This research colloquia, organised by the Agri-food and Environmental Law Research Group (AgLaw), is taking place in person and virtually on 05/05/2026 from 17:00 to 19:00 (Rome time) at Sant’Anna University HQ (Room 5) and online.
On this occasion, we appreciate the participation of Enrico Mezzacapo and Roberto Talenti, both post-doc researchers and members of the AgLaw research group from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Their presentation is focused on the latest article they drafted, titled “Earth Observation in EU Ecological Restoration: Operationalising Legal Standards and Obscuring Its Limits?”.
📍 Format: Hybrid | Sant’Anna University HQ, Room 5 & Online. Join us by registering at aglaw@santannapisa.it
Here is the abstract of the article:
This article examines the role of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in supporting the legal governance of ecological restoration in the European Union (EU), in light of the poor conservation status of most EU habitats. While ecological restoration has become a central policy objective, its translation into legal obligations remains challenging due to its dynamic, uncertain, and process-oriented nature. Unlike traditional regulatory approaches, restoration requires managing evolving socio-ecological systems rather than achieving fixed outcomes. EO technologies, which use space-based systems to monitor environmental change, offer important opportunities to address these challenges. By providing continuous, spatially explicit, and comparable data, they can enhance monitoring, support evidence-based policymaking, and make restoration efforts more observable and reviewable. However, their potential is constrained by technical limitations and uneven applicability, and their use may risk prioritising what is measurable over what is ecologically necessary. Using the EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) as a case study, the article analyses how EO technologies are integrated into restoration governance and where they can support legal implementation. It also highlights broader concerns, including their limited role in shaping regulatory targets and their potential to obscure deeper drivers of environmental degradation.