Emilia-Romagna is one of the most developed regions in Italy and is renowned for its quality of life and services, with a strong manufacturing sector, the most effective health system in Italy, and an advanced R&D&I ecosystem.
With a population of almost 4.5 million inhabitants (2020), Emilia-Romagna is located in the North-East of Italy, within the Italian most productive area. Its area of 22,453 km2 corresponds to 7.5% of the national surface. Nearly half of the region (48%) consists of plains, while 27% is hilly and 25% mountainous.
With an efficient network of infrastructures and its strategic geographical position, Emilia-Romagna is an important commercial hub well linked to all Italian cities and the main European cities. Indeed, its geographic position enables Emilia-Romagna to act as a link between northern and southern Italy, and between the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions and Central and Northern Europe.
“Climate change” is one of the focus of Emilia-Romagna Region policies that in 2018 has approved a Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy and in 2020 signed, together with 60 regional stakeholders, the “Pact for Work and Climate” that outlined the interaction between social and environmental aspects. These principles have been followed and strengthened by the approval, in 2024, of a strategic document, the Roadmap for Carbon neutrality before 2050. In 2021 Emilia-Romagna region signed the Charter of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, an initiative launched by the European Commission.
The Emilia-Romagna Region coordinates WP1 as a Model Region, with the support of regional partners.
The theme of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as tools for climate change adaptation and regional resilience is a priority for the Emilia-Romagna Region. Increasingly extreme events have devastating impacts on the regional territory, such as the recent floods of 2023 and 2024 and the severe droughts of the past decade.
Scientific task forces have identified significant weaknesses in the regional territorial system. Within the ARCADIA project, the Region is primarily engaged through its “Protected Areas, Forest, and Mountain Development Department”, which is tasked with assessing how the sustainable management of mountain areas can contribute to the overall safety of the regional territory. This purpose will be pursued in collaboration with an intersectoral working group focused on defining future climate change adaptation and mitigation policies based on scientific evidence.