A new Research Fellowship has been established to examine the threat that flooding poses to the City of Venice. Whilst areas of Britain are now facing regular floods, and climate change is leading to higher rates of coastal erosion, Venice faces a far starker threat to its future with flooding now a regular and destructive feature of life in Venice.

In the first decade of the 20th century, St Mark's Square flooded less than ten times per year. By the 1980s, flooding was occurring 40 times a year and between September 2000 and March 2001 alone, over 40 floodings were recorded. In the great flood of 1966 the waters rose to nearly two metres above sea level. In addition, the city is surrounded by an ecosystem suffering from severe environmental degradation. Agricultural, industrial and urban wastes have caused major water quality problems in the Venice lagoon.

Much research has been carried out on the environment of Venice and its lagoon but this information has not been organised and brought together in an accessible form. This will be the first task for the new Research Fellow, and will provide the foundation for a wide-ranging debate within the international scientific community about management solutions to these environmental problems. A major conference on the subject will be held at Churchill College in September 2003 and a report will then be published in English and Italian in 2004.

The Fellowship is based at Churchill College and the work will be carried out under the auspices of the Committee for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies. The Research Fellow will be able to take advantage of Cambridge's interdisciplinary approach to environmental research and will draw on the expertise of members of the Departments of Engineering, Geography, Architecture and Applied Economics, and those with climatological, hydrological, ecological and oceanographic interests in the University.

The post is funded by Venice in Peril, the British charity for the protection of Venice which was created in the aftermath of the great flood in 1966 to raise money for the restoration of Venetian monuments, buildings and works of art.

Useful links
Venice in Peril
Churchill College


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