When a year comes to an end it inevitably brings with it a moment of reflection for what has been done and what must be done, with the "good resolutions" for the coming year.
And so, in the context of the results, we can certainly state that 2019 was certainly a "good year" for INGV.
First of all, it represented an important date because, even if its roots go back to the 800th century, the first twenty years of its current configuration took place in September. The demonstrations organized for the event aroused great interest in the citizens, and were a further opportunity to present our many activities in research and monitoring of the territory to the Institutions, to raise awareness and disseminate interest in the geosciences.
2019 saw the establishment of the Aeolian Monitoring Center, a project of great impact that is taking shape with all the institutional interlocutors and which we hope will find its full operation in spring 2020. At the same time, we have finally seen the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Pisa Section, in a structure that we have been waiting for for years to offer the right spaces for researchers and research. And 2020 will see the start of work for the Palermo section, which also needs research space.
In a brief account of the past year it is difficult to remember everything, but some important milestones cannot fail to be mentioned: the Framework Agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, certainly a harbinger of scientific collaborations with other nations; the increase in collaborations with other research institutions such as, for example, the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) for the realization of the project aimed at the national hydrogeochemical monitoring of wells and springs in Italy; with EMSO and EPOS we are the European infrastructure reference body for sea and land and the two related PON projects InSEA and GRINT started a few weeks ago and will have to be implemented in the next three years; research continues in Antarctica in the XXXV Antarctic Expedition and where even now there are some of our colleagues who will come back and send us valuable scientific and human experiences; the Institute was included among the entities financed by the "Fund aimed at relaunching investments by the central administrations of the State and at the development of the country" for the 'Dynamic Planet - Working Earth' project; We have finalized an agreement with the Arma dei Carabinieri that allows us to install the equipment in barracks throughout Italy, including forestry ones. Finally, our Data Policy has become operational, i.e. the set of rules governing the management and publication of research data: we can proudly say that we are among the avant-garde bodies.
But 2020 will not be outdone because INGV always looks to the future: modernization of monitoring networks, new international projects, improvement and expansion of the observation system. The three institutional projects of the Departments of the Environment, Earthquakes and Volcanoes are underway with ambitious themes, aimed at studying climate change, the rise of the sea level in the Mediterranean, the structure of the crust and the earth's mantle under Italy, the systems for preparing strong earthquakes, the pre-eruptive dynamics and all the consequent scenarios for active volcanoes in our nation.
We are enhancing INGV's activities also in the Space Economy and Earth observation from space through the COMINT (INTERministerial Committee for policies relating to space and aerospace).
The success of the Blogs of the three Departments and the new portal contributes to the diffusion of all the news in real time and ongoing research with a great impact on the public. In addition, the new cycle of 'Open Doors at INGV' and 'Seismic Literacy' will start again on 12 and 13 January. The journals of the Institute have found new impetus in the passion of their editors and are spreading like never before.
In short, with a path that has invested INGV right from its densest fabric, such as the overcoming of the precariousness for its most consistent part, all the staff have always put their hearts into the commitment to serve the citizens, both during the of emergency, that in the whole daily routine of maintenance of the infrastructures, in carrying out one's own research, in making the administration functional to the needs of a research institution, in building a knowledge society to understand how the Earth is made and how it works , to better enter into the depths of our nature, of our existence, to play a key role in political choices for a culture of prevention from natural risks.
Thanks to everyone, to those who have retired, to those who proudly spend themselves every day for the good of INGV, to the many who work in silence for the common good.
Happy 2020!
Carlo Doglioni and Maria Siclari