Water bodies—including oceans, rivers, and lakes—sustain diverse ecosystems and serve as vital arteries for global transportation and trade [1]. Although the use of waterways is essential, it poses significant risks, particularly the threat of oil spills caused by accidents or intentional and potential illegal dumping [2]. These oil spills trigger environmental and economic consequences by
Environmental crime—ranging from illegal dumping and pollution to trafficking hazardous substances—is a global threat requiring coordinated action. Yet, one of the most significant obstacles to achieving such coordination is the lack of standardisation. Standardization involves creating shared guidelines and specifications to ensure consistency and interoperability. In the fight against environmental crime, it helps align technologies
As part of the 5th PERIVALLON Plenary Meeting held in Soave, Italy, a joint workshop was organized between the PERIVALLON and EMERITUS Horizon Europe projects to explore synergies in the fight against environmental crime. This collaborative event was held in the formed military base of Calvarina and brought together experts and researchers from both consortia
In the fight against environmental crime, protecting our water sources is of vital importance. Within the PERIVALLON project, one of the pilot use cases explores how satellite data can help detect, assess, and respond to pollution incidents affecting water bodies. De Watergroep, the largest drinking water company in Flanders (Belgium), plays a key role in
The automatic detection of dark vessels (i.e. vessels that do not report their position to the Automatic Identification System (AIS)) from satellite imagery is particularly challenging in terms of technical capabilities, availability of satellite imagery, satellite revisit time and data availability. In addition, the correct identification of a specific suspicious vessel in a satellite image
Sociological insights from the development of a platform Platform development is not only a technical task. It first starts with a definition of the objectives, goals and outcomes. This is the first point to pass in a complex project with experts and non-experts from different academic and non-academic backgrounds. Thus, different interests come together and
Development of an analytical scheme Policy recommendations play a key role in the context of environmental crime. They function as a ‘first step’ into the development of a supporting system for law enforcement agencies (LEAs). There is a long history of environment policy leading back to the 1970s. Environment issues are on the political agenda
On December 10, 2024, the EMERITUS and PERIVALLON projects hosted a joint workshop at the ASITA Conference in Padova, Italy. This event, held at the Centro Culturale Altinate – San Gaetano, focused on the innovative use of geomatics to detect and combat environmental crimes. The workshop, titled “Leveraging Geomatics for Environmental Crime Detection: Innovation, Challenges,
In our time, organized environmental crime poses a significant challenge on an international level. Recognizing the urgency, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT1) has identified environmental crime is a key priority for 2022-2025. Organized environmental crime is characterized by its complexity, its interconnection with other types of crime, and a growing tendency by
One of the objectives of the PERIVALLON project is to develop AI-based geospatial intelligence solutions applied to earth observation imagery captured by satellites, in order to detect activities potentially related to environmental crimes, particularly those related to illicit waste management. In this framework, one of the main requirements for a regional authority like ARPA Lombardia,