South Risk: una storia meridionale

The relationship between humans and the environment, between citizens and institutions responsible for managing productive, ecological, and political interactions with the territory, is today more than ever a central issue. South‑Risk: From data collection to monitoring interventions and risk prevention. A southern history was created to encourage reflection on the sustainability of human actions that affect the environment, and on the risks arising both from accidental alterations of natural conditions and from inadequate management of ecological balances.
The project aims to rethink the bond between society and nature by reconstructing the history of research and institutions that emerged in southern Italy between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. These technical and scientific efforts sought to investigate and interpret natural phenomena with profound effects on human life and health: meteorological changes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. In this sense, South‑Risk aligns with the most recent national and international studies in Environmental History, with particular attention to the impact of natural disasters on communities.
The virtual exhibition seeks to highlight scientific research dedicated to understanding environmental phenomena and to provide cognitive tools useful for preventing or mitigating the risks of disastrous events. The analysis focuses on a specific case study: the scientific output of researchers and institutions in southern Italy engaged in the study of meteorological, seismic, and volcanic phenomena between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.
Since the southern regions were administered by a single central authority at least until Italian unification, they can be considered as a unified object of study, albeit with different developments in specific areas. This approach makes it possible to analyze facts and situations not only of local relevance but also of broader, extraregional scope. The investigation first examines procedures and instruments for data collection and territorial surveys; it then turns to the development of interpretative tools (statistics, censuses) and to the creation of institutions devoted to the “knowledge” of the environment.
In this interplay of science, institutions, and communities, South‑Risk restores the memory of a long tradition of observation and prevention, inviting us to reconsider the relationship between humans and the environment as shared heritage and collective responsibility.

___Mauro Gargano