Project "Aria di ricerca in Valle del Serchio" (Tuscany Region, Central Italy): scenarios and implications

This is the first paper on the project 'Aria di Ricerca in Valle del Serchio' launched in January 2019 and based on a participatory approach. This investigation is part of a European project about epidemiology and citizen science named 'CitieS-Health' and it is motivated by the resident population's concern about the possible health effects of environmental pollution. In fact, the Serchio Valley is an area located in Tuscany Region (Central Italy) characterized both by historical, cultural, and naturalistic beauties and by potentially polluting large industrial plants. The project is based on a strong public engagement in each phase of the epidemiological investigation. In this article, we report the phase of the investigation which follows the definition of the research objectives, in which citizens and local institutions consider all the possible results of the analysis and their implications in terms of public health action plans. This public phase is relevant in order to collectively recognize the limitations of the epidemiological study due to uncertainties and assure transparency to the decision-making processes.