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The medieval city of Venice is situated in the heart of a lagoon on the coast of northeast Italy. It was built on a large area of low-lying marshland. A system of wooden poles driven into the soft mud created an underwater forest. It still forms the foundations of the city we see today.\n \nFor centuries the City has had to battle with \u2018aqua alta\u2019 or high tides from the Adriatic sea. And the gradual combination of water erosion and rising sea levels means the City is now facing a more urgent battle to stay afloat.

In recent years a series of barriers which sit on the sea floor and which are raised when an \u2018aqua alta\u2019 is expected have been successful in keeping the majority of the city dry. But its already been acknowledged that the Mose Barrier, as it\u2019s known, is not a permanent solution for the future.

An idea designed to complement the Mose Barrier, one which was suggested more than a decade ago, is to inject seawater into wells underneath the city. The scientists behind the project are confident that if it were to be adopted, it would provide a uniform uplift to the city without causing any structural issues to the buildings.

This week on the Inquiry we\u2019re asking \u2018Can seawater save Venice from flooding?\u2019

Contributors:\nProf Claire Judde de Lariviere, Medieval Historian, University of Toulouse\nHermes Redi, Director General of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova (responsible for the Mose Barrier)\nProfessor Pietro Teatini, University of Padua, Chair of UNESCO International Initiative on Land Subsidence\nProf Carlo Ratti, MIT, Co-Chair at the World Economic Forum\u2019s Global Future Council on Cities.

Presenter: David Baker\nProducer: Jill Collins \nResearcher: Bisi Adebayo \nEditor: Tara McDermott\nTechnical Producer: Nicky Edwards\nProduction Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(The Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Woman standing in flood water. Credit: Getty Images)