Mission
The International Center for Environmental Monitoring CIMA Research Foundation is a non-profit research organization. It aims to promote the study, scientific research, technological development and advanced training in engineering and environmental sciences for the protection of public health, civil protection and ecosystems.
The scientific research conducted by the Foundation focuses on disaster risk mitigation. Since its inception, CIMA Research Foundation has been dedicated to hydrometeorological risk mitigation, developing mathematical models to improve the forecasting and prevention of flood phenomena, and wildfire forecasting and prevention. Over the years, its areas of research have expanded to include wildfire forest biodiversity conservation, satellite data analysis, risk assessment and damage data analysis. An important branch of the foundation is also dedicated to marine ecosystems and the cetaceans that populate the Pelagos Sanctuary and to the development of civil protection plans through participatory approach with the population. A line of research is also dedicated to regulatory review activities (including complex national and foreign institutional architectures), legal compliance, legal risk analysis in risk management and forensic investigation.
However, the Foundation’s activities are not limited to research. Our technicians and researchers contribute to the dissemination of knowledge through training, and to technological development.
Vision
CIMA Research Foundation’s vision bases on the connection between “science, awareness and behaviors“.
In fact, the concept of risk is no longer limited to its reduction, but also includes the axis around which economic and social changes revolve. It has become an increasingly important variable in ensuring the sustainable development of societies around the world. This close connection between development and risk stems from the understanding that development cannot take place without an effective reduction of risk. Technical-scientific knowledge on risk mitigation must be made available—in terms of knowledge, but also awareness, operational support and capacity development—to institutions, policy makers and citizens. This is the beginning of a process that puts science at the service of the community, contributing to the growth of awareness and changes in behaviors.
History
The history of CIMA Research Foundation is rooted in the study of flood and landslide risk mitigation strategies. In the mid-1980s, research in this field was entrusted by the Minister of Civil Protection at the time, Giuseppe Zamberletti, to Dr. Franco Siccardi, who was a professor of Engineering at the University of Genoa. The research group led by Dr. Siccardi laid the groundwork for the creation of the Interuniversity Centre in Environmental Monitoring, born in 2007 with the support of then Deputy Head of the Civil Protection Department, Bernardo De Bernardinis. The founding bodies of CIMA Research Foundation are the Civil Protection Department – Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the University of Genoa, the Liguria Region and the Province of Savona.
In 2019, the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Ligurian Environment (ARPAL) joined the Board of Directors, together with the founding bodies.
The first major contribution of CIMA Research Foundation in scientific research applied to civil protection was the elaboration of a national warning system for flood risk and forest fires, still in use today. Convinced of the importance of partnership and knowledge sharing, and due to the large quantity of international projects carried out in the Balkans CIMA Research Foundation created a branch office in Albania in 2011.
In 2012, the Foundation was confirmed Competence Centre of the Civil Protection System for the hydrometeorological sector and for forest fire risk and for the legal area on the liability of civil protection operators. A few years later, it also became the operational structure of the National Service of the Civil Protection Department, according to the legislative decree 1/2018 (Civil Protection Code). In 2020, with the decree of establishment of the ItaliaMeteo Agency, CIMA Research Foundation has been included in the list of national weather agencies.
CIMA Research Foundation has gradually grown at the international level, thanks to its participation in projects carried out in different parts of the world, funded by European Union, World Bank, United Nation and many other international organizations.