Domenico Pappalado_UNICT_fieldwork data

The interviews and fieldnotes collected in this document represent a significant, though not exhaustive, portion of the ethnographic material produced throughout the research. They constitute the most formalized and archivable component of a broader fieldwork process developed through sustained engagement in the Simeto Valley, the Plain of Catania, and the Etnean foothill region between 2024 and 2026. The research was not limited to conducting recorded interviews or observing isolated events. Rather, it was built through multiple forms of participation, long-term engagement, and direct involvement in local socio-environmental processes. During fieldwork, the researcher took part in public mobilizations related to the 2024 water crisis, including farmers’ initiatives at Ponte Barca and demonstrations in the Troina area concerning the management of the Ancipa reservoir and the regional drinking water system. Subsequently, between 2025 and 2026, the research accompanied local mobilizations against large-scale photovoltaic and agrivoltaic developments, following public assemblies, meetings, site visits, and moments of exchange among citizens, farmers, technicians, and public officials. The research also followed the movement advocating for the removal of the Passo Martino weir and the restoration of river continuity along the Simeto River. An additional layer of engagement emerged through ongoing collaboration with the Presidio Partecipativo of the Simeto River Pact, a societal partner of the project. This collaboration involved participatory research activities, public restitution events, and various initiatives aimed at fostering dialogue with local communities. Many of the observations generated within these contexts do not take the form of formal interviews or structured fieldnotes, yet they constitute an essential component of the knowledge produced through the research process. The very nature of ethnographic inquiry makes it difficult to draw a clear boundary between formally documented encounters and forms of knowledge generated through everyday presence in the field. The researcher is also a farmer and directly participates in some of the practices under investigation, including irrigation management and the routine interaction with local water infrastructures. This position facilitated access to a dense web of social relations, informal conversations, and micro-interactions that are difficult to capture in transcripts or structured notes: encounters with water guards along the saje (traditional irrigation channels), discussions in local bars, exchanges beside irrigation canals, impromptu site visits, phone calls, requests for information, and forms of mutual assistance that shape the everyday life of agricultural communities. The interviews and fieldnotes presented here should therefore be read as a fundamental, though necessarily partial, representation of a much broader ethnographic field. They condense themes, relationships, and issues that emerged through prolonged engagement with the territory and provide a systematic account of some of the principal voices, experiences, and interpretations through which contemporary conflicts and transformations surrounding water, agriculture, and energy transition are being negotiated in the Simeto Valley.