How can we save Venice, Italy?

Hi Everyone,

I am a graduate student pursuing a M.s. in engineering for sustainability and public health. I have been working on a concept project to help Venice, Italy with natural interventions to mitigate the impacts from climate change.

For those who don’t know, Venice was built on clay/silt foundation causing it to sink overtime. Coupled with the rise of sea levels, the city is expected to be completely under water by 2100.

As a person who has never been to the city, I’m having trouble envisioning how these potential interventions would pan out.

Since the city was built on a marshland, my primary suggestion was reintroducing beavers as they are an “ecosystem engineer” by managing water resources and prevent floods. However, the city was built in 421 A.D. and the landscape is completely different. Which makes me believe my original suggestion is not feasible. Venice’s ecosystem is primarily aquatic, which makes me think it might be best to turn to the implementation of sea grass farming.

I’m really looking forward to reading other’s professional insights. If you have any sources I can look into please let me know, thank you in advance!