Institutions and Ansfisa for infrastructure safety and post-emergency management

From a technical point of view, the work focused on mitigation of hydrogeological risk applied to transport networks, with the presentation of the White Paper dedicated to the relationship between instability and infrastructure. Alessandro Morelli, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council, illustrated an organic plan for security, while the Commissioner for Reconstruction Fabrizio Curcio highlighted how, after the events of 2023, “a new awareness on risk reduction” has consolidated. From this perspective, the ability to plan resilient interventions becomes the key parameter for directing public investments.

The Emilia-Romagna model was presented as a laboratory to strengthen support for Municipalities and stabilize network maintenance processes. The President of the Region, Michele de Pascale, reiterated the importance of an approach that integrates technical knowledge with political vision to ensure the safety of citizens. Domenico Capomolla, Director of ANSFISA, confirmed the Agency’s role in promoting a culture of safety based on vigilance and constant dialogue with the territories, elements considered essential to guarantee the stability of strategic infrastructures in the face of the effects of extreme meteorological events.

Alessandro Morelli, Undersecretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers: “The Government has launched a 115.5 billion euro ten-year plan 2025-2034 to fill infrastructure gaps and strengthen the country’s security. It is a clear political choice, which looks at the protection of citizens, the continuity of networks and the competitiveness of the production system. Risk mitigation can no longer be considered just a technical issue: it is a national priority. This is why we are working to overcome the emergency logic, improve coordination between institutions, managers and operators, plan interventions better and reduce decision-making fragmentation. Security is not a cost, but an investment in Italy’s future. The path is that of responsibility, concreteness and decision-making courage”.

Edoardo Rixi, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport: “Hydrogeological instability represents one of the most urgent and complex challenges for the safety and resilience of transport infrastructures. Italy is a fragile territory, with approximately 94% of municipalities classified as being at hydrogeological risk, and in this context it is not only the availability of resources that counts, but also the ability to quickly transform them into concrete interventions. Linear infrastructures are particularly vulnerable and the Ministry is focusing a strategic action on them to strengthen, maintain and innovate. The Bologna comparison therefore offers a valuable contribution to strengthening the safety, sustainability and resilience of transport networks in the face of hydrogeological risks”.

Michele de Pascale, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region: “The experience of Emilia-Romagna after the floods of 2023 and 2024 can offer the country useful elements to rethink ways of responding to risk and emergencies. We were faced with an event that was very different from the large seismic emergencies on which much of the previous legislation was built: the reconstruction dynamics are different, the risk management is different, the intervention and compensation mechanisms are different. Today, around 3 billion reconstruction works are underway, but the decisive step concerns the billion allocated to prevention. The objective is to demonstrate that these resources can be translated into concrete works and contribute to a change in national approach, based on more prevention and stronger administrative support for Municipalities”.

Fabrizio Curcio, Commissioner for Reconstruction Emilia-Romagna: “When the population doesn’t feel safe, we don’t give a good image of the work the country is doing. In recent months we have managed to build a more unitary picture, which holds together the different skills and different reconstructions, from the events of 2023 in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Marche up to those of 2024. The reasoning we must do today must be high, we cannot continue to pour into the emergency everything that we cannot do in the ordinary. The 2023 experience marked a before and after, not only for Emilia-Romagna, because it reawakened national awareness on the topic of risk reduction. However, this awareness must be guided, otherwise we only talk about resources without understanding how and where to really put them on the ground. The commissioner structures must fit into a system that already exists, made up of rules, apparatus and skills, contributing to strengthening it without disrupting it”.

Errico Stravato, CEO of SOGESID: “From our daily experience in the area, it clearly emerges that the ability to rebuild must be accompanied by a structural investment in prevention. We cannot limit ourselves to responding to emergencies: it is necessary to intervene on the causes of vulnerability, integrating planning, maintenance and knowledge of the territories. Today’s discussion confirms that risk management is a continuous process, which requires coordination between institutions, managers and technical skills. In this direction, every reconstruction intervention must contribute to stably strengthening the security and resilience of the territories”.

Silvia Paparella, General Manager RemTech Technology Hub: “Italy is a structurally fragile country, due to its geological, morphological and territorial conformation. As also emerges from the White Paper, approximately 94% of municipalities are exposed to hydrogeological risk, a condition aggravated by the intensification of extreme events, urbanization and the waterproofing of cities. Emilia-Romagna directly experienced this fragility with the floods between 2023 and 2024, which opened a complex phase of reconstruction. The White Paper on transport infrastructures is placed in the wake of prevention, as a tool to strengthen knowledge, planning and intervention capacity. Reconstruction and prevention are a great collective work: this is the meaning of the day in Bologna, building a common route for the safety of the territories and the future of the communities”.

Domenico Capomolla, ANSFISA Director: “Today’s meeting represents an important stage in the path that ANSFISA is carrying out in the territories, with the aim of promoting an increasingly integrated vision between prevention, security of infrastructure networks and capacity to respond to climate change. The choice of Emilia-Romagna is not random: this Region has experienced with particular intensity how reconstruction can no longer be approached as a simple sequence of emergency interventions, but requires a systemic reading of the vulnerability of the territories. There cannot be a truly effective reconstruction without prevention, without supervision and without the ability to create a system between institutions, managers and the technical-professional world. The White Paper on hydrogeological instability and transport infrastructures aims to be a tool to support this dialogue, to strengthen policies and intervention models oriented towards safety, risk prevention and sustainability of the territories”.