Agriculture 4.0 and Communities

Increasing climate variability makes it increasingly necessary to integrate the monitoring of soil conditions and water resources with forecasting tools capable of supporting timely and informed decision-making in agriculture.

Within this framework, meteorological data, measurements of soil and groundwater moisture and salinity, remote monitoring through UAS and satellite platforms, drought indices and models can be combined to describe current conditions and anticipate their evolution, while also integrating the monitoring of other drought-related risks, such as wildfire risk.

PANORAMA will be presented: a platform developed by CeSMMA at the University of Calabria, which integrates observed data, modelling and decision-support systems, including forecasts from the very short term through to probabilistic seasonal scales.

The presentation will also illustrate ongoing activities with the Southern Apennines District Basin Authority for the integrated management of water resources and multi-reservoir systems, including operational strategies based on probabilistic seasonal scenarios.

In this initial phase, the work focuses on reviewing the main fire weather and fire danger indices currently used in the literature and in operational systems.

The most widely used indices are then calculated and mapped across the Pollino and Sila areas, analysing their behaviour in relation to the fires recorded in July 2026.

The objective is to compare the spatial and temporal response of the different indices and assess their ability to represent the conditions associated with the observed events.

The results will provide a reference basis for the subsequent phases of the project, dedicated to the development of interpretable and causally informed predictive models.

A brief update on Ergatek activities related to territorial and agricultural monitoring: wildfire detection systems, DSS tools to support decision-making in precision agriculture, and initial developments of the new project for the Terre di Calabria wine consortium.

Wildfires are one of the main threats to Mediterranean forest ecosystems, exacerbated by climate change and fuel accumulation. The integration of terrestrial and UAV LiDAR data, Landsat satellite imagery and machine learning techniques can improve the characterisation of vegetation, fuel models and fire-risk modelling.

The results show that shrub fuel continuity and the three-dimensional structure of vegetation are the main factors influencing fire susceptibility. The resulting risk maps show good agreement with the official regional maps, confirming the reliability of the method for wildfire management in Mediterranean forests.

A brief update on the current knowledge base and project outlook for the Terzeria / Santo Stefano woodland, with reference to mapping, wildfire risk, connections with the Pollino Park and the Special Protection Area (ZPS), field observations, and possible directions for management and enhancement.

The contemporary botanic garden can be understood as a multifunctional territorial infrastructure that integrates biodiversity, agriculture, communities and technologies. In relation to biodiversity, it aims to play an internationally recognised scientific role through ex situ conservation, seed banks, global networks, environmental monitoring and educational activities that transform plant diversity into public knowledge (CBD — Convention on Biological Diversity, 2013).

In the agricultural field, the botanic garden opens up to experimentation by researching local and medicinal crops, supporting teaching activities and fostering collaborations with nurseries, farms and institutions. As a community infrastructure, it provides an inclusive public space with a strong local identity, promotes participation, volunteering and citizen science, enhances cultural heritage and contributes to mental and physical wellbeing through nature-based solutions (BGCI). Finally, through its technological dimension, it integrates the digitalisation of collections and GIS tools, becoming a laboratory for green innovation. In the case of the Botanic Garden of Sassari, these functions converge in a system that generates ecosystem services, produces knowledge, supports local culture and enables new forms of management and dissemination of natural heritage.