Open-air laboratory in Genoa: knowing the risks
and evaluating solutions together in a changing climate

Location

Main location: Genoa, Museo di Storia Naturale “G. Doria” (Natural History Museum)

Other locations will be added once defined by local stakeholders.

Sensors will also be used by means which are made available by the stakeholders involved, as for example boats, bikes and cars or backpacks of hikers.

Environmental areas addressed

Climate Change, Extreme Events, Natural Risks (flash floods, landslide, wind, sea storm, heat&cold waves), Pollution, Sustainable Transport, Water cycle

About

The Genoa living lab is an open-air laboratory for citizens and stakeholders to strengthen the awareness on climate change and related environmental risks (e.g. flash floods, marine storms, landslides, wind). They are involved in:

collecting environmental data with fixed and mobile sensors;
viewing and discussing the data collected in the apps;
organising training courses and information events;
constructing participatory paths for a more informed governance and more coherent procedures.

The living lab is set up by CIMA, ARPAL and the Municipality of Genoa. Activities started in 2022. The activities will at least run until 2025.

How to participate

The current stakeholders were identified by CIMA, ARPAL and the Municipality of Genoa, covering civil society, academia, industry and public authority. The participants for the experiments are then selected in a second step.

Other interested people can be indirectly involved in the activities: for example meetings and trainings are open to everyone. Pkease contact the Fondazione CIMA.

Experiments

We are doing some experiments on the usability of mini weather stations on boats, together with the Tigullio Maritime Consortium: the first station has been placed on the “Stress” boat, which is giving good results in terms of connection and usability.
We will shortly begin experimenting with mini-weather stations on a group of bikers, to understand the station’s altitude limits.

Background

The Liguria Region is an area often subject to disasters, such as floods and landslides.

It is essential to involve the citizens, stakeholders and institutional bodies to prevent and mitigate the social, economic and environmental damages caused by hazards.
The activities chosen for this living lab will help collect data to improve the prediction of these events.

Stakeholders directly operating in the area will be able to be bearers of good practices for the protection of the territory and citizens will be more informed on the procedures to be followed in the event of a disaster. Public institutions will also become more aware of how to act and communicate during events.