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Paper short abstract

The early engagement of STS in research on toxics helps make environmental and health knowledge actionable. Through interviews and transdisciplinary meetings, we traced how expertise, institutions, and local actors shape risk governance.

Paper long abstract

In many applied environmental research projects, STS scholars are involved only after questions and priorities have been defined, yet earlier and more substantive engagement is required to shape how knowledge becomes actionable in specific contexts.

The argument draws on collaborative research conducted within the Italian national project SINTESI, aimed at implementing Environment and Health Surveillance Systems in contaminated sites. We developed a model for collaborative knowledge production to analyse how environmental and health evidence, institutional practices, and local expertise interact in contaminated territories.

The model was applied to two sites: Casale Monferrato, affected by asbestos-related diseases, and the industrial area of Massa Carrara, characterised by long-term chemical contamination.

Materials include semi-structured interviews and transectorial meetings involving public health institutions, environmental agencies, civil society organisations, and local administrations. The research integrated epidemiological and environmental evidence with qualitative analysis of vulnerability, risk perception, and local knowledge.

In Casale, epidemiological research, environmental monitoring, legal action, and civic mobilization developed in relation to one another over time, fostering a locally grounded scientific culture supporting shared understandings of risk and responsibility.

In Massa and Carrara, limited convergence among local expertise and difficulties in sharing data and establishing research-policy connections produced more fragmented outcomes.

STS engagement traced these relations, contributing to environmental health while maintaining critical reflexivity. Attention to historical trajectories and institutional arrangements was central to this approach.