Walking a Sicilian River

Abstract

This piece reflects on the ongoing processes of environmental transformation that, beginning in the early twentieth century, have turned the Simeto River, the largest in Sicily, into a water conduit serving hydropower plants and industrial agriculture. Developments in water control, along with the emergence of “green” energy infrastructures and intensive agriculture, have left enduring marks along the river landscape, from altered environmental flow to habitat degradation. By emphasizing the affective dimension of environmental change, this piece provides a firsthand description of a disrupted landscape, while unveiling the potential of walking as a way of knowing, feeling, and engaging with the current socioecological crisis.