SISSA and the independent media outlet FACTA have been awarded funding from the Journalism Science Alliance for their joint project The Unwetlands. A Satellite-Based Investigation into Italy’s Lost Wetlands. The initiative is one of 24 projects selected from 15 countries to receive support in the Alliance’s first call, which distributed nearly one million euros to journalist–scientist teams across Europe.
Co-led by Elisabetta Tola, president and editor-in-chief of FACTA, and Roberto Trotta, professor of theoretical physics and coordinator of the Theoretical and Scientific Data Science Group at SISSA, The Unwetlands will explore how and why Italy is losing some of its most precious ecosystems. Wetlands play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity, preventing floods and enhancing climate resilience, and are central to the EU’s Nature Restoration Law. Yet across Italy, they continue to degrade or disappear, often due to weak enforcement, conflicting interests and political inertia.
The project will combine satellite imagery, machine learning and field reporting to document the scale, causes and consequences of this environmental decline. By integrating scientific data analysis with investigative journalism, The Unwetlands aims to reveal the systemic failures that enable the destruction of these essential habitats and to contribute to a more informed public debate on environmental policy.
“I am delighted to be part of this interdisciplinary team, which aims to create a genuine synergy between journalism, data science and fact-based reporting. This project will allow us to put artificial intelligence at the service of the environment, and I am eager to see what our satellite investigation will reveal. I am confident that working with FACTA and with the team led by Elisabetta Tola will be both stimulating and effective. I would like to thank the Journalism Science Alliance for this opportunity, which contributes to SISSA’s Third Mission and shows how academic research can have a positive impact on society,” says Roberto Trotta.
“Our mission is to promote democracy through science-based investigations. With this supported project, we will integrate journalism and satellite data analysis to investigate the environmental degradation of Italian wetlands,” says the FACTA team.
The selected teams in this first Journalism Science Alliance call will have eight months to complete their projects. In addition to financial support, they will receive expert mentoring, access to a dedicated training programme and opportunities for international networking among journalists and researchers committed to science-based public interest reporting.
Photo credit: Giulia Bonelli