The DANUBIUS-RI Supersite of Po Delta and Northern Adriatic Lagoons: a “living laboratory” on the transitional environments of the Adriatic Sea

Transitional environments such as rivers, estuaries, deltas, lagoons and coasts represent the point of contact between land and sea, and provide ecosystem services of great importance – from food production to water supply and transport. However, they are complex and fragile ecosystems, increasingly threatened by climate change and human activities, which accelerate the loss of biodiversity and heighten the risk of extreme weather or climate events.

Consequently, researchers, institutions and policymakers are tasked with the development of novel adaptation and governance strategies to protect the health of transitional environments and the future of the communities that depend on them.

It is in this capacity that DANUBIUS-ERIC operates – a major pan-European distributed research infrastructure built upon existing expertise to support interdisciplinary research on river-sea systems, encompassing the environmental, social and economic sciences.

DANUBIUS-ERIC is a ten-site network located across multiple countries. It provides a range of observation and research facilities, including laboratories, modelling tools and knowledge-exchange platforms. These resources are designed to facilitate a comprehensive understanding as well as the sustainable management of the interactions between freshwater and marine environments.

Among the ten Supersites, the Italian Supersite of Po Delta and Northern Adriatic Lagoons (Venice Lagoon and Marano–Grado Lagoon) is of special interest due to both the richness of its natural environment and the variety of bio-geophysical, ecological and socio-economic processes that occur there.

Its governance is based on a collaborative and integrated approach, entrusted to three leading national institutions: the National Research Council (CNR), through its Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR); the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS); and the Consortium for the coordination of research activities concerning the Venice lagoon system (CORILA).

The Supersite of Po Delta and Northern Adriatic Lagoons also stands out for the strong cooperation between the scientific community and numerous local stakeholders, who work together in a co-design process capable of generating knowledge and innovation.