The study of the earth system, the impact of climate change, the development of environmental technologies These are the themes at the center of the meeting hosted in recent days by the Italian Embassy in Washington Italy-USA working group on "Earth Sciences and Cultural Heritage".
The group, created in 2013 as part of the United States-Italy Agreement on Science and Technology, aims to enhance scientific and technological cooperation on natural risks, terrestrial and marine environments, climate, energy and earth observations.
The meeting was organized by the two co-presidents, Dr. Fabrizia Buongiorno, of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and Dr. Ingrid Verstraeten, of the US Geological Survey (USGS), together with the Offices for the Science and Technology of the Italian Embassy and the Department of State. Experts from major research institutes, agencies and universities dealing with earth sciences took stock of bilateral collaboration and prospects for future projects, following the latest discussion during the meeting of the US-Italy Joint Commission on Cooperation in Science and Technology held in Rome in January 2023.
Present were representatives of INGV, the National Research Council (CNR), the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), the Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Change Climatic (CMCC), the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Sotacarbo SpA - Sustainable Energy Research Center for Italy, and by the USGS, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and by NASA-JPL for the USA.
During the meeting, new strategic initiatives were presented by Dr. Alessandro Boero, of the DG for internationalization and communication of the MUR, by Prof. Francesco Corvaro, Italian Special Envoy for the climate (both via video link ), and Dr. Sirin Tekinay, Program Director at the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering, present at the Embassy.
The discussion during the meeting focused on climate science, including the study of oceans and coastal areas, polar sciences, hydrology, and cultural heritage conservation; on natural hazards, including from volcanoes; on the energy transition with particular reference to green hydrogen; on applications of Earth observation from space, including joint cooperation on space missions related to biology and geology, and on air contaminants.
The meeting provided a significant opportunity for strengthen bilateral cooperation between government agencies and research institutes of both countries, through discussions on joint projects and increased sharing of data, information and best practices for understanding and monitoring the Earth system. The numerous networking opportunities also facilitated discussions on education and training, through student and researcher exchange programmes, and provided the opportunity to explore joint funding mechanisms.
