Elisabetta Tola

Freelance chief editor at Il BO Live and presenter of Radio3Scienza at RAI Radio3. Science and data journalist, Ph.D in Microbiology. Tow-Knight fellow 2019 Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY. Co-founder and CEO of the science communication agency formicablu. Co-founder and President of FACTA.

  • Investigation

    Ecocide

    For fifty years, "ecocide" has lacked a clear legal definition. The word entered public discussion in the 1970s, introduced by biologist Arthur Galston. The term was later adopted by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in…
  • Planet Labs PBC
    Episode

    A war on the Biosphere in Gaza

    In October 2025, we published in Italian the following article here on FACTA, in collaboration with IrpiMedia, presenting data and studies on the widespread…
  • Episode

    An audacious idea: granting legal rights as a subject to Lake Garda

    At our café table, we ask Viola: “If Lake Garda gains legal personhood, does that mean it can take someone to court? Or take to court those who fail to protect it?
  • Episode

    At what cost? The loss of nature risks becoming irreversible

    The data as a whole are alarming, and they cast a very different light on all those commitments that, on paper, were made to steer at least Europe toward a model of development that is more respectful of the environment, and of our relationship with nature, which we continue to think of as something we are not part of.
  • Episode

    Green to Grey. On Lake Garda, where tourism and concrete are devouring nature

    There is only one connection between Largo Goethe and Piazza Castello: the drawbridge built at the end of the 13th century by the Della Scala family of Verona…
  • Investigation

    Green to Grey

    Europe is moving from green to grey at a fast pace. It is constantly losing fragments of nature, destroying entire ecosystems, and reducing its biodiversity. Every year, 1,500 square kilometres of natural or agricultural land are converted into built-up areas.
  • Episode

    Rimini’s response to sea level rise

    Faced with the threat of rising sea levels and extreme weather events, Rimini is rethinking its waterfront: green infrastructure, new sewage strategies and nature-based solutions to protect the territory and community
  • lobbyng cover
    Investigation

    Forever Lobbying Project

    What is the hidden price of PFAS pollution? This cross-border investigation reveals that PFAS remediation across Europe could cost up to €2 trillion over a 20-year period. We exposed the real cost of the “forever…
  • fabbrica vicino ad un fiume
    Episode

    PFAS: Clean up, restore, ban?

    PFAS pollution is an “invisible violence” with enormous damage to the environment and health. And cleaning up a site contaminated by PFAS is not easy at all.
  • veduta aerea belfiore
    Episode

    PFAS: the heavy bill citizens paid to have clean water in the Vicenza area

    The data Massimo Carmagnani shared with us is not secret—on the contrary, it is public and filed with the court. And it is very clear..
  • Episode

    Wasted Wetlands. Cervia, the salt pan submerged by the 2023 flood in Romagna

    In 2023, a violent flood hit Emilia-Romagna. The damage was extensive, but the Cervia salt pan mitigated some of the consequences.
  • Episode

    Who pays the price when there's no water or when there's too much?

    The relationship between productive activities, environmental protection, and conservation is always somewhat problematic.
  • Episode

    The Po River water crisis and the future it faces

    We now constantly oscillate between two extremes: very intense, short-lived events that bring a large amount of water, followed by increasingly longer periods of historic drought.
  • Episode

    Under the Surface: the state of Europe's underground water reservoirs

    Water is not a commercial product like any other, but a heritage that must be protected, defended, and treated as such.
  • Episode

    Wasted wetlands: the hidden heritage of Sardinia's wetlands

    In this story, we focus on the wetlands in Sardinia, Italy, showing how a proper wetland protection is impossible without detailed scientific knowledge and an integrated management of these vital ecosystems.
  • Episode

    Wasted Wetlands - A series exploring the mediterranean's wetlands

    What are wetlands, and why do they matter? Presenting FACTA’s new investigation on the Mediterranean wetlands.
  • wetlands cover
    Investigation

    Wasted wetlands

    Wetlands – such as lagoons, swamps, and peat bog – are a distinct ecosystem saturated by water and are vital CO2 emissions sponges, capable of locking up carbon for thousands of years. This investigation looked into human activities are decimating Europe’s remaining wetlands, as national authorities ignore this ongoing exploitation.
  • under surface cover
    Investigation

    Under the Surface

    Groundwater is the ecosystem Europe has always been able to rely on, and grew to consider an infinite resource. This cross-border investigation reveals that the current state of matters is dire: our water is disappearing and what remains is facing near-irreversible pollution.
  • Episode

    Every story is a climate story - Ep. 09

    We know a lot about the crisis. We know that it is time to progress from understanding the problems to solving them. However, we also know that there is no perfect solution. It is a matter of shifting understanding and knowledge from science to society, from data to stories, from facts to solutions.
  • Episode

    How much is it? The cost of climate change - Ep. 08

    Money moves the attention of people, investors, and capital owners. Money is part of many solutions to the climate deadlock. But numbers are not enough to calculate the economic value of the climate issue.
  • Episode

    Climate on trial - Ep. 07

    The Urgenda case was the game changer. It opened up a new dialogue between human rights law and climate science, while it marked a watershed moment for climate justice: from then on, we saw new measures to protect people from the harms posed by climate change.
  • Episode

    Power to the communities - Ep. 06

    Knowledge is power. It is the backbone of an alliance that spans the farthest corners of the planet to the laboratories of the most advanced scientific research. In this episode, we explore the terrain where science meets civil society that triggers climate action. With stories of people in the Global South where natural resources 'are being used as a weapon'.
  • Episode

    Carbon: A matter of budget - Ep. 05

    A trip among satellites, robots and bottles. One that oscillates between the heights of the atmosphere and the surface of the sea. We ride on carbon dioxide molecules to understand how relevant the word budget can be in delivering a future where a climate neutrality takes shape.
  • Episode

    The climate backstage at UNFCCC conferences - Ep. 04

    Behind the scenes of the climate negotiations, where the whole world sits around the same table. It is a plot of interminable sessions, under the danger of a deadlock that is always around the corner, behind a comma or a single concept. Scientists, delegates and a journalist unveil how a climate agreement takes shape in the halls and the corridors of an International Climate Conference.
  • Episode

    Follow the Water - Ep. 03

    The blood vessel of Egypt meets China: the world's plumber-in-chief. A journey which starts with the Neolithic revolution, passes through the “hydraulic century” and carries us into the future. By following the history of water, we delve into the roots of human civilization, crossing paths with science, technology, politics, and the stories of people and places.
  • Episode

    The environment in which we evolve - Ep. 06

    Indeed, our history is one that for a long time was primarily, and exclusively, an African story..
  • Episode

    The environment we ignore - Ep. 05

    In the motion of rain, the water touches what cannot stay. In the first days of the world, we were travelling. Where have you gone, leaf and flower, scent of moths?
  • Episode

    The environment we explore - Ep. 04

    If you want to be a polar explorer and cross the Arctic on skis, you should do it soon and in the winter. This message is quite clear.
  • Episode

    The sound of ice - Ep. 02

    Listen to the numbers. From an ice-breaker in the Arctic to the keyboard of a piano, scientific indicators become music and gestures, a narrative made of science and digital art. An experimental tale of the emotions at the heart of research. This is how Judy Twedt creates data-driven soundtracks from sea ice.
  • Episode

    The environment we attack - Ep. 03

    Conflicts around the world have devastating impacts not only on human lives but also on places - cities, countryside, rivers, forests, and fields. Wars often alter the environment irreversibly.
  • Episode

    The environment we inhabit - Ep. 02

    We need farmers, poets, people who know how to make bread, who love trees, and understand the wind.
  • Episode

    The environment we cultivate - Ep. 01

    Since 1997, for five days each year, Mantua becomes the international capital of literature. Literature is approached in a broad and inquisitive way, intertwined with history, society, art, science, technology, and the environment.
  • future planet cover
    Investigation

    Deep into the future planet

    A planetary journey that goes deep into the future of innovation, technology, nature, and humanity in search of the best ways to forge a sustainable future.
  • Episode

    Image our future planet - Ep. 01

    Where does science meet imagination? Our complex, interconnected, fast-changing world makes anticipating the future increasingly difficult. Alex Steffen, futurist, and Carolina Aragón, artist, guide us through their different, and sometimes complementary, perspectives on our future planet.
  • oltrenatura cover
    Investigation

    Oltrenatura

    Un podcast di Elisabetta Tola e Giulia Bonelli che ruota attorno al nostro rapporto con il mondo: come viviamo, plasmiamo, coltiviamo, distruggiamo, inquiniamo e conserviamo l'ambiente. Una riflessione corale attraverso l'archivio di voci del Festivaletteratura di Mantova, Italia. Oltrenatura è prodotto nell'ambito del progetto "Reading Science", sostenuto dal Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca.
crossmenu