JOIN FORCES TO WRITE AN IMPORTANT PAGE IN THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Rome/Boston, Nov. 20, 2022 – The Carabinieri Corps consolidates its international presence by signing an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT-Italy Program.

This agreement will allow the two excellences to develop, together, an important project dedicated to environmental monitoring and sustainability.

A collaboration that immediately entered the operational phase thanks to the involvement of the CREA (Council for Research in Agriculture and Analysis of Agricultural Economics), the Carabinieri’s scientific business partner for its Forestry Division, and to the MIT’s Senseable City Laboratory.

CREA and MIT researchers will work together to combine Italian research with U.S. research, developed by the MIT-Italy Program and MIT Senseable City Lab, specifically on the use of advanced technology for forest monitoring. In particular, forests located within or next to large urban centers, that possess high added value due to their ability to limit the environmental impact caused by excessive urbanization, will also be studied.

This unique collaboration will have the power to spark innovation and allow the implementation of synergies for the development of research, study, analysis and experimental activities in the field of technology, especially on issues of environmental protection, forest monitoring and enhancement of biodiversity. This will also allow for accurate monitoring and land preservation and will promote the organization of conferences, conventions and seminars related to topics of common interest.

This agreement, which benefits the country as a whole, comes after a year of dialogue between the Carabinieri Corps, promoter of the initiative, and MIT Italy Program.

All phases of this historic and strategic relationship have been supported by the Italian Embassy in the US with preparatory meetings directly coordinated by the Consulate General of Italy in Boston.

The Comando Unità Forestali, Ambientali e Agroalimentari (Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Headquarters), which is in charge of the entire project, is a specialty taskforce of the Carabinieri that carries out monitoring, prevention and repression of violations committed in environmental matters, as well as studying activities related to the qualitative and quantitative survey of forest

resources, for the purpose of establishing the national forest inventory. It also monitors the phytosanitary state of forests and the territory in general, through the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of data, including those related to areas affected by fire.

The MIT-Italy Program is an official program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is aimed at fostering collaboration between MIT and Italy. It is part of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), the centerpiece of MIT’s international activity, which initiates research and collaboration, including workshops involving researchers and students from the aforementioned Institute and their counterparts in countries where MISTI programs operate.

MARIANGELA ZAPPIA, ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES:

Innovation, sustainability, and excellence are the hallmarks of this agreement of which we are happy and deeply proud. The start of the collaboration between two institutions of undisputed reputation such as MIT Boston and the Carabinieri Corps is excellent news for international research and experimentation in the field of land preservation, protection and enhancement of biodiversity, central topics for sustainable development. Italy and the Carabinieri Corps consider themselves excellent partners of the United States, especially in the field of research and innovation, under the banner of the common values we both share.

TEO LUZI, COMMANDING GENERAL ARMA DEI CARABINIERI:

This protocol and its implementation will allow the Carabinieri to expand and share their experience and know-how in the field of environmental protection, not only for the benefit of Italy, but for the entire ecosystem. The Carabinieri Corps, a leading environmental police force, is particularly proud to initiate this collaboration with one of the most important and prestigious research universities in the world. An achievement achieved thanks to the will and hard work of many people who, like us, believe in research, the environment, and tomorrow. This agreement represents the achievement of a considerable goal not only for the Carabinieri and Italy, but most of all for the achievement of an objective that has no borders, linguistic, cultural or even social: the preservation of nature.

SERENELLA SFERZA, CO-DIRECTOR MIT ITALY PROGRAM:

The MIT-ITALY Program looks forward to this agreement, which will allow collaboration with a very prestigious partner in an extremely important field.

MIT has always had as its objective that of addressing and trying to solve the world’s greatest problems and has had environmental protection and defense as a priority goal for our scientific community. That mission is at the heart of this collaboration with the Carabinieri, and I am confident our partnership will help us achieve it. The many promising opportunities for collaboration that we propose to open between MIT’s labs and its Italian counterparts will enrich knowledge in defense of Italian and global environmental heritage and strengthen the already numerous scientific ties that unite MIT and Italy.

Photo by Gretchen Ertl