Description
“Where’d the Water Go?” is an investigative project that aims to identify, analyze, and propose solutions to one of Sicily’s most pressing challenges: recurring water crises. These crises are often mistakenly attributed solely to drought, a natural phenomenon. While drought can exacerbate water scarcity, the root causes are frequently human, including inadequate infrastructures, inefficient resource management, and delayed policy responses.
By distinguishing natural drivers (such as prolonged droughts) from anthropogenic causes (mismanagement and systemic inefficiencies), the project seeks to provide a clearer, evidence-based understanding of the issue. It will explore why millions of Sicilians ask themselves the same question almost every summer, “where’d the water go?”: a question that political and administrative authorities often fail to address, not only due to technical or political limits, but also because of insufficient scientific, social, and historical awareness.
“Information, education, action: Journalism should be not only a witness (not a protagonist) of the news of today and the history of tomorrow, but also serve the community in which it lives and operates. Likewise, science should not only explain facts (not opinions), but provide tools to help society to leap forward. Together, they should help change things, one problem at a time. The LetteraEmme editorial team, and the team of scientists who will work on the “Where’d the Water Go?” project, aim for this: to raise awareness that leads to shared solutions”.
Project Team
Media outlet
Lettera Emme (Metropolis)
Messina, Italy
www.letteraemme.it
Alessio Caspanello
Editor-in-chief and founder
Italy
Research organisation
University of Messina
Messina, Italy
https://international.unime.it/university
Filippo Cucinotta
Full professor
Italy
