Climate and Safety, Italy, Lucca, 5 May 2026
- Tessy Melidi
- May 15
- 2 min read
Updated: May 20
On Tuesday, 5 May 2026, the Province of Lucca—acting as a core partner in the European Fair Cities project—organized and hosted a crucial day of discussion within the setting of the Sala Antica Armeria of Palazzo Ducale in Lucca. The successfully concluded event brought together experts, institutions, and the community, who joined forces to redesign Civil Protection in the face of climate change challenges, focusing on building a more resilient territory through a new culture of prevention and active citizen participation.
The meeting marked a moment of strategic synthesis between scientific research and operational practice, outlining a necessary paradigm shift to tackle the challenges imposed by climate change. The analytical journey began with a report by Dr Bernardo Gozzini (Consorzio LaMMA), who framed the urgency of action based on thermal data: Tuscany has recorded a temperature increase of +1.4°C over the last 50 years, with summers warming at nearly double the annual average. In this scenario Gozzini identified the use of Artificial Intelligence and high-resolution modelling as indispensable tools for achieving rapid and effective early warnings. The importance of scientific precision was further explored by Dr Pierluigi Confuorto (University of Florence), who illustrated how the use of Machine Learning and PS-InSAR satellite data enables the quantification of landslide susceptibility with such detail that direct economic impacts on buildings and infrastructure can be accurately estimated.
The focus then shifted from theory to operational practice. Engineer Paolo Covelli (Tuscany Region) presented the new ‘digital-native’ civil protection plan model—a dynamic tool integrated into the National Catalogue, designed to finally be accessible to the public rather than restricted to specialists. Dr Leonardo Franchini, also from the Tuscany Region, followed by emphasising the need to train specialised personnel for the safeguarding of cultural heritage and the management of operations rooms, alongside the importance of exercises as a systematic method for testing intervention models.
Regarding hydraulic risk, Professor Enio Paris (UNIFI) introduced the concept of the ‘collapsible levee’, moving beyond the unrealistic hypothesis of invulnerability of structures to map the real damage resulting from potential breaches. This vision was supported by Professor Giovanni Menduni (Politecnico di Milano), who, through the analysis of 28,000 compensation claims, demonstrated how plains, despite occupying only 15% of the territory, account for 75% of the perceived damage, thus guiding strategic investment priorities.
The overview was completed with a focus on community resilience offered by Dr Francesco Grossi (Province of Lucca) and Dr Andrea Sodi (Municipality of Lucca). Through projects such as Synergie (predictive and operational management systems for reducing hydrogeological and hydraulic risk), MedPSS (developing a culture of wildfire risk), and Progetto CiVà, it was demonstrated how non-structural prevention and information transform the population from passive subjects into aware actors of their own self-protection.
Lucca, therefore, does not wait for the future; it designs it. Through the Fair Cities project, the Province combines artificial intelligence and climate modelling with the beating heart of citizen participation, transforming EU funds into a concrete shield for the territory. Safety is not an event to be awaited but a reality to be governed with vision and courage, because change is not suffered, it is managed.
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