WWS (Winds, Waves and Storms): historical data and modern quantitative approaches to uncover the long-term strategies to prevent and mitigate climate risks in the European seas (15th-19th centuries) - PRIN PNRR Prot. P20227XHT5

During the last years, we experimented both natural disasters and man-made ones (e.g. recent floods in Liguria or Marche, 2021 Suez Canal obstruction, Russian-Ukraine war). They disrupt global economy and trade, while questioning the globalization process. Both climate change and maritime security have been recognised as a priority in the cross-sectoral global policy agenda. Such disasters and their management are not something new. In maritime trade, the birth of insurance was one of the main answer to face their economic consequences in pre-modern societies. Based on these premises WWS objectives are to: 1) Collect and study original sources (insurance policies and sea protests) preserved in Tyrrhenian Italian archives (Genoa, Pisa and Naples) from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Documents from Genoa and Pisa have been already sampled and partially collected in two open access databases, part of international projects that involved several team members. 2) Interpret archival sources to identify the key factors that determined, for example, insurance premiums and the individual risk perception; analyse the risk profiles of specific sea areas through insurance calculation methodologies; measure the probabilistic degree of risk in multiple sea areas. 3) Analyse the strategies and solutions that marine insurance and the economic systems adopted to face disasters; evaluate the economic systems’ resilience when facing climate risks.