Francesco Musco’s research while affiliated with Università Iuav di Venezia and other places

This study presents a spatial methodology for integrating climate change (CC) risks and ecosystem service (ES) assessments into strategic spatial planning, applied to the Metropolitan Plan of the Province of Rimini (Emilia-Romagna, Italy). The proposed approach combines IPCC-aligned climate vulnerability analysis with ecosystem service mapping based on the methodology developed by CREN. Climate risks, including urban heat islands, droughts, and urban floods, were assessed using satellite-derived indices such as Land Surface Temperature (LST), Vegetation Health Index (VHI), and hydraulic modeling. For ESs, nine key services were evaluated and mapped by integrating land use, forest cover, and habitat data with biophysical modulation factors (e.g., slope, carbon stock, infiltration capacity). The results highlight priority areas where climate adaptation and ecological functions converge, enabling targeted interventions. This integrated workflow offers a replicable and scalable planning tool to support evidence-based decision-making at the metropolitan level. Its adoption is recommended by other local and regional authorities to strengthen the climate and ecological responsiveness of spatial planning instruments.

Climate change adaptation, CCA henceforth, is nowadays a shared concern, deeply investigated and advocated by international research and political organisations. However, both CCA implementation and its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are challenges yet to be properly addressed. From a spatial planning perspective, local plans are the land-use-oriented tools with the highest potential to enhance CCA operativity. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is also acknowledged to be a key instrument to integrate climate change concerns and hence, to monitor and evaluate climate change (CC) risks and CCA efforts. This study addresses two hypotheses, i.e., i) indicators included in SEAs' spatial plans may be used at the service of CCA M&E, ii) the full extent of indicators can be captured by multi-level planning analyses. To this aim, this study provides an in-depth analysis, through a multi-step systematic categorization, of the indicators used within the SEA of regional and municipal plans in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy). This study brings novelty in the SEA research field by bridging the climate risk theoretical principles to the methodological approach for analysing SEAs' indicators, which are classified within the risk function frame. Key insights come from the metrics, the indicators' explicitness for CCA, and the indicators' extent into the climate risk function. Finally, the paper paves the way for further research of CC-and CCA-related indicators in both spatial planning and other public sectors to support CCA mainstreaming through SEAs.

This book includes the insights of a seminar that was held at IUAV University of Venice, on May 29th and 30th featuring 10 speakers. 8 speakers, 2 moderators, and 1 organizer from the seminar, plus 10 other authors contributed to this book. The writers’ expertise spans from local climate adaptation planning, public policy analysis, climate and environmental finance, and climate adaptation advocacy to multi-risk analysis, GIS, disaster risk management, ecosystem services assessment, urban geography, art, and civic engagement. The book contents address adaptation and flood risk mitigation along the Science-Policy-Action path - both theoretical and operative perspectives are discussed. EU climate adaptation policy and finance, climate adaptation implementation, flood risk analysis, nature-based solutions, blue ecosystem services, regional adaptation planning, and critical infrastructure adaptation are the topics investigated in depth by the writers.

The Italian coast has about 700 ports, which are different in typology, dimension, role, and ownership. Historically, this has led to the significant fragmentation of governance and space and a lack of cooperation that ports and cities still experience today. Among all ports, small and medium-sized ports (SMPs), such as marinas, small touristic harbors, and moorings, are the most affected. Unlike the main ports, where spatial and strategic regulation planning fall under the port authority’s responsibilities, SMPs are a combination of public and private management and are, therefore, excluded from national and regional planning and larger strategies. Improving SMPs’ cooperation at the regional level can drive more effective sustainable management among related activities (tourism and the fishing sector) and reduce pressures on the land–sea interaction (LSI). In filling the gaps, this article challenges the existing legal framework, planning tools, approaches, and initiatives and may pave the way to establishing a better-integrated national governance for SMPs. In conclusion, this paper identifies two main opportunities that can support the steady establishment of governance and the systematic harmonized development of these SMPs. The first one is offered by maritime spatial planning (MSP) as a strategic and legal tool whereby SMPs are recognized and, if financially supported, could find incentives and measures for their development. The second one is through European projects, programs, and initiatives such as Framesport as drivers in establishing a common ground among public and private interests and as a cooperation engine at a local scale.

The application of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to planning processes and decision-making can lead to more effective climate change adaptation. Despite the increased attention given to the ES concept, its degree of integration and use in spatial planning processes are still below the expectations of those who are promoting this concept. Barriers hindering its operationalisation cover a span of aspects ranging from theoretical to procedural and methodological issues. Overall, there is a general lack of guidance on how and at what point ES knowledge should be integrated into planning processes. This study aims to promote the inclusion of ES knowledge into spatial planning practices and decision-making processes to enhance climate change adaptation. A replicable GIS-based methodology is proposed. First, the potential supply of ESs that can support climate change adaptation (ESCCAs) is defined, mapped, and quantified. Then, a need for an ESCCA supply is identified, and territorial capacities to respond to the expected climate change impacts on natural and socio-economic sectors are assessed. The methodology is applied to the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region (Italy) as an illustrative case study. The results reveal that areas with similar geomorphological characteristics tend to respond similarly. Forest ecosystems, inland wetlands and specifically salt marshes can potentially supply a greater variety of ESCCAs. In the case study area, about 62% of the supplied ESCCAs can contribute to reducing the impacts in more than 50% of the impacted sectors. The territory of the study site generally shows good preparedness for expected impacts in most of the analysed sectors; less prepared areas are characterised by agricultural ecosystems. This reading approach based on land cover analyses can thus assist in developing policies to enhance different territorial capacities, ultimately leading to better and more sustainable decision-making.

Coastal areas are the most populated areas on the planet and are the most attractive areas due to the richness of the biodiversity, natural resources, and trading reasons. Coastal cities are enlarging their boundaries fast by reclaiming land to place new growing economic sectors such as tourism, oil and gas, aquaculture, and fishery. These processes will put an extra strain on the interactions between land and sea. A crucial initiative regarding Land–Sea Interactions comes from the European Union through Directive 2014/89/EU. The directive pays special attention to the discourse surrounding Land–Sea Interactions. This study aims to analyze the existing research on Land–Sea Interactions to develop a base knowledge to determine elements and interactions with a spatial planning perspective. The research is based on a double literature review, a systematic literature review based on an open-source database, and a bibliographic search based on a key Land–Sea Interactions paper. The results identify economic sectors, natural elements, and their functions in the discourse of Land–Sea Interaction. Furthermore, this study identifies shared features and terminologies to define Land–Sea Interactions clearly. The main conclusion is that Land–Sea Interactions are human-induced and, in most cases, happen from land to sea, not vice versa. The other crucial conclusion is that specific types of natural elements can decrease the negative impact that those interactions can have either on the environment or among other human activities.

Produrre energia pulita, abbattere le emissioni, rispettare il territorio, garantire la salute degli ecosistemi e delle attività economiche che sostengono, limitare le esternalità negative, pianificare uno sviluppo sostenibile, perseguire il benessere delle comunità e l’accesso all’energia. Si può fare. Ma per riuscirci, c’è molto lavoro da fare. Insieme!