ORA! Officina della Ricerca per l’Ambiente (Research Garage for the Environment) is a collective initiative born within the Bologna Research Area, welcoming all to join.

In the days following the major Romagna flood (May 17, 2023), we felt a strong need to meet and discuss what happened, what could have been avoided with better land management, and the role played by the climate crisis in the flooding event. 

Extreme wheater events now surround us; each summer sets new temperature records, while the looming threat of drought is met with ever more violent precipitation. Simultaneously, we are deeply concerned about the degradation of natural habitats and the biosphere, and the imminent risk of a sixth mass extinction.

Delaying concrete and effective action to fight the ecological and climate crisis is no longer an option. We have a limited timeframe to contain global warming within 1.5°C, the critical safety threshold. As researchers, we feel a deep responsibility to engage, collaborate, and advocate alongside those committed to ending fossil fuel consumption, preventing land degradation, and conserving the biosphere, actively driving decarbonization and ecological transformation.

Our aim is to be a catalyst for change, collaborating with numerous others in the quest to build a world in harmony with nature and our environment – a world that is not only more sustainable but also more equitable and humane, leaving no one behind.

Together, we march towards climate neutrality, NOW! No one else will do it for us.