RENOVATE is an innovative experimental project whose main objective is the recovery of the functions and ecosystem services of marine habitats directly and indirectly impacted by the expansion of the Civitavecchia Port Hub and climate change. This includes testing restoration and mitigation interventions for the priority habitat 1120 and for certain biocoenoses of habitat 1170, as well as for two species of high naturalistic and ecological value: Corallium rubrum and Pinna nobilis.

RENOVATE is the most ambitious marine habitat restoration project ever carried out in Italy — and likely in Europe — as it includes a series of interventions based on an innovative, holistic approach aimed at achieving medium- to long-term recovery of the functionality of impacted habitats and species, equivalent to what was lost due to the expansion of the Port Hub.

The restoration, protection, and mitigation interventions are designed to restore the ecological functions and ecosystem services of the impacted habitats, sizing the actions so that, over a 10-year period—considered necessary to ensure their natural recovery—the lost functions and ecosystem services can once again be provided by the ecosystems. The experimental framework and the project’s duration (10 years) ensure the success of the interventions through continuous monitoring, maintenance, review, and consequent adaptation of the experimental measures.

RENOVATE represents the state of the art in terms of scientific and technological innovation, placing at its core the application of the most advanced scientific criteria used internationally, with particular reference to the ecosystem-based approach and Nature-Based Solutions.

RENOVATE integrates various scientific disciplines—interconnected and interdependent—including experimental fieldwork, high-resolution numerical modeling, modern techniques for data analysis and processing, and monitoring activities using innovative methods and technologies, including autonomous monitoring platforms.

The project’s strategy and the advanced methodologies adopted have led to the creation of a high-profile scientific partnership, coordinated by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), composed of Italian research institutes and universities: the University of Tuscia (UniTuscia), the University of Palermo (UniPalermo), the University of Milano-Bicocca (UniMilano), the University of Bologna (UniBologna), the University of Sassari (UniSassari), the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS), and CNR–IAS.