and the application of new and sustainable technologies, and bring together experts, problem solvers, and providers of available services and technologies. RemTech Europe also offers a platform for discussion among interested parties. The rich program is designed to promote knowledge sharing and communication among all stakeholders.

VI Summer School of Geomorphology, Ecology and Biology in marine and insular environments

The Summer School of Geomorphology, Ecology and Biology in Marine and Insular Environments was created with the aim of providing advanced training and scientific updating to master's students, doctoral students, researchers and technicians working in the environmental sector. The multidisciplinary training offer is developed through lectures and practical exercises, in the various themes of geological, biological and natural sciences applied to the coastal marine environment. Particular attention will be given to the new technologies used in the study of these ecosystems, characterized by high vulnerability and strongly influenced by the effects of climate change, given their position on the border between the marine and continental domains.

ISPRA makes the Geological Cartography of Italy available online at a scale of 1:100,000

The entire collection of 1:100,000-scale geological cartography is available for download in high resolution. The collection, which includes both first and second editions of the geological sheets, is accessible through the ISPRA Library's OPAC catalog.

Users can browse the OPAC catalog to search for and download individual sheets in raster format. Where available, the corresponding Explanatory Notes can also be downloaded.

Special reopening of the Salone delle Scienze

Participate in the final stages of the ongoing installation of the new ISPRA Collections itinerary.

Starting July 30, 2025, the Museum of Civilizations invites the public to a unique experience: crossing the threshold of a veritable construction site, witnessing firsthand and in real time the final stages of the ongoing installation of one of its most important scientific collections.

The exhibition currently taking shape in the Hall of Sciences of the Palazzo delle Scienze features ISPRA's Paleontological and Litho-mineralogical Collections. This exceptional collection, comprising over 150,000 specimens, including animal and plant fossils, rock and mineral samples, scientific instruments, geological surveys, busts, portraits, relics, and documents, is scheduled for inauguration on October 3rd.

ISPRA presents the fourth report on hydrogeological instability in Italy: danger and risk indicators. Understanding the territory to prevent risks

The area of Italy at risk for landslides, as defined in the Hydrogeological Planning (PAI), has increased by 15%, from 55,400 km² in 2021 to 69,500 km² in 2024, equal to 23% of the national territory. The most significant increases were recorded in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (+61.2%), Tuscany (+52.8%), Sardinia (+29.4%), and Sicily (+20.2%) and are primarily due to more detailed studies conducted by the district basin authorities and the autonomous provinces. The areas classified as highly at risk (high P3 and very high P4) have increased from 8.7% to 9.5% of the national territory. In 2024, 94.5% of Italian municipalities are at risk of landslides, floods, coastal erosion, or avalanches.

The situation on Italian beaches is improving: in terms of coastal erosion, there are more advancing stretches (+30 km) than eroding ones.

This is the picture that emerges from the fourth ISPRA Report on "Hydrogeological Instability in Italy" - 2024 Edition - the Institute's three-year work presented this morning in Rome at the Multipurpose Hall of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

"A thorough understanding of landslide phenomena is the essential foundation for effective risk prevention and mitigation policies, but so is communication and information dissemination," stated ISPRA President Stefano Laporta. "Hydrogeological instability is not just a technical or structural issue; it affects the daily lives of each of us, the safety of our communities, and the prospect of a resilient environment. Active citizen involvement is essential; their contribution is invaluable on multiple fronts, from collecting timely reports from the local area to supporting the dissemination of information and participating in local emergency plans."

"The ISPRA report shows that 19.2% of the national territory is classified as being at greatest risk for landslides and floods, and Italy remains among the most exposed European countries in terms of landslides, with over 636,000 recorded landslides," stated ISPRA Director General Maria Siclari. "Indicators and maps on hydrogeological instability are taking on an increasingly important role also in the field of sustainable finance, assessment and management of physical and financial risks associated with the economic impact of extreme natural events," explained the Director General. "ISPRA data on hydrogeological instability are a fundamental tool to support public policies and strategic plannig".

Press release (ita)

Program

Hydrogeological instability in Italy: hazards and risk indicators. 2024 Edition

IdroGEO

Photo gallery

Sinkhole susceptibility map of Rome's neighborhoods updated

Many Italian cities contain "cities beneath cities," meaning tunnels, underground spaces, places of worship, and cemeteries that form an intricate network of conduits beneath the urban fabric.
These "voids" are primarily caused by the extraction of building materials and, to a lesser extent, the construction of hydraulic structures and places of worship.
When abandoned, underground spaces tend to sink, forming immense chasms.
The map, updated in July 2025, was created by ISPRA together with the CNR - IGAG Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering.

Seminar "Water and Land Remediation"

The second meeting of the European project Water and Land Remediation took place today at Unem’s headquarters in Rome. The event is promoted by Unem in collaboration with IMPEL (European Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law), the EU-wide network of environmental authorities responsible for implementing environmental legislation. Since 2024, IMPEL has been under Italian leadership, with Marco Falconi from ISPRA serving as Chair.

Alternative energy and sustainable development: scenarios, challenges and the role of professions

Ongoing climate change and the growing need for energy transition are currently presenting Italy—and particularly southern regions—with crucial choices. Renewable energy—wind, solar, and geothermal—represent a fundamental pillar on which to build a new model of sustainable development. However, these sources are not static: they evolve, improve, and hybridize with new technologies, altering their economic, environmental, and landscape impacts.

"Land Consumption in Italy 2025" Photo Contest

A snapshot to tell the story of change

ISPRA and SNPA are renewing their photography contest initiative to engage professionals, amateurs of landscape and street photography, and anyone who wants to document the impact of land use on the landscape, how new construction sites, buildings, infrastructure, and industrial warehouses, logistics, and large-scale retail trade have profoundly altered and continue to alter the landscape.

The contest is open to all, and images can be taken anywhere in Italy with any digital or analog camera.

CARG Summer School of Geological Survey and Cartography

Monteponi (Municipality of Iglesias), September 29 and October 4-10, 2025

The Summer School aims to disseminate the methodologies and criteria of geological surveying and cartography, conceptual organization of data and digital archiving system in accordance with the criteria of the CARG Project.

The School includes: one day of distance learning, days of field surveying in small groups followed by experts, frontal lessons and practical exercises.

Campi Flegrei: Pozzuoli is one of the urban areas with the highest geological hazard index in Europe

This is confirmed by the analysis carried out thanks to the Urban Geo-climate Footprint - UGF, the tool created by ISPRA in collaboration with EuroGeoSurveys that classifies cities from a geological and climatic point of view to help them face the challenges of the future.
The Urban Geo-climate Footprint analyzed is the "geological-climatic" "footprint" that acts on a given urban area, understood as the result of the combined action of four factors: geological structure, "deep" geological processes, "superficial" geological processes and exogenous processes.

ISPRA, NGI and the GEOMME Partnership – Synergies and Opportunities for Sustainable Landslide Mitigation and Management

Presentation of Sheet 539 Mogoro of the Geological Map of Italy

On June 27, 2025, the official presentation of Sheet 539 Mogoro of the Geological Map of Italy will take place in Cagliari, curated by the Geological, Hydrogeological and Hydrographic Department of ARPAS.

Funded by ISPRA in 2020 and launched in the same year by ARPAS, the Mogoro Sheet represents an important milestone in the field of National Geological Cartography (CARG Project). It is a fundamental tool for territorial planning and an essential technical-scientific support for geologists, professionals and operators active in the territory, including in the tourism sector.

The event will begin with the official institutional greetings ceremony. Following this, an in-depth analysis of the CARG Project at a national level will be presented, with speeches by the General Director of ISPRA, Maria Siclari, Dr. Maria Teresa Lettieri, director in charge of the CAR Service, the Technical Scientific Director of ARPAS, Romano Ruggeri, and the Director of the Geological Department of ARPAS, Domenico Caracciolo.

XIX meeting of the National Network of Mining Parks and Museums - ReMi

As part of the GEOSCIENCES IR project, the 19th meeting of the National Network of Mining Parks and Museums ReMi-ISPRA will be held on 20, 21 and 22 June 2025 at the Sala Borsellino in San Cataldo (Caltanissetta), in collaboration with UNICT, UNIPA, the Gabara Park, the Municipality of San Cataldo and the patronage of the Regional Order of Geologists.