Abstract.An exponential improvement of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models was observed during the last decade (Lynch, 2008). Civil Protection (CP) systems exploited Meteo services in order to redeploy their actions towards the prediction and prevention of events rather than towards an exclusively response-oriented mechanism 1 .Nevertheless, experience tells us that NWP models, even if assisted by real time observations, are far from being deterministic. Complications frequently emerge in medium to long range forecasting, which are subject to sudden modifications. On the other hand, short term forecasts, if seen through the lens of criminal trials 2 , are to the same extent, scarcely reliable (Molini et al., 2009).One particular episode related with wrong forecasts, in the Italian panorama, has deeply frightened CP operators as the NWP model in force missed a meteorological adversity which, in fact, caused death and dealt severe damage in the province of Vibo Valentia (2006). This event turned into a very discussed trial, lasting over three years, and intended against whom assumed the legal position of guardianship within the CP. A first set of data is now available showing that in concomitance with the trial of Vibo Valentia the number of alerts issued raised almost three folds. We sustain the hypothesis that the beginning of the process of overcriminalization (Husak, 2008) of CPs is currently increasing the number of false alerts with the consequent effect of weakening alert perception and response by the citizenship (Brezntiz, 1984).

<div> <div> <div> <p><strong>Context. </strong>Water is the most proximal concept for all human beings, and yet many of us struggle to realize the importance of proper water resources management, as well as the breadth and depth of growing water conflicts in a warming climate. This is particularly true for young students, since they will see impacts of climate change first-hand.</p> <p><strong>Goal and recipients. </strong>Within “Water and Us”, we educate next generations on the correct (and incorrect) ways in which water is currently managed. This is done to instill the need for a sustainable use of water resources, in the hope that this will help neutralize incorrect policies, economic conflicts and tensions around water. Current recipients are high school students, but we are also experimenting with elementary students and adult audiences.</p> <p><strong>Method.</strong> Rather than providing ready-to-use recipes or a traditional, lecture-style approach, the signature of Water and Us is to put students at the center of a participatory, laboratory- based process geared towards the evaluation of new solutions for water management. Through a process of learning by doing, we reflect on recurring questions like <em>“what does it mean to manage water resources? How do human activities affect the water cycle? What are the expected impacts of climate change and the associated solutions for sustainable development in a warmer world?”.</em></p> <p>Structure. The first module is dedicated to understanding the water cycle – a cycle that will be “rewritten” with the students themselves based on their own experience and knowledge. The goal is to show how the same term “water resource” has many different meanings, sometimes even in conflict with each other. The second module will be dedicated to to sharpen students’ understanding of the most common and recurring terms and expressions surrounding the issue of water resources and climate change: an opportunity to confer a more precise meaning to expressions like the Paris Agreement, droughts, water conflicts, Next Generation EU, which are used almost daily in the media but that are not always easy to place in the overall picture. The <em>third </em>module, finally, is a synthesis of the previous ones and focuses on the still little-known theme of socio-political, juridical, and technical water conflicts and how they are increasingly fuelled by the effects of climate change.</p> <p>Innovativeness. Each meeting starts with a real-life story, lasting about 20 minutes, and then moves on with a workshop lasting about 30 minutes, so that listeners can immediately put themselves at the centre of the problem. This method promotes awareness on the issue of water management and stimulates the design of consensus-based, innovative solutions for community’s benefit.</p> <p>In this presentation, we will share lessons learned by the first pilots of “Water and Us” in Liguria, Italy, as well as plans to upscale and export this experience to other audiences.</p> </div> </div> </div>

Abstract. Climate change and water security are among the grand challenges of the 21st century, but literacy on these matters among high-school students is often unsystematic and/or far from the real world. To contribute advancing education in a warming climate and prepare next generations to play their role in future societies, we designed "Water and Us", a three-module initiative focusing on the natural and anthropogenic water cycle, climate change, and conflicts. The method of Water and Us resolves around storytelling to aid understanding and generate new knowledge, learning by doing, a flipped classroom environment, and a constant link to the real world – such as the archetypal events of the California snow drought or the seeds of conflicts around transnational river basins. Water and Us was established in 2021, and since then has involved 200+ students in a proof of concept to test the didactic approach in small-scale experiments. Results from 40+ hours of events confirm that students are generally aware of climate change (90 %), but have sparse knowledge of the concrete actions that are in place to mitigate or adapt (up to 20 %). Understanding of the water cycle by students is often anchored to a naturalistic, but fictitious view where human interference is minimal. Our approach conveys key elements of the contemporary, natural/anthropogenic water cycle, how this cycle is challenged by warmer temperatures and declining snowpacks, and how education can contribute to avoiding maladaptation and conflicts. While this initiative is being channelled in awareness projects at various levels, the Water and Us team remains interested in networking with colleagues and potential recipients to scale up and further develop this work.

<p class="western" align="justify">Water conflicts generally stem from an imbalance between water demand and availability; as such, they are often studied as a result of meteorological droughts – that is, a lack of precipitation or streamflow. By shifting water availability from wet winters to dry summers, when demand peaks, we hypothesized that snow water resources represent a crucial precursor of this imbalance, and thus play an important, but unexplored role in escalating drought-related water crises and conflict. To shed light on the nexus between snow droughts and increased water challenges, we draw lessons from the extraordinarily warm, dry, and prolonged 2021-2022 snow drought in the Italian Alps, from the consequent spring-to-summer water deficit, and from the relative seeds of conflict. To this end, <span lang="it-IT">w</span>e compared the spatial distribution of snow water resources deficit with the distribution and type of municipal mandatory water restrictions, under the assumption that the former are proxies of a future deficit in availability, while the latter are proxies of an imbalance between this availability and needs. We found initial evidence that the location and magnitude of the deficit in snow water resources observed across the Italian Alps in winter 2022 (-60% or more at peak accumulation) did result in seeds of institutional conflicts later in spring and summer. These findings can aid institutions and policymakers in understanding the mechanisms behind emerging water conflicts and their implications, and so design ad-hoc water policies, especially in a warming climate.</p> <p class="western" align="justify"> </p>