Research Project Proposals
Management & Security

Theme 1: The social dimension of the landscape: rural and environmental archaeology and history for the sustainable development and the mitigation of the environmental risk

References:  Anna Maria Stagno (DAFIST, UniGE) anna.stagno@unige.it 

Funding:  cofunded by MUR/Department (DAFIST), the annual gross amount of the grant, including social security expenses to be paid by the recipient, is € 17,500.

Abstract: With case studies carried out through a micro-analytical historical and regressive approach, the PhD research projects will focus on methodologies to consolidate an historical-environmental approach to the study of uplands and rural areas. Research projects should present possible case studies, addressing the study of agro-sylvo-pastoral practices and systems in relation to population dynamics and the organisation of settlement patterns, considering also the process of abandonment in its historical dimension and the close relationships between social, environmental and economical processes, and need to consider these interrelations to build a sustainable development of rural and mountain areas. The research activity has to consider at least (but not exclusively) one of the following themes: the changes in practices and management of environmental resource and how it is possible to learn sustainability from the pasts; the historical trajectories of commons and collectives domains and the intimate social dimension of the landscape; the relationship between the changes in environmental resources management practices and the organisation of local collectivities; the analytical characterization, also considering cycles and seasonality, of environmental resources management practices, their historical transformations (including abandonment) and environmental effects. Addressed historical sources could both field sources (archaeology, environmental archaeology, oral history, vegetal and animal populations, etc.) both documentary sources (historical archives, historical cartography, etc.

Research will be carried out in the framework and in collaboration with the current research project of the Laboratory of Environmental Archaeology and History of the University of Genova. Research will also contribute to the preparation of policy briefings in close collaboration with local and central institutions (such as Municipalities, Città Metropolitana di Genova,  Regione Liguria, Dipartimento Agricoltura, Turismo, Formazione e Lavoro).

Link to the group or personal webpage

http://www.lasa.unige.it/gruppo.php ; https://dafist.unige.it/node/252 ; https://iris-jpi.eu/ ; https://antigone-erc.eu/ 

References

• G. Beltrametti, R. Cevasco, A. M. Stagno, V. Tigrino, The ambiguous nature of the commons shifting meanings between archives and field evidences (upper Trebbia valley, Liguria, 19th-21st centuries), «Quaderni Storici» 168 / a. LVI, n. 3, 2021, pp. 724-770.

• R. Cevasco, Memoria verde. Nuovi spazi per la geografia, Diabasis, Reggio Emilia, 2007

• V. Moneta, C. Parola (a cura di), Oltre la rinaturalizzacione. Studi di ecologia storica per la riqualificazione dei paesaggi rurali, Sestri Levante, 2014.

• O. Rackham, The History of the Countryside, London, 1986.

• A. M. Stagno, Gli spazi dell’archeologia rurale. Risorse ambientali e insediamenti nell’appennino ligure tra XV e XXI secolo, All’Insegna del Giglio, Firenze, 2018. 

• A. M. Stagno, V. Tigrino, Borderline Landscapes. Ligurian Hillsides and Shores between Environmental History and Archaeology (Eighteenth to Twenty-first Centuries), «Annali Dell'istituto Storico Italo-Germanico in Trento», vol. 46 2020/2 (2020), pp. 20-54.

Theme 3: The conflict over the management of water resources, as a socio-legal impact of climate change: possible governance and policy solutions

References: Avv. Marco Altamura (CIMA) marco.altamura@cimafoundation.org, Dr. Francesca Munerol (CIMA) francesca.munerol@cimafoundation.org

Funding: D.M. 630 dated 24.4.2024 (cofounded by Fondazione CIMA)

Abstract: In 2018, the Nobel Prize for Economics went to William Nordhaus, for his studies on the relationship between economic growth and climate change: it was highlighted how environmental issues are fundamental variables for economists (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2018/nordhaus/facts/). Furthermore, the latest report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (“This is a crisis, facing up the age of environmental breakdown”) illustrates how the negative consequences of climate change also have significant impact on the local and global social and legal system; extreme atmospheric phenomena, in particular, undermine the stability of social and legal systems, forcing actors to find different governance and policy solutions (https://www.ippr.org/articles/age-of-environmental-breakdown).

Climate change also determines the worsening of critical issues in terms of social justice, which forcefully emerged in the so-called “climate conflicts”, increasingly the subject of trials and sentences by European and international Courts (https://www.icrc.org/en/what-we-do/climate-change-conflict); lastly, the European Court of Human Rights issued a historic ruling against Switzerland, which hesitates with the call to states to "better protect" the population from the consequences of climate change (https://amp24.ilsole24ore.com/pagina/AFRL7NRD  and https://www.echr.coe.int/w/grand-chamber-rulings-in-the-climate-change-cases). And this is because the poorest half of the world's population contributes only 10% of emissions and, then, within advanced economic countries, the richest 10% of the population contributes more than 50% of greenhouse gas emissions; this determines profound social crises and the request to elevate fair water supply - the same legal level as the protection of human life - among the fundamental goods. This socio-legal transition determines and will determine significant changes to the jurisdiction and, above all, to the legal systems in the near future, which we intend to prevent, study and help manage.

The methodology for analyzing the social and legal impacts of climate change will be as follows: (I) study of judicial and extrajudicial litigation, which represents the litmus test of how socio-legal systems are addressing the problem of extreme climatic events; (II) use of forensic investigation to investigate the impacts of climate change on the social and legal system; (III) understanding of the value of scientific contribution in the transition towards new, more participatory, equitable and sustainable models of governance and policy.

Link to the group or personal page: https://www.cimafoundation.org/ambito/pianificazione-e-procedure/ 

References:

In recent years, as a legal group of the CIMA Foundation, we have published study articles on contingent and urgent ordinances - considered precursors of conflicts over the management of water resources - and on the conflicts that have already arisen between different economic sectors and related stakeholders, sometimes culminating in trials at the Water Courts, which have forced territories and institutions to rethink management solutions for limited water resources, also with a view to extended participation in water governance.

Below are some detailed references:

• F. Munerol et All., I provvedimenti avverso la siccità come "seme di conflitto", Consulta Online, 2024, in https://giurcost.org/

• F. Avanzi, F. Munerol, et All., Winter snow deficit was a harbinger of summer 2022 socio-hydrologic drought in the Po Basin, Italy, Nature Communication Earth & Environment, 2024

• F. Munerol, F. Avanzi, F. et All, Water and Us: tales and hands-on laboratories to educate on sustainable and nonconflictual water resources management, Geoscience Communication, 2024

• contributo per la Giornata Mondiale dell’Acqua – 22 marzo 2024: https://www.cimafoundation.org/news/acqua-dal-conflitto-alla-cooperazione/ 

• L. Ferraris, M. Altamura, F. Munerol, La Responsabilità penale degli operatori del Sistema nazionale di Protezione Civile negli studi di fondazione CIMA, Il diritto dell’economia, issn 1123-3036, anno 68, n. 109 (3 2022), pp. 519-540

• F. Munerol, M. Altamura, La fragilità del centro storico: tra l’Aquila ed Albenga, Consulta-online, 2022do

Theme 5: Seasonal drought impact characterization and prediction using Machine Learning approaches

References: A. Bracco, A. Provenzale antonello.provenzale@cnr.it, L. Rossi lauro.rossi@cimafoundation.org  

Funding: D.M. 630 dated 24.4.2024 (cofounded by Fondazione CIMA)

Abstract: Droughts are a major threat to several areas of the world, including the Mediterranean Basin and wide portions of the African continent. Droughts affects people's health and safety, and their impacts extend to water supply and quality, agriculture and food production, wildfires, ecosystem damage, and energy production. Given their societal relevance, it is crucial to develop a seasonal prediction system of droughts, to provide land managers, policy makers and civil protection authorities sufficient information to implement appropriate management responses. In this research activity we propose to devise a prototype system for the characterization and seasonal prediction (1-3 months) of drought danger and impacts. Given the complexity of drought insurgence and of the related impact chain, and the large amount of observational data from ground monitoring systems and satellite observations, the characterization and seasonal prediction of drought impacts will use a suite of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, based for example on Deep Neural Networks (DNN). The ML tools will be trained to identify drought insurgence danger and related drought impacts coupling the available observations with reanalysis data such as ERA5 and/or outputs of dynamical seasonal prediction systems such as those provided by ECMWF.

Theme 7: Exploring Multi-platform/Multi-sensor integrated approaches based on remote and proximal sensing techniques for the assessment of wildfire impacts on the safety of structures, infrastructures, and networks.

References: Dr. Umberto Morra di Cella (CIMA, ARPA VdA)umberto.morradicella@cimafoundation.org, Dr. Andrea Trucchia (CIMA) andrea.trucchia@cimafoundation.org, Dr. Paolo Fiorucci (CIMA) paolo.fiorucci@ciamfoundation.org 

Funding: PROGRAMMA REGIONALE FONDO SOCIALE EUROPEO+ 2021-2027 PRIORITÀ 2 - ISTRUZIONE E FORMAZIONE - ESO 4.6 (OS-f) in collaboration and with the contribution of Fondazione CIMA, under condition of the project and funding approval

Abstract: The direct and indirect effects of climate change (such as rising temperatures, summer droughts, redistribution of precipitation, intensification of extreme events, and biotic stress) impact the ecology and structural stability of forest populations and species, and more broadly, vegetative ecosystems (green infrastructure). In some cases, the capacity to provide ecosystem services is compromised, and the sensitivity of these vegetative formations to anthropogenic and natural pressures is progressively increasing (Dawson et al., 2011). In certain biomes, wildfires can play an important ecological role for the existence specific ecosystems, this is less common in managed forests, highly urbanized areas, or regions that were previously deforested. In forests in poor health, with a significant presence of deadwood, the ignition and spread of wildfires is facilitated (Pausas & Keeley, 2021). At the same time, wildfires lead to the loss of significant carbon reserves, limiting and delaying carbon sequestration capacity in the medium and long term, which is otherwise maximized during the juvenile phase of regeneration, when vegetative populations contribute substantially to carbon capture (Mack et al., 2021). In recent years, there has been a notable shift in disturbance regimes related to wildfires, specifically, a significant increase in high-magnitude fires (San-Miguel-Ayanz et al., 2021). In highly anthropogenic natural contexts, extreme intensity fires are often followed by a period of recovery and vegetative succession, at the end of which a vegetative community with lower biodiversity than the original is established, sometimes dominated by exotic species (Dickens & Allen, 2014). These recovery dynamics, in the context of climate change, can jeopardize the ecosystem services provided by natural systems and undermine the resilience mechanisms to climate changes, extreme weather events, and wildfires themselves (Kelly et al., 2020; Pejchar & Mooney, 2009). The cost of active firefighting interventions to protect human lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems can sometimes be significant, requiring substantial human resources.

In this doctoral project, we aim to define and develop methodologies to integrate remote sensing and proximal sensing techniques, based on multispectral satellite data and UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), and on-site monitoring data such as phenocam.

This objective is tied to the need to investigate forest structure, biomass, the degree of abandonment, and vegetation dynamics, as these are fundamental parameters for evaluating ecological stability and predicting susceptibility to future disturbances. We will focus on the phenomenon of wildfires and the analysis of vegetation dynamics before and after disturbances.

Another primary objective involves improving the performance of the PROPAGATOR forest fire propagation model (Trucchia et al., 2020), developed by the CIMA Foundation, related to a better characterization of vegetative fuel (biomass and structure) and its state in dynamic terms. Similarly, the same model will be used to simulate fire behavior and its impact on ecosystems in different scenarios of fuel evolution.

In this context, remote sensing data provide crucial information for both static characterization of ecosystems (structure and distribution) and the dynamic evolution of these. The ability to combine data from UAS or ground-based stations, satellite data, and multi-source data ensures high precision and reliability of these insights. Therefore, integration techniques for data with different radiometric and geometric properties will be explored, addressing issues related to various observation scales and the nature of the information.

The ideal candidate is familiar with vegetation dynamics, ecosystem processes, remote sensing techniques, image classification, programming (R, Python and Google Earth Engine), and fieldwork in natural and semi-natural environments.

Link to the group webpage

• https://www.cimafoundation.org/ambito/sistemi-di-monitoraggio-e-droni/  

• https://www.cimafoundation.org/ambito/incendi-boschivi-e-conservazione-della-biodiversita-forestale/ 

• https://www.arpa.vda.it/en/climate-change-impacts 

References

• Dawson, T. P., Jackson, S. T., House, J. I., Prentice, I. C., & Mace, G. M. (2011). Beyond Predictions: Biodiversity Conservation in a Changing Climate. In www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE (Vol. 332). www.grambophoto.com

• Dickens, S. J. M., & Allen, E. B. (2014). Exotic plant invasion alters chaparral ecosystem resistance and resilience pre- and post-wildfire. Biological Invasions, 16(5), 1119–1130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0566-0

• Kelly, L. T., Giljohann, K. M., Duane, A., Aquilué, N., Archibald, S., Batllori, E., Bennett, A. F., Buckland, S. T., Canelles, Q., Clarke, M. F., Fortin, M. J., Hermoso, V., Herrando, S., Keane, R. E., Lake, F. K., McCarthy, M. A., Morán-Ordóñez, A., Parr, C. L., Pausas, J. G., … Brotons, L. (2020). Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. In Science (Vol. 370, Issue 6519). American Association for the Advancement of Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0355

• Mack, M. C., Walker, X. J., Johnstone, J. F., Alexander, H. D., Melvin, A. M., Jean, M., & Miller, S. N. (2021). Carbon loss from boreal forest wildfires offset by increased dominance of deciduous trees. https://www.science.org

• Pausas, J. G., & Keeley, J. E. (2021). Wildfires and global change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 19(7), 387–395. https://doi.org/10.1002/FEE.2359

• Pejchar, L., & Mooney, H. A. (2009). Invasive species, ecosystem services and human well-being. In Trends in Ecology and Evolution (Vol. 24, Issue 9, pp. 497–504). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.016

• San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Durrant, T., Boca, R., Maianti, P., Liberta`, G., Artes Vivancos, T., Jacome Felix Oom, D., Branco, A., De Rigo, D., Ferrari, D., Pfeiffer, H., Grecchi, R. and Nuijten, D., Advance report on wildfires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2021, EUR 31028 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-49633-5, doi:10.2760/039729, JRC128678.

• Trucchia, A., D’andrea, M., Baghino, F., Fiorucci, P., Ferraris, L., Negro, D., Gollini, A., & Severino, M. (2020). Propagator: An operational cellular-automata based wildfire simulator. Fire, 3(3), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire3030026