Paola Mercogliano (Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change) explained that "There are a lot of "data" unavailable, lying in forgotten servers: but which could be very useful! But we must overcome technical, legal barriers: sharing and exploitation of data need a renewed pact between public and private entities. Let’s think about the weather data that provides us with increasingly accurate observations and forecasts, with which we build realistic scenarios. With regard to flooding, with data it is possible to build an accurate scenario that can show us which areas should be immediately in crisis and take preventive action."

See the presentation in Italian (slides here) with a focus on the city of Ferrara (Italy).

Head of the REMHI Division (regional models and geo-hydrological impacts) at the CMCC Foundation, member of the board of the italian Society of Climatology (SISC) and professor at the University Parthenope of Naples of Advanced Meteorology. She performs research activities in the fields of meteorology, climatology, climate change impacts adaptation and climate risk assessment. She participates in different European programs concerning the development of high-resolution climate projections. Within this topic, she has been involved in the development of detailed climate scenarios for Italy that have been adopted by the scientific community to assess impacts while also supporting private stakeholders and public administrations to elaborate adaptation measures.

Teodoro Georgiadis (Italian Research Council - Institute of Bio-Economy) focused on democratizing adaptation measures. Adapting to climate change effects will not be the same for everyone: the priority remains to manage and prevent climate risk. Solutions will consequently not have the same impacts for everyone: thanks to data and the ability to get to the lowest level of detail, decision-makers will be able to build "customized" solutions based on the different needs/capabilities of citizens. Cities will be called upon to reduce even "climate" inequalities among citizens who, having more economic resources at their disposal, will be better able to defend themselves against heat waves. They will therefore have to focus more on those urban neighborhoods where elderly and fragile people live."

See the maps (slides) here,

Giovanni Poletti (Navarra Foundation) emphasized the strategies that cities are deploying to increase urban green space. "The issue of public green spaces is as timely as ever, although we have to discount the preconception that this is still perceived as a "cost" that affects the municipal budget (e.g. maintenance of trees, parks; disposal of prunings and mowing) and not as "added value. Obviously, it is not enough to consider the how much but it is also necessary to understand well the how: aspects such as water needs and waterproofing, mutual interference between green and built (roots and roofing, underground utility networks such as sewer, gas, electricity, TLR, fiber optics), design/implementation/management costs, as well as the perception of possible "hostilities" and dangers (falling trees or branches, clogging drains of sewers and gutters, presence of harmful & dangerous animals) need to be evaluated. From the perspective of urban planning, greenery must go beyond the care and maintenance of "parks" carved out often from private villas (of ancient and noble patrician families). Similarly, it makes no sense to talk about urban forestation because it is necessary to harmonize green with mobility (with roads but also with bike paths). "

Romeo Farinella (University of Ferrara) highlighted a perspective that is going to be crucial: "Why do we use data? To find useful solutions for adaptation? Why do we want to reverse the trend of climate change? And again: with what principles of rationality is data incorporated into the construction of an intervention/policy? Let's think about our cities: each municipality has its own recipe, but by sharing massive amounts of data, each PA could draw several solutions, ranging from innovations related to nature-based solutions to planting trees, to be adapted to the places concerned. It is useful to try and fail, to test again all the time even if for administrators and policymakers "error" is not allowed: then it is good to start from success stories and from scientific and scalable results. Just to name one: due to data and collaboration with the Italian Research Center, the city of Bologna has understood the morphology that has subsequently "shaped" the General Urban Plan. This helped to design new green spaces, strengthen existing ones so that the "right" trees and vegetation were planted. That was an effective contribution to mitigation, also the proper relationship and distance to buildings and their building materials was established.