Press release: Public survey launches Valle dei Laghi activities in major EU climate-change project

Residents of Valle dei Laghi and wider Trentino-Alto Adige region have the opportunity to contribute to a major project that is testing and creating solutions to help the valley adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Five organisations are establishing a test site as part of the flagship EU-funded project, IMPETUS: Eurac Research, Waterjade by MobyGIS S.r.l., BIM Sarca-Mincio-Garda Consortium, Cantina Toblino S.c.a. and Mountain Research Initiative (MRI). To launch a varied programme of activities in which members of the public, researchers, environmental groups, industry, media, and other interested parties can get involved, these organisations invite local people to share regional knowledge, expertise, concerns and ideas in a fact-finding survey.

Do the survey in Italian: https://bit.ly/3JyU8IB  
Do the survey in English: https://bit.ly/3tuFKLR
Do the survey in German: https://bit.ly/3J9Qrs2  

With a 14.8 million euro budget, IMPETUS is a 4-year programme to accelerate Europe's response to climate change. The Valle dei Laghi site is the IMPETUS project’s ‘Mountains’ case study, one of 7 sites in different bioclimatic regions across Europe where innovative solutions that build resilience to climate change will be tested and demonstrated; others are in Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, Latvia and the Netherlands. 

Economic impacts

The Alps, and mountains in general, are recognised hotspots for climate change, with temperatures raising far beyond the average. Rapid climate change impacts will very likely exacerbate existing conflicts in the Valle dei Laghi area regarding water and land usage, with potential economic impacts on local agriculture, food and wine production, hydropower, forestry and tourism. Rapid transition to sustainable and integrated water management, biodiversity conservation and disaster risk reduction are needed in order to adapt to such impacts.

Be part of the climate-change solution

The Mountains demonstration site in Valle dei Laghi will offer local citizens, businesses, industry, media and civil society representatives opportunities to take part in a variety of activities with multidisciplinary research teams and environmental policy makers, with the goal of establishing a more permanent cooperative effort in the valley. Together, these local participants can help create tools and information that capture and share knowledge, to address the regional climate-change challenges in an appropriate and effective way. Successful solutions will influence local policy making and have the potential to be re-used in other Italian or European regions, to help communities become more resilient and adapt to climate change impacts.

Local organisations, local focus

Eurac Research, Waterjade by MobyGIS, BIM Sarca, Cantina Toblino and MRI are taking the leading role in the IMPETUS project’s Mountains regional activities. Eurac Research is contributing expertise to many areas of the project work (climate change adaptation, risk assessment and management, rural development, retrofit of historic buildings) and leading the Mountains site team. Waterjade by MobyGIS specialises in hydro-meteorology and is providing the project with snow and surface-water monitoring and forecasting services. MRI is a global research coordination network hosted at the University of Bern and is providing access to its Global Network for Observations and Information on Mountain Environments (GEO Mountains). BIM Sarca Consortium promotes economic and social progress in the mountain municipalities of the Sarca river catchment area, and will organise workshops and other local stakeholder engagement activities. Cantina Toblino, the main Valle dei Laghi agricultural cooperative, will create and monitor a new high-altitude vineyard cultivation, and contribute to the organisation of local workshops and stakeholder engagement activities.

This is a great opportunity to get involved, create a collaborative network and build hope and solutions for the future of our region, communities and country. We kindly invite anyone with interest or knowledge about climate change and its local impacts to help us kick-start this important work by answering a few survey questions in the coming few weeks.

Valentina D’Alonzo, researcher at Eurac Research.

IMPETUS: Turning climate commitments into action

Launched on 1 October 2021, IMPETUS has the objective to turn climate commitments into tangible, urgent actions to protect communities and the planet. The IMPETUS project consortium consists of 32 partner organisations from 9 European countries. The 4-year programme is part of a wider set of projects that support the European Union’s ambitions to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. IMPETUS is working in close collaboration with sister climate-change projects REGILIENCE, ARSINOE and TransformAr. The IMPETUS project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme in the Green Deal call, under grant agreement No 101037084.

To find out more about IMPETUS and its Mountains demo site, local climate-change risks and solutions, follow the project on Twitter (@ClimateImpetus) or LinkedIn (@Climate Impetus) and see https://climate-impetus.eu/demo-site/mountains/.  

IMPETUS is overseen by CINEA, the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency. The content of this publication reflects only the author’s view; the contents and any use that may be made of this information is not the responsibility of CINEA or the European Union.

Contact

Eurac Research

Eurac Research, the European Academy of Bolzano, is an advanced, private, non-profit research and capacity building centre, established in 1992 with a strong focus on European research projects.

WEBSITE:        https://www.eurac.edu/

LINKEDIN:       https://www.linkedin.com/company/euracresearch/              @Eurac Research
TWITTER:        https://twitter.com/eurac                                                 @EURAC

FACEBOOK:    https://www.facebook.com/eurac.research/                     @ eurac.research

CONTACT:       Valentina D'Alonzo        +39 0471 055 681             [email protected]

IMPETUS

WEBSITE:        https://climate-impetus.eu/
TWITTER:        https://twitter.com/ClimateImpetus                                  @ClimateImpetus

LINKEDIN:       https://www.linkedin.com/company/climate-impetus/             @Climate Impetus

CONTACT:       Laura Durnford, ESCI                                                    [email protected]

CONTACT INFORMATION
Eurac Research
Valentina D'Alonzo
+39 0471 055 681

[email protected]