From the restoration of nature a technological leap and a return for companies

To create the connections between nature and the productive world, technology and training play a key role. To improve research in biodiversity, the Nbfc relies on advanced technologies (electronics, microelectronics, biotechnology, robotics) to create prototypes and implement software. Furthermore, in 2023, the Centre launched the first national biodiversity doctorate, which already has 35 active students. The aim is to train experts in biodiversity. Not only that. An entire area (spoke 8) is dedicated to supporting innovation and technology transfer to facilitate the market launch of scientific discoveries by encouraging the development of start-ups and companies with a focus on innovative research in the field of biodiversity.

Another front is the green transformation of cities. The Centre is developing a digital catalogue of 100 nature-based solutions that will redesign urban centres. Green buildings, parks, trees, green walls and streets to reduce temperature, improve water treatment and contribute to people's psychophysical well-being. Steps forward in the name of the EU Green Deal that plans to plant 3 billion trees by 2030.

All projects aim to achieve double sustainability: the investments in biodiversity supported by the NRP," the report says, "aim to generate a tangible return in terms of both nature conservation and economics. This translates into lasting benefits for the environment and society, creating a development model that values biodiversity as an engine for sustainable growth.

The Centre also lays the foundations for its future. It does so with the so-called biodiversity gateway, a gateway between research and society where the fruits of innovation will become value for citizens, innovators and institutions. "It will be the platform," explains gateway designer Luca De Biase, "to connect the scientific community with the business system, public administrations, biodiversity conservation professionals and with citizenship as a whole. The headquarters of the gateway will be in the area of the former Roosevelt Institute in Palermo, destined to become a multifunctional centre for science that will host cutting-edge research. "Thanks to its privileged position in the centre of the Mediterranean," explained the Rector of the University of Palermo Massimo Midiri, "it will provide fundamental feedback to guide biodiversity conservation and enhancement strategies and will represent one of the largest Mediterranean infrastructures for science on biodiversity and ecosystems.

On the European front, the framework remains (for now) the EU Biodiversity Strategy proposed by the Commission in May 2020 and adopted by the Member States in October of the same year. Still stalled in the EU Council, however, is the regulation on the Nature restoration law, one of the key texts of the Green Deal, which puts pen to paper and makes binding the commitments sanctioned by the UN in Montreal in 2022. The law sets three major milestones to restore forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and marine ecosystems to good health: 30% by 2030, 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. Particular efforts are required from the agricultural sector, and cities will also have to play their part in terms of green space and tree cover. All eyes are on the next EU Council of Environment Ministers on 17 June, the week after the vote for the renewal of the Europarliament: eleven European states (Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Slovenia and Cyprus) have clamoured for its approval on that date. Italy is currently against it.