On the 29th of January 1987 the Board of Directors of the ‘Università degli studi di Perugia’ received a formal “Proposal for the Establishment of the Inter-university Centre for the Environment (C.I.P.L.A.)”, from a large number of professors and researchers. The proposal also envisaged an agreement with the ‘Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali’ of Rome, now called ‘LUISS Guido Carli’. Later the ‘Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo’ joined CIPLA too, thus finalising what the inter-university centre looks like today.

The initial proposal stemmed from the experience carried out by experts and scholars in 1986 regarding the "Rapporto ENEL per la valutazione d'impatto ambientale della futura centrale termoelettrica di Pietrafitta, 2 x 75 MW a carbone", highlighting the need for an integrated and multidisciplinary approach when facing the ever new environmental issues, which represents the primary goal of CIPLA.

Today, the centre is divided in 7 functional research areas, as follows: Juristic, Economic-Sociological, Natural Sciences, Hygienic-Sanitary, Engineering-Architectural, Historical-Archaeological, Chemistry-Physics. Therefore, CIPLA is able to function in synergy between the multiple areas with the aim of reaching three fundamental goals: the scientific cooperation between scholars from different disciplinary sectors; the ability to provide high level scientific expertise in the environmental field; the organisation of scientific-educational events on a variety of areas relevant to environmental topics.

The work carried out over the years in these areas has brought gratifying accomplishments, sharing the main principle of multidisciplinary cooperation.

• Research Project under the Public Selection issued by the ‘Regione dell’Umbria”, PSR 2014-2020 misura 16.2.2, named “Mustum Umbriae. Nuovi sapori dalla storia - Mo.Se.Um.” - Prof. P. Braconi;
• Research Project under the Public Notice “Umbria A.R.C.O.” – Attivazione Assegni di Ricerca annualità 2018-2019 – P.O.R.-F.S.E. Umbria 2014-2020, di cui alla D.D. n. 3806 del 20/4/2018 della Direzione Regionale Attività produttive, Lavoro, Formazione e Istruzione della Regione Umbria (BUR, Supplemento ordinario n. 6 – Serie Generale – n.17 del 26/04/2018), named "I sapori della Sapienza: i menù dei Collegi universitari perugini (XVIII-XIX sec.)", aimed at funding and activating no. 1 research grant - Prof. P. Braconi;
• Research Project under the Open Public Selection 2019 of the ‘Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia’, named “Giornata Mondiale dell’Ambiente 2019 – Workshop Consapevolezza del Rischio e Cultura della Sicurezza” - Prof. S. Casadei;

Considering the initial goals the Board of Directors of CIPLA had targeted, namely, the cooperation between scholars from different scientific backgrounds and the organisation of high level scientific services in the field of environmental protection, the commitment of all the researchers who joined the Centre during these years, made reaching these accomplishments possible.

The future target is to strengthen the Centre, especially with the participation of young researchers who can continue to promote the interdisciplinary research in the environmental field.