Sacrifice Zones: Eco-civic Information in Italy’s Forgotten Territories

Project Activities

Alongside its institutional website, Cittadini Reattivi created a dedicated multimedia platform for [No] Zone di Sacrificio: click here

The platform brings together investigations, documents, videos, podcasts and subsequent updates, keeping the stories accessible and connected over time.

The project developed a series of multimedia investigations across different Italian territories, combining field reporting, interviews, environmental and health data, scientific studies, FOIA requests, administrative documents and court decisions.

The investigations did not simply catalogue polluted areas. Each case was reconstructed through its specific history, industrial legacy, environmental and health impacts, legal developments, civic mobilisation and possible paths towards change.

In Torviscosa, “Torviscosa, l’eredità della città-fabbrica” reconstructed the legacy of the industrial company town built around the SNIA-Caffaro production system, following the history of contamination, remediation and the relationship between the industrial site, its waterways and the Marano lagoon: click here

In Brescia, “La primavera di Brescia” examined another major legacy of the Caffaro chemical industry, focusing on contamination, remediation, health, memory and the long civic and institutional process that has developed around one of Italy’s best-known contaminated Sites of National Interest: click here

In Valle del Sacco, the reporting followed both the still unresolved contamination of the Site of National Interest and the work of communities trying to build alternatives through environmental protection, health prevention, culture and territorial reconversion: click here

Click here!

In Casale Monferrato, the project examined the legacy of Eternit asbestos from two complementary perspectives: the city as a laboratory of democracy, where civic mobilisation, institutions and public-health policies have generated concrete responses, and the continuing judicial struggle showing why justice for asbestos victims is still unfinished:

• Click here!
• Click here!

In Bologna, “Amianto, la strage infinita dell’ex OGR di Bologna” reconstructed the history of the former Officine Grandi Riparazioni railway workshops, the consequences of asbestos exposure among workers and the continuing struggle for recognition, memory and justice: click here

The project also investigated the legacy of the former OGR in another territorial context through “Quel che resta dell’ex OGR”: click here

In Terra dei Fuochi, the project combined the historical reconstruction of one of Italy’s most significant environmental crises with reporting on communities that have moved from denunciation to civic monitoring, legal action and the construction of local responses. The case was also followed in light of the European Court of Human Rights judgment condemning Italy for failing to adequately protect citizens from environmental risks:

Click here!

Click here!

In Salerno, the project documented decades of conflict around the Fonderie Pisano in the Valle dell’Irno, including pollution concerns, health impacts, court decisions and a long civic mobilisation: click here

The project subsequently followed the mobilisation that led to the closure of the plant: click here

Reporting on the case has continued beyond the funded period, following the closure, judicial developments, remediation and the debate over the future use of the area.

In Falconara Marittima, “Falconara, dove le bonifiche non arrivano al mare” focused on a territory where industrial contamination and remediation reach the Adriatic coast, following the refinery, the environmental legacy of the industrial site and the new phase opened by its acquisition by SOCAR, the state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan: click here

In the Susa Valley, “Valsusa, la grande opera che non passa” examined the decades-long conflict surrounding the Turin–Lyon railway infrastructure, looking not only at the project itself but also at environmental impacts, public spending, territorial opposition and the democratic implications of a major public work that continues to divide the valley: click here

Although these investigations are rooted in specific local territories, many – if not all – of the issues they address have a direct European dimension. These are local stories, but their causes, consequences and possible solutions are closely connected to European environmental and public-health policies, industrial regulation, access to information, workers’ rights, the use of public funds and the enforcement of EU and human-rights law.

From the European Court of Human Rights judgments concerning environmental protection in Campania to EU rules on industrial emissions and remediation, from major infrastructure policies to the role of multinational and state-owned companies, the cases investigated by [No] Zone di Sacrificio show how decisions taken at European level have concrete consequences in local communities – and how conflicts originating in apparently peripheral territories can raise questions that concern Europe as a whole.

This local-to-European perspective became one of the central elements of the project: connecting what happens in a neighbourhood, a factory, a contaminated site or a valley with the wider European debate on environmental justice, democracy, public health and the right of citizens to know and participate in decisions affecting their lives.

Taranto became the clearest and most extensive example of this European dimension. “Taranto, la zona di sacrificio che l’Europa non può più ignorare” followed the former ILVA steelworks through its environmental and health impacts, workers’ conditions, public expenditure, remediation, institutional decisions and the long sequence of Italian and European legal proceedings: click here

The investigative work developed through [No] Zone di Sacrificio has continued beyond the funded period. The Taranto case became the basis for Rosy Battaglia’s long-form investigation “Qual è la vera posta in gioco a Taranto”, published by the independent Italian media outlet Valigia Blu on 29 August 2026. The article brings together more than a decade of reporting and reconstructs a case involving the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Commission infringement procedure and the latest Italian judicial developments: click here

[No] Zone di Sacrificio is therefore already continuing as a living editorial project. New developments are being followed and published, as shown by recent updates from Taranto and Salerno.

The project also developed a multimedia and participatory dimension through video interviews with experts, podcasts and webinars addressing the legal, scientific, health and social dimensions of living in contaminated territories.

The complete podcast archive is available here: click here

The project video playlist is available here: click here

Among the expert interviews:

• “Zone di sacrificio, bonifiche e diritto al futuro”, with Giuseppe Vadalà: click here
• “Zone di sacrificio e salute pubblica”, with Fabrizio Bianchi: click here
• “Zone di sacrificio: quali strade abbiamo davvero per uscire dalla crisi ambientale?”, with Walter Ganapini: click here
• “Vittimizzazione ambientale”, with Rosalba Altopiedi: click here
• “Ambiente, salute e potere”, with Vittorio Martone: click here

The project also organised webinars designed as tools for civic information and participation:

• “Vivere in un SIN inquinato: cosa può fare la legge per te”, with lawyer Massimo Moretti: click here
• “Come esercitare la cittadinanza scientifica nel nostro tempo”, with Prof. Daniela Vellutino: click here
• “Ambiente e salute nei SIN: dalla comunicazione alla partecipazione”, with Liliana Cori: click here
• Community contributions and co-produced reporting were also published through “Voci dalle Comunità”: click here

At the same time, Cittadini Reattivi is planning a new phase of in-person dissemination, bringing the investigations, videos, podcasts and documentary materials into schools and back to the communities involved, as well as to universities, festivals and public meetings. The aim is to extend the circulation and educational value of the journalism produced through PM4D and use it as a tool for environmental information, civic participation and scientific citizenship.

What is the impact?

[No] Zone di Sacrificio addressed a particular form of news desert: territories that are not necessarily without media coverage, but where complex environmental and public-health issues often lack continuous, independent and specialised journalism.

Many of the communities investigated have lived for decades alongside industrial contamination, asbestos, polluted land, remediation delays or major infrastructure conflicts. These places often return to national attention only after an accident, a court ruling or a political controversy. What tends to disappear between these moments is the long history of exposure, scientific evidence, public decisions, judicial proceedings and the experiences of the people who live there.

The project sought to fill this gap by connecting local knowledge with public documents, scientific research, data and investigative reporting, and by following cases over time rather than treating them as isolated news events.

There is also another dimension to this information gap. Issues arising in peripheral or highly localised territories are often perceived and reported as exclusively local problems, even when they are closely linked to European legislation, institutions, policies and public resources.

[No] Zone di Sacrificio sought to make these connections visible. The industrial legacy of Caffaro in Brescia and Torviscosa, the long civic mobilisation around Fonderie Pisano in Salerno, the environmental and institutional conflicts in Falconara, Terra dei Fuochi, Casale Monferrato, Valle del Sacco, the Susa Valley and Taranto became parts of a shared national and European narrative.

In this sense, countering news deserts also meant preventing these territories from becoming isolated information islands. The project connected local evidence and community knowledge with broader questions of European environmental justice, public health, industrial regulation, access to information, public expenditure and democratic participation.

Taranto demonstrates this particularly clearly: what can appear as a local industrial dispute is in fact a European case involving environmental law, public health, workers, public expenditure and decisions by European courts and institutions. The Valigia Blu investigation published on 29 August extends that work beyond the project platform and brings the case to a broader national audience.

The project created a shared editorial space for communities whose experiences and knowledge are often fragmented across local news, scientific studies, administrative documents and court proceedings.

Citizens, researchers, doctors, activists and local organisations were not treated simply as sources for individual stories. They became part of an ongoing network that enables Cittadini Reattivi to receive new documentation, follow legal and institutional developments and connect experiences from different Italian territories.

One of the project’s contributions was also to show communities that what happens in their territory is not necessarily an isolated local issue. By connecting individual cases with national and European policies, legislation, institutions and similar experiences elsewhere, the project helped place local knowledge within a wider public-interest framework.

The multimedia approach made complex information available in different formats through investigations, videos, podcasts, expert interviews, webinars and community-generated contributions. This helped make environmental, health and legal issues accessible beyond specialist audiences.

The end of the PM4D grant did not mark the end of the editorial project. [No] Zone di Sacrificio is already being updated as new developments emerge in the territories, as shown by the recent reporting on Taranto and Salerno.

Cittadini Reattivi is also planning in-person activities to bring the investigations and multimedia material back to schools and the communities involved, as well as to universities, festivals and public meetings. This next phase is intended to give the journalism produced through PM4D a longer public life: not only keeping investigations accessible online, but returning the knowledge gathered through the reporting process to the people and territories that helped produce it.

The PM4D support was particularly important in the current Italian media environment, where resources and spaces available for long-term independent investigative journalism are increasingly limited. For a small non-profit media organisation such as Cittadini Reattivi, the grant was fundamental in making it possible to dedicate professional time and editorial resources to complex investigations that require continuity, specialised knowledge and sustained engagement with communities.

Project Links

• [No] Zone di Sacrificio – dedicated project platform
• Stories archive
• Project page and grant credits
• Podcast archive
• YouTube project playlist
• Voices from the Communities
• Cittadini Reattivi
• LiberaeCivica newsletter
• Valigia Blu – “Qual è la vera posta in gioco a Taranto”

Project Pictures

Photos by Rosy Battaglia