During a visit to the CMCC headquarters in Lecce, ISPRA President Laporta underscored the collaborative efforts between the two institutions, emphasizing their potential for further development. Both CMCC and ISPRA are dedicated to enhancing their partnership, particularly in pivotal areas such as operational oceanography, earth observation, and environmental resource management.

The President of the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Stefano Laporta, visited the CMCC headquarters in Lecce today, Friday, March 8th. During the meeting, he toured the facility and listened to presentations by President Antonio Navarra and Executive Director Laura Panzera on the Center, its mission, and its strategic vision.

He had the opportunity to learn about the research activities of the oceanography and advanced scientific computing groups at the Lecce headquarters, and to visit the supercomputing center. The visit was an important opportunity to strengthen the collaboration between the two institutions in the field of climate research.

CMCC and ISPRA have several ongoing collaborations, highlighting a joint commitment to research and innovation in the field of earth observation and environmental resource management.

One of the main shared initiatives is participation in the Coastal Area Table, launched in July 2020 at the request of the Copernicus National Delegation for Italy. The table coordinated the collection of information for the drafting of a National Positioning Document for Earth Observation Services for the Coastal Area. CMCC, along with other institutions such as CNR, ENEA, INGV, OGS, and the University of Basilicata through CNR, actively contributed to this process.

Additionally, CMCC and ISPRA are involved in the IRIDE program, an innovative project promoted by the Italian government in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). This program aims to leverage resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to implement a portfolio of geospatial services. CMCC is involved in coastal model validation, atmospheric reanalysis, and climate scenario validation, thus contributing to the development of innovative solutions for environmental resource management.

Finally, CMCC and ISPRA are collaborating on various proposals and participating in the Global Coast initiative, an international project part of the Coast Predict program proposed within the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

These partnerships demonstrate the joint commitment of both institutions to promote research and innovation to address complex environmental challenges at national and global levels.

“CMCC is a reference point, and its structure, its growth forecast, are a testament to this. Italy is considered a leader in the environmental field at the European level. There is certainly room to further expand our collaboration on topics such as operational oceanography,” said Laporta during the visit. “For example, I want to emphasize the importance of collaboration with ISPRA in the MER project (Marine Ecosystem Restoration), also considering its inclusion in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. We are excited to be involved in such an ambitious project, which aims to monitor and restore not only coastlines and seabeds but also underwater mountains and volcanoes.”