Carbon literacy and ecosystem infrastructures – A GIS-R method for climate assessment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69143/2464-9309/1952026Keywords:
gis-r, climate-responsive urban planning, ecosystem services, nature credits, carbon literacyAbstract
This paper proposes an open-source and replicable GIS-R procedure for estimating carbon stock and sequestration potential in the Fiumara Calopinace basin (Reggio Calabria), the experimental area of PP 4.6.1 – Tech4You. Starting from the ecosystem classification of Carta Natura, reclassified according to IPCC categories, the method translates local ecological data into comparable biophysical metrics that support climate-responsive urban planning. Carbon is considered not only as a climate indicator but also as a cognitive infrastructure capable of connecting ecosystem services, land uses, and planning choices. The model enables comparison between the current ecosystem condition, the statutory planning framework, and transformation scenarios, providing a knowledge base for ex ante and ex post assessments and for contributions to SDGs 9 and 11.
Article info
Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 23/04/2026; Accepted: 25/04/2026
Downloads
Article Metrics Graph
References
Barbier, E. B. and Burgess, J. C. (2019), “Sustainable development goal indicators – Analyzing trade-offs and complementari-ties”, in World Development, vol. 122, pp. 295-305. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.026 [Ac-cessed 28 March 2026].
Bologna, A., Ghersi, A. and Melli, S. (2023), “Letture integrate per il verde pensile urbano – Codici espressivi e forme di natu-ra | Integrated readings for the urban green roof – Expressive codes and forms of nature”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 11, pp. 114-123. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/11102022 [Ac-cessed 28 March 2026].
Corradi, M., Stevens, T., Macaione, I., Raffa, A. and Andaloro, B. (2024), “Rigenerazione climatica green degli streetscapes – L’esperienza di De Urbanisten ad Anversa | Green climate-adaptive streetscapes regeneration – The De Urbanisten Experience in Antwerp”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 16, pp. 60-73. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/1652024 [Accessed 20 April 2026].
Domke, G., Brandon, A., Diaz-Lasco, R., Federici, S., Garcia-Apaza, E., Grassi, G., Gschwantner, T., Herold, M., Hirata, Y., Kasimir, Å, James Kinyanjui, M., Krisnawati, H., Lehtonen, A., Malimbwi, R. E., Niinistö, S., Ogle, S. M., Paul, T., Ravin-dranath, N. H., Rock, J., Sanquetta, C. R., Sanchez, M. J. S., Vitullo, M., Wakelin, S. J. and Zhu, J. (2019), “Chapter 4 – Forest Land”, in Calvo Buendia, E., Tanabe, K., Kranjc, A., Baasansuren, J., Fukuda, M., Ngarize, S., Osako, A., Pyrozhenko, Y., Sher-manau, P. and Federici, S. (eds), Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories – Vol. 4 – Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva. [Online] Available at: ipcc.ch/report/2019-refinement-to-the-2006-ipcc-guidelines-for-national-greenhouse-gas-inventories/ [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Fernandes, M. R., Aguiar, F. C., Martins, M. J., Rico, N., Ferreira, M. T. and Correia, A. C. (2020), “Carbon Stock Estimations in a Mediterranean Riparian Forest – A Case Study Combining Field Data and UAV Imagery”, in Forests, vol. 11, issue 4, article 376, pp. 1-21. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.3390/f11040376 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Fiorini, L., Saganeiti, L., Perazzini, M., Bontempo, D., Bucci, M., Giancola, M. and Perilli, E. (2025), “L’impatto dei modelli urbani sul supporto sociale – Tra giustizia spaziale e sviluppo sostenibile | The impact of urban models on social support – Between spatial justice and sustainable development”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 17, pp. 196-207. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.69143/2464-9309/17132025 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Funes, I., Molowny-Horas, R., Savé, R., De Herralde, F., Aranda, X. and Vayreda, J. (2022), “Carbon stocks and changes in bi-omass of Mediterranean woody crops over a six-year period in NE Spain”, in Agronomy for Sustainable Development, vol. 42, article 98, pp. 1-15. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1007/s13593-022-00827-y [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Gasparini, P., Di Cosmo, L., Floris, A. and De Laurentis, D. (eds) (2022), Italian National Forest Inventory – Methods and Results of the Third Survey | Inventario Nazionale delle Foreste e dei Serbatoi Forestali di Carbonio – Metodi e Risultati della Terza Indagine, Springer, Cham. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98678-0 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Gausa, M. (2024), “Complessità, n-città e sistemi dinamici multilivello – Verso una (geo)urbanità in rete e in reti | Complexi-ty, n-city, and multilevel dynamic systems – Towards a networked (geo)urbanity and networks”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 16, pp. 16-29. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/1612024 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Ingaramo, R., Negrello, M., Khachatourian Saradehi, l. and Khachatourian Saradhi, A. (2023), “Il progetto transcalare delle na-ture-based solutions per l’Agenda 2030 – Innovazioni e interconnessioni | Transcalar project of nature-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda – Innovations and interconnections”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 13, pp. 97-108. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/1382023 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Keith, H., Kun, Z., Hugh, S., Svoboda, M., Mikoláš, M., Adam, D., Bernatski, D., Blujdea, V., Bohn, F., Camarero, J. J., Demeter, L., Di Filippo, A., Dutcă, I., Garbarino, M., Horváth, F., Ivkovich, V., Jansons, Ā., Ķēņina, L., Kral, K., Martin-Benito, D., Mo-lina-Valero, J. A., Motta, R., Nagel, T. A., Panayotov, M., Pérez-Cruzado, C., Piovesan, G., Roibu, C.-C., Šamonil, P., Vostarek, O., Yermokhin, M., Zlatanov, T. and Mackey, B. (2024), “Carbon carrying capacity in primary forests shows potential for miti-gation achieving the European Green Deal 2030 target”, in Communications | Earth & Environment, vol. 5, article 256, pp. 1-13. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01416-5 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Lombardini, G., Pilogallo, A. and Tucci, T. (2023), “Innovazione rurale, servizi eco-sistemici e processi di urbanizzazione in Liguria, tra costa ed entroterra | Rural innovation, ecosystem services and urbanisation processes in Liguria, between coastal and inner areas”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 13, pp. 205-216. [Online] Availa-ble at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/13172023 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Longo, D., Turillazzi, B., Roversi, R., Lilla, L., Nucci, C. A., Piccinini, A. and Costa, A. (2024), “Gemello digitale urbano e mo-dellazione energetica – Esperienze e analisi di casi d’uso | Urban Digital Twin and Energy Modeling – Experiences and case study analyses”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 15, pp. 160-169. [Online] Availa-ble at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/15122024 [Accessed 20 April 2026].
Marchetti, M., Sallustio, L., Ottaviano, M., Barbati, A., Corona, P., Tognetti, R., Zavattero, L. and Capotorti, G. (2012), “Carbon sequestration by forests in the National Parks of Italy”, in Plant Biosystems | An International Journal Dealing with all As-pects of Plant Biology, vol. 146, issue 4, pp. 1001-1011. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2012.738715 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), Ecosystems and human well-being – Wetlands and water – Synthesis, World Re-sources Institute, Washington (DC). [Online] Available at: millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.358.aspx.pdf [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Munafò, M. (ed.) (2023), Consumo di suolo, dinamiche territoriali e servizi ecosistemici, Report SNPA 37/23. [Online] Available at: snpambiente.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Rapporto_consumo_di_suolo_2023.pdf [Accessed 20 April 2026].
Pan, Y., Birdsey, R. A., Fang, J., Houghton, R., Kauppi, P. E., Kurz, W. A., Phillips, O. L., Shvidenko, A., Lewis, S. L., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Pacala, S. W., McGuire, A. D., Piao, S., Rautiainen, A., Sitch, S. and Hayes, D. (2011), “A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s”, in Science, vol. 333, issue 6045, pp. 988-993. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1126/science.1201609 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Pham-Truffert, M., Metz, F., Fischer, M., Rueff, H. and Messerli, P. (2020), “Interactions among Sustainable Development Goals – Knowledge for identifying multipliers and virtuous cycles”, in Sustainable Development, vol. 28, issue 5, pp. 1236-1250. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1002/sd.2073 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Paone, R., Caridi, M., Caruso, P., Augello, R. and Capogrossi, R. (2023), Carta della Natura della Regione Calabria – Carta degli habitat alla scala 1:25.000, Regione Calabria, ISPRA. [Online] Available at: isprambiente.gov.it/it/servizi/sistema-carta-della-natura/cartografia/carta-della-natura-alla-scala-1-50.000/calabria [Accessed 20 April 2026].
Potschin, M., Haines-Young, R., Fish, R. and Turner, R. K. (eds) (2016), Routledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services, Routledge, London. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.4324/9781315775302 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Randers, J., Rockström, J., Stoknes, P. E., Goluke, U., Collste, D., Cornell, S. E. and Donges, J. (2019), “Achieving the 17 Sus-tainable Development Goals within 9 planetary boundaries”, in Global Sustainability, vol. 2, article e24, pp. 1-11. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1017/sus.2019.22 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Ricci, L., Poli, I. and Marino, M. (2025), “Welfare urbano e rigenerazione – Sostenibilità e inclusione sociale per il raggiungi-mento degli SDG | Urban welfare and regeneration – Sustainability and social inclusion for achieving the SDGs”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 17, pp. 94-107. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.69143/2464-9309/1752025 [Accessed 20 April 2026].
Rueda, S. (2019), “Superblocks for the Design of New Cities and Renovation of Existing Ones – Barcelona’s Case”, in Nieu-wenhuijsen, M. and Khreis, H. (eds), Integrating Human Health into Urban and Transport Planning – A Framework, Springer, Cham. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74983-9_8 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
UN – United Nations (2015), Transforming our World – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, document A/RES/70/1. [Online] Available at: sustainabledevelop-ment.un.org/index.php?page=viewandtype=111andnr=8496andmenu=35 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
UN – United Nations (1992), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. [Online] Available at: un-fccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf [Accessed 28 March 2026].
UN-Habitat – United Nations Human Settlements Programme (2022), Envisaging the Future of Cities – World Cities Report 2022. [Online] Available at: unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Valente, R., Mozingo, L. A., Bosco, R. and Giacobbe, S. (2024), “Gestione integrata delle risorse naturali in contesti urbani sostenibili | Integrated natural resource management in sustainable urban context”, in Agathón | International Journal of Ar-chitecture, Art and Design, vol. 15, pp. 180-189. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/15142024 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Zhao, Z. and Shaw, R. (2025), “Nature-based ESG solutions – An analytical overview”, in Peace and Sustainability, vol. 1, issue 2, article 100015, pp. 1-11. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.nerpsj.2025.100015 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Zomer, R. J., Neufeldt, H., Xu, J., Ahrends, A., Bossio, D., Trabucco, A., van Noordwijk, M. and Wang, M. (2016), “Global tree cover and biomass carbon on agricultural land – The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets”, in Scientific Reports, vol. 6, article 29987, pp. 1-12. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1038/srep29987 [Accessed 28 March 2026].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Francesca Moraci, Alessandra Barresi, Pietro Bova, Francesco Trimboli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This Journal is published under Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0 (CC-BY).
License scheme | Legal code
This License allows anyone to:
Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms
Attribution: Users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made; users may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses them or their use.
No additional restrictions: Users may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices
Users do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give users all of the permissions necessary for their intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
