Germ of Life continues to advance in the development of its solutions to improve drought prevention and mitigation in Euro-Mediterranean countries. The fourth project meeting will take place on September 25 and 26, this time hosted in Italy by the Lamoro Development Agency, Germ of Life partner, and Management Body of the Protected Areas of the Piedmontese Po.
The site is a place with special added value: Cascina Le Vallere, in Moncalieri. It is located near the Le Vallere Reserve, a green oasis located between Turin and Moncalieri. Since 1990, it has housed the headquarters of the Turin Po River Park Management Board.
This operational headquarters of the Park Authority is nestled in a 34-hectare park, which also features an educational garden. The spaces can be used, as needed, for educational activities, conferences, training courses, and workshops on environmental topics such as forests, water, and landscape evolution.
The agenda for the fourth project meeting includes working sessions with all Germ of Life partners to discuss the implementation of the three main aspects:
= Requirements, Best Practices, and Action Plans assessment for the development of the joint solutions;
= Testing activities and evaluation of solutions;
= Strategy and Action Plans.
The second day, entitled ‘Water and Ecosystems in the Mediterranean: Climate Challenges and Adaptive Responses’, includes the participation of relevant Italian researchers and stakeholders. The meeting will conclude with a commented walk through the pilot area to be launched in Italy. This is one of the project’s four test pilots, along with those planned in Greece, Portugal, and Spain. It is located within Le Vallere Park, next to Moncalieri.
Professor Athanassios A. Argiriou, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, University of Patras, leader of the project, will explain the main concepts of Germ of Life.
Caterina Praticò, Community4Nature project’s coordinator, she will report on how The Germ of Life project is part of the Natural Heritage Community of Practice.
Andrea Merlone, senior researcher at the National Institute of Metrological Research (INRIM), will explain how to measure climate change.
Professor Manuela Lasagna, academic researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, and Simone Ciadamiro, researcher at ENEA – Biodiversity and Ecosystems Laboratory, will expose about SentinelSprings: Springs as Sentinels of Climate Change and Sustainability of Aquatic Ecosystems.
Researcher Manuela Balzarolo, involved in Germ of Life from CMCC Foundation, which is one of the project partners, will give a presentation on monitoring natural and human-induced impacts on ecoystems.
The keys to structuring the Germ of Life pilot test in Italy, leveraging Earth observations to mitigate heat-related health risks, will be explained by Mattia Scalas, researcher in CMCC Foundation and Institute for Climate Resilience.
The situation about extreme drought events in northwestern Italy: a climate assessment and the development of a synthetic drought index, is the theme on which he will speak Christian Ronchi, senior research scientist and meteorologist at Arpa Piemonte Regional Agency for Environmental Protection.
From ice to water: Results from 26 years of mass balance measurements on the Grand Etrèt Glacier in the Gran Paradiso National Park, is the presentation that will be given by one expert who deeply know this jewel of natural heritage: Alberto Peracino.
The meeting will conclude with a commented walk through the pilot area to be launched in Italy. This is one of the project’s four test pilots, along with those planned in Greece, Portugal, and Spain. It is located within Le Vallere Park, next to Moncalieri.
