MAIN LAB

The Laboratory of Environmental Modelling, Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, and Soil and Water Bioengineering (MAIN) is a research unit within the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Forestry Sciences and Technologies at the University of Florence. 

The MAIN Lab was established through the collaboration between the Soil Protection and Catchment and Forest Hydrology (CaFH) research groups. It brings together a multidisciplinary team comprising professors, research fellows, PhD candidates, and collaborators who adopt an interdisciplinary approach to investigate challenges related to rural and agroforestry systems. 

The laboratory’s activities encompass expertise in environmental and hydrological modelling, soil and water bioengineering, forest hydrology, and soil management, employing advanced digital technologies and monitoring instruments. Its primary objective is to foster sustainability, resilience, and innovation within rural territories through scientific research, advanced education, and active engagement with local communities and institutional stakeholders. 

The laboratory is located at Villa Rucellai, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50125 Florence (Italy).

The MAIN Lab is particularly active in the following areas:

• analysis of root reinforcement, with a particular focus on the assessment of slope stability in forested areas and of individual trees in urban and riparian environments;

• water management in forest ecosystems within mountain and rural contexts;

• multi-criteria analysis for the management of riparian vegetation;

• hydrological monitoring and hydrological-hydraulic modelling of agricultural landscapes;

• design of soil protection measures and hydraulic structures in agroforestry systems, with a specific emphasis on nature-based solution techniques;

• monitoring and post-event surveys of slope failures, riverbank erosion, and flood events;

• hydro-meteorological monitoring of small mountain catchments;

• analysis of runoff generation processes at both hillslope and catchment scales;

• investigation of eco-hydrological dynamics in forest and agricultural systems;

• application of environmental tracers to explore water flow paths and the sources of runoff at hillslope and catchment levels.