Where is Italian spoken? (Dove si parla italiano?)
- There are almost 67 million native Italian speakers, mostly in Italy (map below). It is the second most-spoken language in the European Union and is also the official language of San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City.

Map of Italy in southern Europe, along the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea (from Encyclopædia Britannica).
Climate Education in Italy (L’educazione al clima in Italia)
- You can learn more about climate education in Italy through the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project here.
- Italy’s greatest climate threats include rising temperatures and heat waves (ondata di caldo), droughts (siccità), flooding (allagamento), and sea level rise (innalzamento del livello del mare). These threats greatly impact Italy’s infrastructure, agriculture, and public health.
- According to the International Energy Association in 2022, the average annual temperature in Italy rose by one degree Celsius in the last 100 years, and has been rising at an even faster rate in more recent years. This increase in temperature has led to several heat waves (ondata di caldo) sweeping the country, especially high-altitude areas, in spring and summer seasons. In 2023, a heat wave named “Cerberus” (like the three-headed dog from Greek mythology) by the Società Meteorologica Italiana (Italian Meteorological Society) hit Italy with temperatures as high as 45°C (113°F)(image below). Additionally, the associated heat dome (a high pressure area that stays in one place for an extended period of time and traps hot air underneath) was so intense that the Italian health ministry issued a “risk of death” red alert for 27 cities.
- Heat waves are also a threat to public health, since they increase the risk of heat-related illnesses in vulnerable populations like children and the elderly. In 2022, over 18,000 heat related deaths were reported in Italy, with 61,672 total deaths attributed to heat waves in Europe that year.
- According to the International Energy Association in 2022, the average annual temperature in Italy rose by one degree Celsius in the last 100 years, and has been rising at an even faster rate in more recent years. This increase in temperature has led to several heat waves (ondata di caldo) sweeping the country, especially high-altitude areas, in spring and summer seasons. In 2023, a heat wave named “Cerberus” (like the three-headed dog from Greek mythology) by the Società Meteorologica Italiana (Italian Meteorological Society) hit Italy with temperatures as high as 45°C (113°F)(image below). Additionally, the associated heat dome (a high pressure area that stays in one place for an extended period of time and traps hot air underneath) was so intense that the Italian health ministry issued a “risk of death” red alert for 27 cities.

A photo of Italians trying to cool off in a public fountain during the Cerberus heat wave in 2023 (from politico.com, 2022).
- The increase in temperature has also led to changes in precipitation patterns: some regions in Italy are experiencing drought conditions, while other regions are getting flooded. Droughts, in particular, have become a serious issue in 2022 when the Po River reached record low water levels (image below). These dry conditions have seriously impacted Italy’s agricultural sector, which is economically and culturally significant to the country, as well as Italian hydroelectric power generation, which provides about one-fifth of the country’s energy.

A photo of a barge from World War II on the banks of the Po River (from CBS News, 2022). During the Cerberus heat wave in 2022, the Po River dropped to record levels, causing old, wrecked ships to emerge to the surface.
- Flooding has also become more common, as precipitation has intensified while also becoming more infrequent. The ground in drought-stricken regions has been hit with intense rainfall without being able to absorb the water, leading to rivers overflowing rapidly (image below).

A photo of rescuers evacuating residents in the flooded streets of Lugo, a city in Northern Italy that experienced severe flooding in May 2023 (from The Atlantic, 2023).
- Italy has about 7,900 km (4,908 mi) of coastline, which means that sea level rise is a notable threat to the country. The Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change projects that the rise in sea levels for the country by 2050 will be between about 0.18 m (7 in) and 0.23 m (9 in).
- According to a 2021-2022 European Investment Bank survey, the majority of Italians believe in and are concerned about climate change (cambiamento climatico), but also are skeptical about their government’s ability and motivation to tackle this important issue. In the survey, 91% of Italians feel that climate change has an impact on their daily life and 86% of the population also believe that they are more concerned about the climate emergency than their government.
- Italian policies on climate change education (CCE) are influenced by the broader goals of the formal education system: Law 13th July n.107 ‘La Buona Scuola’ (2015), for example, focuses heavily on teaching students about sustainability and how to be global citizens. Similar education plans and guidelines for Italian schools emphasize developing ecologically sustainable behaviors and habits, as well as useful skills for the “green” and “blue” economies (economic systems based around environmentalist principles and marine conservation, respectively).
- In 2019, Italy made climate change education mandatory in schools, requiring students to learn for at least 33 hours about “Civics Education”, which includes climate change. The Implementation Guidelines for Civics Education also state that sustainable development (sviluppo sostenibile) is one of the pillars of the curriculum.
- Later, in September 2020, the new guidelines for CCE (Attachments A of Decree no. 35/2020) specifically cited the United Nations 2030 Agenda’s 17 goals, which “do not only concern the protection of the environment and natural resources, but also the construction of living environments, cities … that are inclusive and respectful of the fundamental rights of people…. These core aspects, which in any case find provision and protection in many articles of the [Italian] Constitution, include issues relating to health, education, environmental protection, respect for animals and common goods, civil protection.“
- Because of the heavy emphasis on teaching sustainable and environmentally conscious behavior in Italian CCE, youth organizations like the Italian Youth Think Tank on Intergenerational Equity have been recognized as important partners in furthering the public’s knowledge about climate change and spurring them into action. This Think Tank drafted a policy proposal to implement the idea that future generations have a legitimate expectation to the same resources present generations have, in respect to the Paris Agreement (one of the most important international treaties on climate change adopted in 2015).

A photograph of teenagers participating in Fridays for Future (also known as School Strike for Climate) in Rome (from Andreas Solaro, 2019).
- The degree to which CCE is included in school curricula, however, is up to individual schools to decide, so evaluating Italian CCE as a whole is difficult. The Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project evaluated Italian CCE in a few ways, like studying the distribution of certain themes and keywords like “climate change”(cambiamento climatico) and “environment”(ambiente) in Italy’s National Curriculum Framework and Education Sector Plan. The results of that study showed that the environment in general was mentioned more (69%) than sustainability (20%) and climate change (11%), and biodiversity was not mentioned at all.
Climate and culture in Italy (Clima e cultura in Italia)
- Italy is geographically located in the temperate zone (the space between the Tropic of Cancer (23.4° above the equator) and the Arctic Circle), but climate still varies considerably from the mountainous regions in the north to the southernmost islands (map below). These regional differences mean that temperature and precipitation in Italy also vary depending on the location/climate zone, as well as the season.
- The average temperature in Italy is 14.4°C (57.9°F) and the average precipitation is 601.1 mm (23.7 in) per year. The average temperature in Italy rose from 13.5°C (56.4°F) in 2021 to 14.4°C (or 57.9°F) in 2022. Meanwhile, the average precipitation has fallen from 734.2 mm (28.9 in) in 2021 to 601.1 mm (23.7 in) in 2022.
- Italy has six different climate zones, each with their own unique seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation (map below).
- The Alpine zone has long frigid winters, short cool summers, and abundant rainfall and snowfall.
- The Pandana zone has long winters as well, but summers are hot and precipitation is concentrated in the spring and autumn seasons.
- The Apennine zone has cold winters and hot summers, with rainfall being most abundant on the western, Tyrrhenian side.
- Due to the proximity to the sea and mountains blocking colder northern winds, winters are mild and summers are hot in the Tyrrhenian zone.
- The Adriatic zone is cooler than the Tyrrhenian zone due to the Adriatic Sea being shallower and smaller, and precipitation is scarce and irregular.
- The South-eastern zone and Islands have a somewhat subtropical climate, with high temperatures and infrequent precipitation.

A map of Italy’s six climate zones (from italianonline.org). Due to geographical differences within the peninsula including the distribution of mountain ranges and proximity to the sea, the Italian climate can differ greatly depending on location, with northern Italy generally being cooler than southern Italy.
- Italy has many seasonal festivals tied to the harvest season and specific crops. One of these festivals is the Feast of San Marino on November 11th, which is a Catholic holiday strongly tied to climate through its celebration of the harvest. Seasonal food and drink, like chestnuts (castagne) and novello (young) wine , are traditionally consumed during the festival.
- San Marino, or Saint Martin, is the patron saint of winemakers. There is also a story about this saint lending his cloak to a poor man and the weather changing from cold to warm and sunny, leading to the last instance of warm weather before winter being called a “San Martino summer”.
- There are also several sayings associated with Saint Martin’s Feast that relate to agricultural practices, like “A San Martino sta meglio il grano al campo che al mulino”(On St. Martin’s Day it’s better to have grain in the ground than in the mill), which advises farmers to finish sowing their seeds before the weather gets colder.

A photo of people enjoying chestnuts and novello wine for the Feast of San Martino (italianstorytellers.com). Both chestnuts and young wine made from recently harvested grapes are in season in autumn, when the festival takes place.
- Italy is well-known for its agricultural and culinary products like Chianti wine and Parmesan Reggiano cheese, which are only produced in Tuscany and Parma regions, respectively. Specific environmental conditions are required for their production: the taste of wine depends on seasonal weather, including temperature and the amount of precipitation, and the taste of Parmesan Reggiano – or to be more specific, the milk the cheese is made of – is highly dependent on the grass the cows graze on. Climate change poses a significant risk to these foods because it alters the conditions required for their production.

A vineyard in Tuscany, the only region in Italy where Chianti wine is made (from Condé Nast Traveler, 2012).
- Venice is a city in northern Italy that is historically and culturally significant, built on 120 islands connected by a complex network of 177 canals. It is especially notable for its art and architecture, influenced by its history as a port city that connected many parts of the world and received a multitude of goods and ideas from different cultures.
- However, Venice’s close proximity to water makes it incredibly vulnerable to sea level rise. In 2019, Venice experienced its second-worst flooding event: the tide rose 187 cm (6.1 ft) above sea level, submerging about 80% of the city. These incidents of flooding are called aqua alta (high water; image below). Since 1923, there have been only 10 recorded instances of the tide rising by more than 150 cm (59 in) in Venice and half of those instances occurred between 2019 and 2022. These trends indicate that flooding from sea level rise will become more severe and more frequent, with some projections estimating that Venice will be underwater by 2100.

A photo of the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) in Venice during aqua alta, or a severe flooding event, in October 2018 (from The Atlantic, 2018).
- Many solutions have been proposed to alleviate the problems created by aqua alta events. The Mose (Experimental Electromechanical Module) project involves installing defensive barriers in the sea that act as gates and let ships in, while also creating a “coastal cordon” that can minimize the severity of flooding (image below – add). The project has been in development since 1992, and might end up costing about 8 billion euros to fully construct, not including the cost of operating the barriers. Critics of the project have pointed out that the barriers are built to protect only against large rises in the water level, which means lower-lying areas like the Piazza San Marco would still be subject to flooding (image above). Additionally, if the gates are closed too often, sewage trapped inside might disrupt the ecosystem of the lagoon Venice is built on.
- Another popular solution is a Dutch-style flood management system, using dams, dikes, barriers, and sluices (sliding gates) to efficiently minimize flood risk. While it would be effective and less detrimental to the city and its ecosystem, the construction of a Dutch-style flood management system would take even longer to complete because of its complexity.

A photo of the MOSE project gates in the harbor mouth of Lido, a barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon (from Wikimedia Commons, 2012).
References and other resources
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- Bocca di lido. 2012. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:05_bocca_di_lido.jpg.
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