La ricerca italiana per il mare

Project Implementation Period: 
December 2012 - December 2017
Specific Funding Programme: 

RITMARE Flagship Project is one of the National Research Programmes funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

Budget: 

€250.000.000 co-funded by public and private resources. The overall budget funds 7 large sub-projects.

About the Project: 

RITMARE is the leading Italian national marine research project for the period 2012-2016. The project has been structured around three key objectives:

  • Support integrated policies for the safeguard of the environment (the health of the sea);
  • Enable sustainable use of resources (the sea as a system of production);
  • Implement a strategy of prevention and mitigation of natural impacts (the sea as a risk factor).

RITMARE is divided into 7 sub-projects: (SP1) Maritime Technologies; (SP2) Technologies for Sustainable Fishing; (SP3) Planning of the Maritime Space in Coastal Waters; (SP4) Planning of the Deep Marine Environment and the Open Sea; (SP5) Observation System for the Marine Mediterranean Environment; (SP6) Research, Training and Dissemination Structures; (SP7) Interoperable Infrastructure for the Observation Network and Marine Data.

Sub-project SP3 envisages the development of multiple technologies and tools designed to achieve effective planning of the maritime space and sustainable management of coastal waters. A specific action (WP5) within this sub-project aims at ensuring the integration, enhancement and direct transfer to decision-makers and operators of research activities outcomes gained in SP3, to support policies and management processes regarding Italian coastal areas and maritime space.

Project partners:

RITMARE is coordinated by the National Research Council - CNR and involves an integrated effort of most of the scientific community working on marine and maritime issues, as well as some major industrial groups. Besides CNR, major partners are:

  • INGV - National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology
  • CONISMA - National Inter-university Consortium for Marine Sciences
  • ENEA – Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
  • OGS - National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics
  • Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
  • CINFAI - National Inter-university Consortium for Physics of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere