No. 30 (2025): TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFER AND NEW RESEARCH HORIZON. Connecting university, industry and communities to innovate and transform society
Research and Experimentation

Technology transfer and innovation for climate resilience in urban areas: possible integration of ecosystem services in urban planning in Reggio Calabria (Italy)

PDF
  • Francesca Moraci,
  • Alessandra Barresi,
  • Francesco Trimboli,
  • Pietro Bova
Francesca Moraci
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italia
Alessandra Barresi
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italia
Francesco Trimboli
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italia
Pietro Bova
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-17396

Published 2025-11-07

Keywords

  • Ecosystem services,
  • Climate adaptation plans,
  • digital twin and artificial intelligence,
  • green and blue infrastructures,
  • territorial resilience

How to Cite

Moraci, F., Barresi, A., Trimboli, F., & Bova, P. (2025). Technology transfer and innovation for climate resilience in urban areas: possible integration of ecosystem services in urban planning in Reggio Calabria (Italy). TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, (30), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-17396

Copyright (c) 2025 Alessandra Barresi, Francesca Moraci, Pietro Bova, Francesco Trimboli

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

The research addresses the difficulty of integrating ecosystem assessment into urban planning to respond to territorial vulnerabilities (Caldarice and Salata, 2019). Tech4You’s Pilot Project 4.6.1, on Reggio Calabria (Italy), develops a multidisciplinary approach that combines ecosystem assessment, digital twin and artificial intelligence for the creation of Climate Adaptation Plans (PACC). The critical testing of the “InVEST” model for calculating the “Carbon Storage and Sequestration” ecosystem service highlighted the limitations of current evaluation tools and the need for a more advanced platform. Hence, the P.P. 4.6.1 is developing a Platform that integrates predictive models and a Climate Intelligence Chamber in the prototype phase.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Almenar, J. B., Elliot, T., Rugani, B., Philippe, B., Gutierrez, T. N., Sonnemann, G., and Geneletti, D. (2021). Nexus between nature-based solutions, ecosystem services and urban challenges. Land use policy, 100, 104898, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104898 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104898
  2. Arcidiacono, A., Ronchi, S., and Salata, S. (2015). L’approccio ecosistemico nella pianificazione di area vasta: Il Piano Paesaggistico Regionale della Lombardia. In Nuove sfide per il suolo. Rapporto 2016 (pp. 43–49). INU Edizioni, available at: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/969708
  3. Balvanera, P., Brauman, K. A., Cord, A. F., Drakou, E. G., Geijzendorffer, I. R., Karp, D. S., Martín-López, B., Mwampamba, T. H., and Schröter, M. (2022). Essential ecosystem service variables for monitoring progress towards sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 54, 101152, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101152 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101152
  4. Bellamy, P., Camino, M., Harris, J., Corstanje, R., Holman, I., and Mayr, T. (2011). Monitoring and modelling ecosystem services: A scoping study for the ecosystem services pilots. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR073, Cranfield, 277.
  5. Boyd, J., and Banzhaf, S. (2007). What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units. Ecological Economics, 63(2), 616–626, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.01.002
  6. Bua, G., Kapp, D., Kuik, F., and Lis, E. (2021). EU emissions allowance prices in the context of the ECB’s climate change action plan, available at: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/economic-bulletin/focus/2021/html/ecb.ebbox202106_05~ef8ce0bc70.en.html
  7. Caldarice, O., and Salata, S. (2019). Valutare i Servizi Ecosistemici nel Piano come Risposta alla Vulnerabilità Territoriale. Una Riflessione Metodologica a partire dalla Proposta di Legge sul Consumo di Suolo in Piemonte. Valori e Valutazioni, 22.
  8. Carbon price in the EU will reach €74/t in 2025—ING forecast. (2024), available at: https://gmk.center/en/news/carbon-price-in-the-eu-will-reach-e74-t-in-2025-ing-forecast/
  9. Chiarle, C., Meoli, R., Giaimo, C., and Salata, S. (2018). Progetto di suolo e valutazione dei servizi ecosistemici: Il programma Collegno rigenera. Land planning and ecosystem services assessment: the Collegno Rigenera programme. https://iris.polito.it/handle/11583/2713900?mode=full
  10. Conforti, M., Lucà, F., Scarciglia, F., Matteucci, G., and Buttafuoco, G. (2016). Soil carbon stock in relation to soil properties and landscape position in a forest ecosystem of southern Italy (Calabria region). Catena, 144, 23–33, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.04.023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.04.023
  11. Conti, M., Martellos, S., Moro, A., Nimis, P. L., and Puntillo, D. (2024). The dataset of the CLU lichen herbarium (Calabria, Italy). Biodiversity Data Journal, 12, e116965, available at: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e116965 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e116965
  12. CORINE Land Cover. (2024). https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/corine-land-cover
  13. Drakou, E. G., Crossman, N. D., Willemen, L., Burkhard, B., Palomo, I., Maes, J., and Peedell, S. (2015). A visualization and data-sharing tool for ecosystem service maps: Lessons learnt, challenges and the way forward. Ecosystem Services, 13, 134–140, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.12.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.12.002
  14. Ecosystems and human well-being: Synthesis; a report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Island Press.
  15. EU-ETS price 2023-2025. (2025). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1322214/carbon-prices-european-union-emission-trading-scheme/
  16. European Commission. Directorate General for the Environment. (2016). Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services: Urban ecosystems : 4th report – final, May 2016. Publications Office, available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/625242
  17. Giaimo, C., and Barbieri, C. A. (2018). Paradigmi ecosistemici, piano urbanistico e città contemporanea. L’esperienza del progetto Life Sam4cp/Ecosystems services, spatial planning and contemporary city. The experience of the Life Sam4cp project. Urbanistica, 159, 114–124, available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95576-6_14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95576-6_14
  18. Giuseppi, A., Di Paola, A., Santopaolo, A., Saif, S. S., Fiorini, F., and Pietrabissa, A. (2024). ARIES: An Intelligent System for Landslide and Wildfire Risk Management. 2024 32nd Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), 661–666, available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/MED61351.2024.10566274 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MED61351.2024.10566274
  19. Guida, R. (2015). SIAPE – Sistema Informativo sugli Attestati di Prestazione Energetica. SIAPE. https://siape.enea.it/
  20. Haines-Young, R., and Potschin, M. B. (2013). Common international classification of ecosystem services (CICES) V4.3 and guidance on the application of the revised structure. Nottingham: Fabis Consulting Ltd.
  21. Hamel, P., Bosch, M., Tardieu, L., Lemonsu, A., De Munck, C., Nootenboom, C., Viguié, V., Lonsdorf, E., Douglass, J. A., and Sharp, R. P. (2023). Calibrating and validating the InVEST urban cooling model: Case studies in France and the United States, available at: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-928 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-928-supplement
  22. Hølleland, H., Skrede, J., and Holmgaard, S. B. (2017). Cultural Heritage and Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 19(3), 210–237, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2017.1342069 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2017.1342069
  23. INSPIRE Knowledge base—European Commission. (2025, febbraio 10). https://knowledge-base.inspire.ec.europa.eu/index_en
  24. InVEST models | The Natural Capital Project. (2021). https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software/invest/invest-models
  25. Kareiva, P. (2011). Natural capital: Theory and practice of mapping ecosystem services, available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588992.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588992.001.0001
  26. Khachoo, Y. H., Cutugno, M., Robustelli, U., and Pugliano, G. (2024). Impact of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on carbon stocks and economic implications in Calabria using Google Earth Engine (GEE). Sensors, 24(17), 5836, available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/s24175836 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s24175836
  27. Maes, J., Teller, A., Erhard, M., Conde, S., Vallecillo, R. S., Barredo, C. J. I., Paracchini, M.-L., Abdul, M. D., Trombetti, M., Vigiak, O., Zulian, G., Addamo, A., Grizzetti, B., Somma, F., Hagyo, A., Vogt, P., Polce, C., Jones, A., Marin, A., … Santos-Martín, F. (2020, ottobre 12). Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: An EU ecosystem assessment. JRC Publications Repository, available at: https://doi.org/10.2760/757183
  28. Moraci, F., Bevilacqua, C., and Pizzimenti, P. (A c. Di). (2025). Ecological and Digital Transition in Cities: Measuring Ecosystem Services for Urban Planning and Design (1st ed. 2025). Springer Nature Switzerland, available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82927-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82927-7
  29. O’Riordan, R. (2021). The effects of sealing on urban soil carbon and nutrients [Dataset]. Lancaster University, available at: https://doi.org/10.17635/LANCASTER/RESEARCHDATA/422
  30. Piemonte, C. S. I. (2022). Ambiente—Città Metropolitana di Torino… http://www.cittametropolitana.torino.it/cms/ambiente/agenda-metro-svil-sostenibile/azioni-pilota
  31. Research and academia (2010). The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. https://teebweb.org/publications/teeb-for/research-and-academia/
  32. Rumpel, C., Amiraslani, F., Lata, J. C., Cordovil, C. M.-S., Nartey, E., Staudhammer, C., and Yeboah, E. (2023). Management of soil carbon sequestration in urban areas. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, available at: https://doi.org/10.19103/as.2022.0106.23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.19103/AS.2022.0106.23
  33. Saatchi, S. S., Harris, N. L., Brown, S., Lefsky, M., Mitchard, E. T. A., Salas, W., Zutta, B. R., Buermann, W., Lewis, S. L., Hagen, S., Petrova, S., White, L., Silman, M., and Morel, A. (2011). Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(24), 9899–9904, available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019576108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019576108
  34. Santolini, R. (2010). Servizi Ecosistemici e sostenibilità, Rivista Ecoscienza. Rivista Ecoscienza, 3.
  35. Schrotter, G., and Hürzeler, C. (2020). The Digital Twin of the City of Zurich for Urban Planning. PFG – Journal of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Science, 88(1), 99–112, available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41064-020-00092-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41064-020-00092-2
  36. Smith, B., World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and World Resources Institute (A c. Di). (2004). The greenhouse gas protocol: A corporate accounting and reporting standard (revised ed). World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
  37. Spawn, S. A., and Gibbs, H. K. (2020). Vegetation CollectionGlobal Aboveground and Belowground Biomass Carbon Density Maps for the Year 2010 (Versione 1, p. 9810.740697000001 MB) [GTiff]. ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center, available at: https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1763 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0444-4
  38. SR 510.62—Federal Act of 5 October 2007 on Geoinformati… (2007). Fedlex. https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/388/en
  39. Twidale, S. (2024, ottobre 18). Analysts expect EU carbon prices to soar by 2027. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/analysts-expect-eu-carbon-prices-soar-by-2027-2024-10-18/
  40. Vaz Monteiro, M., Doick, K. J., Handley, P., and Peace, A. (2016). The impact of greenspace size on the extent of local nocturnal air temperature cooling in London. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 16, 160–169, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.02.008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.02.008
  41. Von Brackel, W., and Puntillo, D. (2016). New Records of Lichenicolous Fungi from Calabria (Southern Italy), Including a First Checklist. Herzogia, 29(2), 277–306, available at: https://doi.org/10.13158/heia.29.2.2016.277 DOI: https://doi.org/10.13158/heia.29.2.2016.277
  42. Zardo, L., Geneletti, D., Pérez-Soba, M., and Van Eupen, M. (2017). Estimating the cooling capacity of green infrastructures to support urban planning. Ecosystem Services, 26, 225–235, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.016
  43. Zawadzka, J. E., Harris, J. A., and Corstanje, R. (2021). Assessment of heat mitigation capacity of urban greenspaces with the use of InVEST urban cooling model, verified with day-time land surface temperature data. Landscape and Urban Planning, 214, 104163, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104163 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104163