The INSPIRE 2018 conference with the theme “Make it work together” which took place in Antwerp, Belgium, from 18 to 21 September, was of great importance for Lake Bolsena. At the opening session, in front of 700 people from all over the world, leading figures from the European Commission, the Dutch government and the Belgian Defence Ministry, along with Piero Bruni from the Associazione Lago di Bolsena, spoke as representatives of the active citizenship of the Union.

The conference was organised by the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission, in cooperation with the Belgian and Dutch governments, with the aim of promoting the implementation of the European directive INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe). The aim of the directive is the collection of spatial data in the fields of environment, agriculture, transport, etc, their standardisation, their accessibility and their distribution, with the aim of facilitating the planning and implementation of a common policy.

Piero Bruni spoke about the history of active citizenship around Lake Bolsena and the role it has played in the acquisition of environmental data, thanks to which it has been possible to observe the evolution of the ecological quality of the lake over a period of almost 20 years. This work is the subject of a recent international scientific publication. Piero Bruni’s contribution was greeted with great applause and, in thanking him, the representative of the European Commission noted that the EU is aware of the problems of the lake and that it closely follows developments.

The event hosted numerous workshops, presentations and displays, as well as an exhibition area for companies, institutes, bodies and agencies working within INSPIRE. For the delegation from Lake Bolsena, the conference was undoubtedly a valuable opportunity to acquire new tools and expand the network of support for the future of the lake.