Italy’s history in the Arctic is centenarian. It started with the expedition conducted by the Duke of the Abruzzi in 1899 and the missions carried out by Umberto Nobile in 1926 and 1928. Supporting these expeditions was the Regia Marina (Royal Navy), in charge of rescue and hydrographic activities. The connection between Italy and the Arctic followed over time through the actions of scientists and explorers, among these, the anthropologist Silvio Zavatti, devoted to studying the Northern populations, specifically Inuit, and Guido Monzino, who reached the Northern Pole in 1971 aboard a dog sledge. In 1990, the University of Rome started a research activity in Greenland’s Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory, and, in 1997, the National Research Council of Italy (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR) opened an Airship Base on the Svalbard Islands, marking the first Italian standing presence in the Arctic. Along with the CNR, other Italian research institutes have worked for years on the Arctic ground and consolidated their presence in the field of advanced research; these include the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile, ENEA), the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV) and the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, OGS).
The significant contribution to research in the Arctic, along with the economic interests of some companies, set the basis for Italy to request to the Arctic Council the status of observer state. The request was accepted in 2013. Italy established the Arctic Table at Farnesina to prepare the request, allowing coordination among Ministries, entities and businesses. Such a table holds regular meetings and represents the main forum for Italian institutional and industrial stakeholders interested in the Arctic. In this framework, in 2015-2016, the table drafted a policy document called “Towards an Italian strategy for the Arctic – national guidelines”. The paper summarises the origin, evolution and purposes of the Italian presence in the Arctic, highlighting the political commitment, the environmental and human dimensions, the scientific activities and the economic cooperation. In 2016-2017, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies launched a fact-finding with Italian and EU institutional representatives, foreign ambassadors and representatives of the scientific and business worlds.
The survey concludes that “Italy’s participation in the dimensions of political cooperation in the Arctic is a strategic priority in light of the changes taking place in the region, caused by climate change and the close interaction in the Arctic between the major international players”. Furthermore, it pointed out that in the effort to strengthen the resources allocated to research, it seems urgent that our country recognises the specificity of research in the Arctic and identifies dedicated institutional and financial instruments, which are essential to strengthen the channels of international scientific cooperation and enhance Italian excellence in the sector”. The same Foreign Affairs Committee has therefore promoted, in the 2018 Budget Law, the establishment of the Scientific Committee for the Arctic (Comitato Scientifico per l’Artico, CSA) and the establishment of the Arctic Research Programme (Programma di Ricerche in Artico, PRA) to provide further support to research bodies and define a coherent framework for a strengthened commitment of the Italian scientific community. An event was dedicated to the PRA in the framework of the CNR Centennial on 9 February 2023, and the funded initiatives are listed on the dedicated website www.programmaricercaartico.it.
Italy follows some basic principles in its approach to Arctic issues, consistent with the commitments related to its participation in the Arctic Council as an Observer State. These include: Respect for the sovereignty of Arctic States and the rules of international law applicable to the Arctic, primarily the law of the sea; promotion of the protection of local traditions and cultures and indigenous peoples, as well as international, multilateral and bilateral cooperation on Arctic issues; contribution to the economic development of the Arctic, with the involvement of the business community, within the framework of the highest standards of environmental protection and the principles of sustainable development; protection of the marine environment and safety of navigation. With this in mind, a contact person was designated for each of the six permanent working groups of the Arctic Council, as well as for some expert groups.
The validity of Italy’s contribution to the Arctic Council, with a collective approach that enhances the contribution of Ministries (MUR, MASE, Defence through the Navy through the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, MIT, through the General Command of the Harbour Offices), research bodies (in particular CNR, ENEA, INGV and OGS), Universities and training institutes, as well as the leading Italian companies interested in the Arctic, is periodically emphasised in the report to the Arctic Council on the contribution as Observer State. Italy also participates in other international forums dedicated to the Arctic, both of an institutional nature, primarily the Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting, whose third meeting was held in Tokyo in May 2021, and of a conference nature, such as the Arctic Circle. Also of note is the contribution within the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) for the definition of regulations applicable to ships operating in polar waters (Polar Code).
Scientific research is, therefore, the prime mover of Italy’s presence in the Arctic, starting with the decisive impulse given in the 1980s by the aggregation of a “polar community” around the National Antarctic Research Programme (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, PNRA). Thus, in the 1990s, activities began at the “Dirigibile Italia” airship base in Svalbard (CNR) and Thule in Greenland as part of the international THAAO observatory (Sapienza University of Rome, ENEA and INGV). Many research projects have been carried out since then, and many are currently in progress, often in the framework of international collaborations and European Union programmes. The OGS’s new polar research vessel “Laura Bassi”, which mainly operates in Antarctica, carried out its first campaign in the Arctic in 2021, allowing three PRA-funded projects to be carried out (the “Laura Bassi” replaced the “OGS Explora”, which had conducted five campaigns in the Arctic, in addition to those in Antarctica). Among the most important initiatives, the annual marine geophysics campaigns launched in 2017 by the Navy through the Hydrographic Institute, in the framework of the multi-year programme called “High North”, now in its third three-year period (2023-2025), should also be mentioned, also for their collective character, with the participation of all the central research bodies.
Several important Italian companies operate in the Arctic. They are fully involved in the work of the Arctic Table to ensure every possible synergy between the various components of the country system. They bring a high level of technology to their activities in the region to ensure maximum respect for a particularly delicate environmental context. They also aim to involve the local and indigenous populations, custodians of a precious heritage of knowledge linked to the territory and its traditions, in their initiatives. These companies include ENI, which in the offshore platform of Goliat, in the Barents Sea (Norway), and Alaska, in the North Slope, applies state-of-the-art operating standards and technological solutions adapted to extreme operating conditions by putting into practice – with the active involvement of the indigenous populations – innovative oil-spill prevention systems; e-Geos, which markets data from the Cosmo-SkyMed satellite system and collaborates with several Norwegian companies and the Finnish Meteorological Institute; Fincantieri, active in Norway, the United States and Canada in the construction of ships suitable for polar navigation. In March 2019, CNR and ENI signed a Memorandum for establishing four research centres in southern Italy aimed mainly at young researchers, one of which, in Lecce, is dedicated to the Arctic and climate change.
Finally, an important dimension is the dissemination in Italy of Arctic issues and the valorisation abroad of the Italian presence in the Arctic. In December 2014, the international conference “Climate Change in the Arctic” was organised at Venice International University, and in 2016, an international meeting entitled “The Arctic Council and the Italian Perspective – The 20th Anniversary of the Ottawa Declaration” was held at the Farnesina. In November 2016, the CNR exhibition “Arctic: An Interactive Journey to the North Pole” was inaugurated in Genoa at the Palazzo Ducale, then taken to several Italian cities and, in February 2020, to the CNR headquarters in Rome. In November 2018, the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy organised the Forum “New Arctic, Old Mediterranean – Together for an Extraordinary Destiny” in Genoa. In April 2019, the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy set up the exhibition “The Italian Navy at the North Pole” in Genoa.
In October 2022, the Comando Truppe Alpine of the Italian Army organised a conference in Bolzano entitled “Arctic: the new great world game”, while in November 2023, a workshop entitled “The future of the Arctic: conflict or cooperation?” was held at the Centre for American Studies in Rome. On 30 November 2023, Osservatorio Artico, an online magazine in Italian dedicated to the Arctic, organised the third edition of a meeting entitled “Italy calls the Arctic” in Genoa. It should also be mentioned that Fermo is home to a Polar Museum, connected to the “Silvio Zavatti” Polar Geographical Institute, which also publishes the magazine “Il Polo”.
SIOI (Italian Society for International Organisation) has been holding a Master’s degree in “Sustainable Development, Resource Geopolitics and Arctic Studies” since 2016 and has been organising the international symposium “Arctic Connections” since 2018, in collaboration with the Embassy of Norway in Rome and the University of Bodø. Since September of the same year, it has been a member of the UArctic – University of the Arctic network, the first institute from a Mediterranean country to be admitted. As for initiatives more specifically dedicated to young people, it organised in 2017 a simulation of the work of the Arctic Council called “One Arctic” and in 2019, Zero Hackathon “Ocean and Polar Connections”. In April 2023, SIOI was an “abroad partner” in the High North Dialogue in Bodø, as part of which it proposed a session entitled “The High North Seen from a Southern Perspective”. Also on the international level, two break-out sessions were organised at Arctic Circle in 2018 on Italy in the Arctic, with the participation of CNR, INGV, the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy and e-Geos, and in 2019 on the topic of high technology in risk prevention, with the involvement of CNR, ENEA, INGV, the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, ENI, e-Geos and Fincantieri. In 2018, MAECI’s Special Envoy for the Arctic made a plenary presentation on “Italy’s engagement in the Arctic”.
In 2023, the CNR organised two more break-out sessions, one on the Italian contribution to Arctic monitoring and the other, with a more international outlook, on the “Arctic critical zone”. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice established a PhD programme in Polar Sciences in 2019, which became a Doctorate of National Interest in 2023.