Attività di Ricerca

Major Projects (Competitive External Grants) 

Principal Investigator (PI)

GEORES – GEOspatial application to support the improvement of environmental sustainability and resilience to climate change in urban areas. Italian Space Agency, Call for Ideas: I4DP_SCIENCE Sept. 2023 - Feb. 2025. Budget € 500,000

DRONE-TECH - Building a commercial solution for reducing illegal waste dumping based on drones and artificial intelligence technologies. Italy-Israel R&D Cooperation Program. March 2023 - Sept. 2024. Budget € 450,000

CLEARING HOUSE (Collaborative Learning in Research, Information-sharing and Governance on How Urban tree-based solutions support Sino-European urban futures). European Commission Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Sept. 2019 – Sept. 2023. Total Budget € 7,730,493 (Budget Unit: € 146,250). The main objective of the project is to analyze and develop – across China and Europe – the potential of UFBS (Urban Forest-Based Solutions) for enhancing the resilience of cities facing major ecological, socio-economic, and human wellbeing challenges and facilitating a collaborative learning process on UFBS connecting practitioners, businesses, policymakers and scientists from China and Europe.

GREEN SURGE (Green Infrastructure and Urban Biodiversity for Sustainable Urban Development and the Green Economy - www.greensurge.eu). European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Nov. 2013 – Nov. 2017. Total Budget € 7,213,352 (Budget Unit: € 402,931). The project aimed to identify, develop and test ways of linking green spaces, biodiversity, people and the green economy in order to meet the major urban challenges related to land use conflicts, climate change adaptation, demographic changes, and human health and wellbeing. It provided a sound evidence base for urban green infrastructure planning and implementation, exploring the potential for innovation in better linking environmental, social and economic ecosystem services with local communities.  The project aimed to: (1) assess the provision of ecosystem services (ES) (e.g., carbon storage in biomass, biodiversity) in Mediterranean forest landscapes; (2) model changes in ES and trade-offs across scales; (3) and predict ES variation across different scenarios of land-use change and forest management.  

INTERFACE (Integrative Research on Forest Areas, Citizens and urban Environment). British Council, UK: Dec. 2005 - Dec. 2007. Total budget € 22,000. This project investigated the effects of green spaces on citizens during periods of heat stress. The research developed applicative studies to: (1) demonstrate how to make cities and urban neighborhoods fit for climate change through planning, design and management of multi-functional green infrastructures; (2) explore policy options for urban planning in response to climate change and citizens’ behavioral patterns, with emphasis on changes in urban forest availability, and spatial distribution.

Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)

 proGIreg (productive Green Infrastructure for post-industrial urban regeneration) European Commission Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Jan. 2018 – Jan. 2022. Budget € 10,432,512. The project has the objective of demonstrating the integration of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) into business models which are economically self-sustaining and which provide multiple benefits for the economic, ecological and social regeneration of deprived urban areas suffering from the consequences of deindustrialization.

NEUFOR - Innovative models for the analysis of ecosystem services of forests in urban and periurban context). Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research Projects of National Interest: Oct. 2013-Oct. 2016. Budget € 467,149. The project aimed to develop ESS indicators in forest plantation systems.

INFO-BIO (Influence of wildfires on forest biodiversity). Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Puglia: Feb. 2012–Feb. 2013. Budget € 80,000. The project aimed to assess forest biodiversity (insects) in burned forest areas, and (2) develop a model to predict the turnover of insect communities through space and time.   

INFLAMING (Developing innovative models and techniques for integrated fuel management for fire prevention in Mediterranean and temperate forests). Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research Projects of National Interest: Oct. 2011-Oct. 2013. Budget € 438,425. This project aimed to test innovative models and techniques in the context of integrated forest fuel management in Mediterranean and temperate forests and wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas. 

ASPEN (Assessment of ecological and visual aspects of forest resources in the periurban and landscape context). Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research Projects of National Interest: Oct. 2008-Oct. 2010. Budget € 301,200. This project aimed to analyze: (1) urban and periurban green area typologies; (2) ecological and structural characteristics; and (3) social characteristics. 

REFER (Research finalized to the estimation of the Ecological and Functional values of standard typologies of urban and pERiurban green areas). Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research Projects of National Interest: Oct. 2005-Oct. 2008. Budget € 203,000. This project aimed to assess habitat biodiversity in terms of vegetation and animal species.

EMONFUR (Establishing a monitoring network to assess lowland forest and urban plantation in Lombardy and urban forest in Slovenia - www.emonfur.eu) European Commission LIFE + Program (2010). Sept. 2011 – Sept. 2014. Budget € 574,022. The project aimed at assessing the impacts of urban and periurban forests on biodiversity conservation, regulation of surface temperature, carbon storage and their influence in the preservation of livelihood in local communities. In addition, the effects of climate change on the evolution of the urban forest areas, and specifically on the development of plant diseases, have been assessed.

TOARC Project - Ecological Rehabilitation: Connecting Opportunities and Solutions. The Ontario Aggregate Resources Corporation: Oct. 2004 - Oct. 2006. Total budget CAD$ 75,000. This project explored the implications of alternative designed rehabilitation approaches for depleted aggregate sites. We measured the ecological (landscape patterns, ecological flows, microclimate) and social (perception and preference) outcomes for different rehabilitation approaches based on visual and ecological criteria. Outcomes of the research contributed to more efficient approaches to rehabilitation that achieve greater cultural acceptability.