Papers by Francesca Greco , Ph.D
Gender and water in Italy: women’s roles in water decision-making – Preliminary review and research framework PRE-PRINT, 2025
This study explores women's participation in Italy's water sector-science, agriculture, policy, a... more This study explores women's participation in Italy's water sector-science, agriculture, policy, and water governance-addressing a critical gap in national research on gender and water governance. Anchored in feminist Political Ecology, intersectionality issues, and gendered institutions theory, it applies the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) gender-responsive sex-disaggregated indicators to the Italian context for the rst time. The preliminary literature reveals persistent gender disparities in the realm of technical professions, decision-making, and policy in uence, compounded and exacerbated by regional inequalities and entrenched gender norms of the country. By operationalizing UNESCO WWAP indicators, the study not only contributes to the creation of a methodology but also to the provision of a rst questionnaire in order to allow the production of empirical insights into Italy's gender-water nexus. The paper also o ers methodological guidance for integrating gender perspectives into national water policy. This preliminary study provides a foundation for evidence-based interventions that address structural barriers, promote capacitybuilding, and strengthen institutional accountability in line with European Union (EU) directives and stemming from the UNESCO-led international "Call for Action for the Advancement of Gender Studies and Promotion of Women in the Water Sector". This research builds on the University of Bergamo participation in the WWAP Coalition for "Accelerating Gender Equality in the Water Domain" and it is funded by the EU-Marie Skłodowska Curie Action "JustWATER".
JustWATER Francesca Greco presentation Workshop Hydropolitics in Italy, Europe and the Mediterran... more JustWATER Francesca Greco presentation Workshop Hydropolitics in Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean. How geospatial use of water footprint coupled with water scarcity indexes can spot inequalities and over abstraction in vulnerable water bodies
Integrated Groundwater Management, 2016
Groundwater is but one component of the hydrological cycle. It interacts with and is dependent on... more Groundwater is but one component of the hydrological cycle. It interacts with and is dependent on how the other components of the hydrological cycle are managed. The rationale for sharing or allocating groundwater is guided by the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization. There is no universal theory of justice to which we can appeal, to help us operationalise this principle to the satisfaction of all water uses and users. Often the losers in allocation decisions are marginal communities or disempowered individuals or groups, and the natural environment. This results in the emergence of a variety of social and environmental injustices, especially if the burden falls continuously on the same group or ecosystem. Social-Environmental justice is a useful lens in the arsenal of researchers, policy makers and natural resource managers that can be used to highlight the importance of a systems approach when dealing with common pool resources such as groundwater.
Aware Eaters of Water: An Idea for Water Labelling
The Water We Eat, 2015
Food represents 90 % of the water consumption of an individual and the agricultural sector uses o... more Food represents 90 % of the water consumption of an individual and the agricultural sector uses on average 70 % of the freshwater withdrawn from surface and aquifers for irrigation purposes globally. From the perspective of a sustainable growth, oriented towards optimizing the use of green water and reducing that of blue water, i.e. irrigation waste and inefficiencies, it is essential to raise citizens’ awareness and promote more sustainable consumption. For this purpose, this contribution will discuss the possibility of guiding the commercial choices we, the citizens, make by means of a method for labelling water sustainability. This hypothesis of labelling provides “qualitative” information on the typology and origin of the water used to produce any type of food we consume.
Sustainability, 2018
This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainab... more This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their action towards improving access to water and sanitation. This is done through an analysis of ‘SDG 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all’, specifically focusing on Target 6.5: ‘By 2030, implement integrated water-resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate’, and its related Indicator 6.5.2, ‘Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation’. While on paper Target 6.5 might seem relatively unproblematic, this article shows that its implementation could have some unintended practical implications for countries sharing transboundary waters. This article fine-tunes SDG 6.5.2 by suggesting two additional qualitative steps to improve the indicator. These qualitative dimensions are deemed extremely important for two reasons: the first one is the need to ...
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainab... more This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their action towards improving access to water and sanitation. This is done through an analysis of 'SDG 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all', specifically focusing on Target 6.5: 'By 2030, implement integrated water-resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate', and its related Indicator 6.5.2, 'Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation'. While on paper Target 6.5 might seem relatively unproblematic, this article shows that its implementation could have some unintended practical implications for countries sharing transboundary waters. This article fine-tunes SDG 6.5.2 by suggesting two additional qualitative steps to improve the indicator. These qualitative dimensions are deemed extremely important for two reasons: the f...
This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainab... more This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their action towards improving access to water and sanitation. This is done through an analysis of 'SDG 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all', specifically focusing on Target 6.5: 'By 2030, implement integrated water-resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate', and its related Indicator 6.5.2, 'Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation'. While on paper Target 6.5 might seem relatively unproblematic, this article shows that its implementation could have some unintended practical implications for countries sharing transboundary waters. This article fine-tunes SDG 6.5.2 by suggesting two additional qualitative steps to improve the indicator. These qualitative dimensions are deemed extremely important for two reasons: the f...
DESCRIPTION Report WWF sull'impronta idrica dell'Italia
This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainab... more This article contributes to critical sustainability studies through an interrogation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their action towards improving access to water and sanitation. This is done through an analysis of 'SDG 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all', specifically focusing on Target 6.5: 'By 2030, implement integrated water-resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate', and its related Indicator 6.5.2, 'Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation'. While on paper Target 6.5 might seem relatively unproblematic, this article shows that its implementation could have some unintended practical implications for countries sharing transboundary waters. This article fine-tunes SDG 6.5.2 by suggesting two additional qualitative steps to improve the indicator. These qualitative dimensions are deemed extremely important for two reasons: the first one is the need to unfold and tackle inequitable water agreements; the second reason is to assess, recognize, and promote the role of civil society, NGOs, and technical and informal cooperation as a positive path toward the actual achievement of formal cooperation. The two steps that we propose are deemed essential if the United Nations (UN) is going to include SDG 6.5.2 as a proactive tool in the achievement of " implementing integrated water-resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate " , as declared in the 2030 agenda.
Not All Drops of Water Are the Same
The Water We Eat, 2015
The Water We Eat
This book pursues a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach in order to analyze the relationshi... more This book pursues a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach in order to analyze the relationship between water and food security. It demonstrates that most of the world’s economies lack sufficient water resources to secure their populations’ food requirements and are thus virtual importers of water. One of the most inspiring cases, which this book is rooted in, is Italy: the third largest net virtual water importer on earth. The book also shows that the sustainability of water depends on the extent to which societies recognize and take into account its value and contribution to agricultural production. Due to the large volumes of water required for food production, water and food security are in fact inextricably linked. Contributions from leading international experts and scholars in the field use the concepts of virtual water and water footprints to explain this relationship, with an eye to the empirical examples of wine, tomato and pasta production in Italy. This book provides ...
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Papers by Francesca Greco , Ph.D