An innovative holistic dpsir-based approach for the remediation of contaminated sites

The DPSIR model is anuseful guidance to decision-makersand itcon siders a chain of causal links starting from "Driving forces"(economic, environmental, human activities) through "Pressures"(emissions, waste, discharges etc.) to "States"(physical, chemical and biological situation of environment) and "Impacts"on targets such as human beings, eventually leading to political or technical "Responses".Despite its advantages, DPSIR does not explicitly state any direct cause-and-effect relationship and it is difficult to link the quality/quantity of certain pressures to the status indicators, as well as to establish a direct correspondence between a response and mitigation of impacts.In this context, thisstudy aimed to develop and apply an innovative holistic approach based on an implemented version of DPSIR to the case study of Mar Piccolo in Taranto (Southern Italy), one ofthe most contaminated areas in Europe. For this purpose,three toolboxes were developed.