Third and Final Event of the CMCC Series within the Festival “Armonie del Mediterraneo”
After the opening evening on July 17, dedicated to climate, water resources, and future scenarios, and the first “Mediterranean Aperitivo” on July 18 at Bar Astoria focused on “The Sea to Come”, the CMCC Foundation (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) presents the final event of the series on Saturday, July 19 at 7:00 PM, hosted by Barrito, Via Francesco De Mura 67.
“Our Soil: Food and Fire in the Mediterranean Region” is the theme of this second Mediterranean Aperitif—a format designed to give citizens an informal opportunity to meet and engage in dialogue with science, exploring the connections between technology, climate, and daily life.
After exploring the challenges of water and the sea, attention now turns to another vital—often invisible yet essential—element: the soil. Climate change manifests itself powerfully on the very ground beneath our feet: making it more fragile, altering crops, exposing forests to wildfires, and threatening food security.
The discussion will be introduced by Gabriele Pizzileo (CMCC – Institute for Climate Resilience), who will explore the link between climate and agriculture. Traditional Mediterranean crops are facing new challenges: unpredictable seasons, water scarcity, and extreme events. Yet new opportunities are also emerging, thanks to sustainable farming practices and more resilient production models.
Following his talk, Malik Aljabu and Shahbaz Alvi (CMCC – Advanced Center for Digital Innovation) will present how cutting-edge technologies—from artificial intelligence to satellite monitoring—are becoming key tools for the prevention and management of wildfires, one of the most serious and growing threats in the Mediterranean region.
The July 19 event marks the final chapter in the three-part series organized by the CMCC Foundation as part of Armonie del Mediterraneo, the festival promoted by the City of Lecce with the scientific and organizational support of the Agency for the Euromediterranean Cultural Heritage. In the heart of Lecce’s summer, the voice of science becomes part of a cultural program that weaves together arts, ideas, and civic engagement—offering tangible tools to understand the present and shape the Mediterranean’s future.
The three events organized by CMCC from July 17 to 19 as part of Armonie del Mediterraneo were designed to address climate change in an integrated way.
The Mediterranean is a complex, interconnected system, and it is crucial to act in a coordinated manner across multiple fronts—water, sea, and soil—by linking scientific knowledge, public policy, and civic participation. This “climate hotspot,” despite the challenges of drought, wildfires, storm surges, biodiversity loss, and climate migration, also offers important opportunities for innovation, adaptation, and cooperation. Over the course of these three days, such opportunities were explored, analyzed, and shared by researchers, scholars, and practitioners—building bridges between scientific knowledge and everyday life, fostering awareness, and promoting active, informed citizenship.
Through the voices of CMCC researchers—discussing climate scenarios, environmental risks, and technological solutions—the public gained a clear and concrete view of the transformations underway, as well as of the resources that the Mediterranean still holds. The diversity of formats and venues—from CMCC’s institutional spaces to local bars, from formal presentations to open conversations like the Mediterranean Aperitifs—helped strengthen a core message: the climate challenge can only be met together, within communities and territories.
Lecce responded with genuine interest and participation, showing how necessary and urgent it is to create spaces for dialogue between research and civic life, between scientific culture and urban experience. It is a challenge that Armonie del Mediterraneo and CMCC have embraced with a shared goal: giving voice to a more aware, resilient Mediterranean—capable of imagining, and building, its own future.
This series addressed environmental sustainability not as an abstract concept, but as a concrete and urgent issue—one that directly impacts quality of life, the health of ecosystems, and the future of communities. The CMCC Foundation is committed to bringing to Lecce an integrated vision of climate research, merging science, technology, and policy to create a space for reflection and awareness—turning scientific knowledge into shared culture and collective action.
From this same vision was born the Armonie del Mediterraneo program, which is much more than a sequence of events: it is a widespread cultural laboratory, where diverse languages—music, theatre, science, and critical thought—intertwine to shape a shared idea of the future. In a time marked by speed, uncertainty, and fragmentation, Armonie del Mediterraneo chooses the path of listening, depth, and dialogue among disciplines. It invites each of us not to remain spectators, but to participate actively in a story that belongs to us all.
Because the Mediterranean to come is not yet written. It depends on us.
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