TERRITORY Project: Data, Drones and Transnational Cooperation for a More Resilient Civil Protection

April 30, 2026

In the context of environmental and climate emergency management, the timeliness and reliability of information represent a decisive factor for the effectiveness of operational decision-making.

This is the foundation of TERRITORY – sTrengthening disastER Response capacIties ThrOugh dRone technologY, a project funded by the Interreg IPA South Adriatic Programme 2021–2027 and coordinated by the Aerospace Technological District, with the aim of strengthening risk prevention, resilience and disaster response capacity through the integrated use of drones (UAS) and advanced digital technologies.

The Role of Civil Protection and the Municipality of Pescolanciano in the TERRITORY Project

Within the TERRITORY partnership, the Municipality of Pescolanciano (Molise) plays a strategic role as a local partner closely connected to the Civil Protection system, in a territorial context characterized by mountainous areas, valuable ecosystems and environmental vulnerabilities.

Collaboration with the regional Civil Protection and local operational stakeholders makes it possible to:

implement technological experimentation in real and operational scenarios;
validate the use of UAV data (orthophotos, DSM, multispectral surveys) within decision-making workflows;
contribute to the definition of replicable models for integrating drones into municipal and inter-municipal emergency plans.

In this sense, TERRITORY does not introduce technology as an end in itself, but as an enabler of shared, interoperable and multi-level processes, aligned with the needs of Civil Protection.

Transnational Cooperation and Added Value

The challenges posed by climate change—landslides, wildfires, floods—do not recognize administrative borders. For this reason, TERRITORY adopts a transnational approach, involving partners in Italy, Albania and Montenegro, in order to:

share methodologies, data and best practices;
harmonize operational and technological approaches;
strengthen the collective disaster response capacity across the South Adriatic area.

Orthophotos and DSM: From “Eyes in the Sky” to Data-Driven Decision-Making

Within Civil Protection activities, two tools are taking on an increasingly central role:

High-resolution orthophotos, essential for an immediate and georeferenced interpretation of affected areas, useful for damage assessment, identification of critical issues, and coordination of field operations;
Digital Surface Models (DSM), capable of providing a realistic three-dimensional representation of the territory—including buildings, vegetation and infrastructure—and supporting morphological analyses and simulations of evolving scenarios (landslides, flooding, instability).

The integration of these products, generated through UAV surveys, makes it possible to move beyond a purely reactive approach and adopt a data-driven model, significantly improving situational awareness and the quality of operational decisions.

This approach is fully consistent with the vision of the TERRITORY project, which aims to develop and test scalable and sustainable solutions for territorial monitoring, risk prevention and emergency management, integrating UAS, geospatial analysis and decision support systems.

Interreg South Adriatic Synergies: From the RESILIENCE Project to TERRITORY

TERRITORY is part of a broader path of capitalization and continuity of experiences developed in the South Adriatic area through various Interreg projects, including RESILIENCE, which enabled the enhancement of technological equipment and operational skills of entities involved in Civil Protection.

In this perspective of synergy, the recent activities carried out by the Civil Protection of the Molise Region represent a concrete example of how investments and experimentation launched under the Interreg framework can generate immediate operational impacts. The use of UAV equipment acquired through the RESILIENCE project supported the survey and analysis of hydrogeological instability scenarios, demonstrating the strategic value of accurate geospatial data produced in rapid timeframes.

The experience of the Civil Protection of the Molise Region, also developed through projects such as RESILIENCE, fully fits within this cooperation framework, contributing to the creation of an Adriatic network of expertise, technologies and governance for emergency management.