Planetary systems are not only composed of planets, but also of km-sized rocky and icy bodies that are confined within belts similar to the Asteroid and Kuiper belt in the Solar System. Mutual collisions within these belts grind down solids producing dust and giving rise to debris discs. Primitive asteroids and comets likely played a major role in the emergence of life on Earth through their delivery of volatiles early in the lifetime of our planet. Cometary impacts, therefore, could be a necessary condition for the emergence of life in exoplanets and the study of debris discs essential to determine the ubiquity of such phenomenon. Moreover, exocometary discs provide a unique window into the origins and outer regions of planetary systems as comets do within our Solar System. Initially, in Chapter 1 I present an overview of the study of exoplanetary systems, focusing on debris discs. I discuss the basics of planet formation, its connection with debris discs, and how these evolve and interact with planets. I also describe how we observe these discs and probe their volatile component that is locked inside exocomets, and some evidence supporting the idea of exocomets venturing into the inner regions of planetary systems. Then, in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 I present new ALMA observations of the systems HD 181327, η Corvi, the multiplanet system 61 Vir and HD 107146, which host debris discs. In the first two, I highlight the derivation of the density structure of their discs and the detection of volatiles being released by exocomets; while in the third and fourth I compare the observations with simulations, which I use to set constraints on the underlying planetesimal distribution and mass and orbital distance of unseen planets. Finally, in Chapter 6 I present result obtained from N-body simulations to study the process of inward transport of comets by a multiplanetary system and how these can deliver material to inner planets and explain the frequently observed exozodiacal dust. To conclude, in Chapter 7 I summarise the results and conclusions of this dissertation and discuss ongoing and future work.

Stars form from the collapse of molecular clouds and evolve in an environment rich in gas and dust before becoming Main Sequence stars. During this phase, characterised by the presence of a protoplanetary disc, stars manifest changes in the structure and luminosity. This thesis performs a multi-wavelength analysis, from optical to mm range, on a sample of young stars (YSOs), mainly Classical T Tauri (CTTS). The purpose is to study optical and infrared variability and its relation with the protoplanetary disc. Longer wavelength, in the mm range, are used instead to investigate the evolution of the disc, in terms of dust growth. In optical, an F-test on a sample of 39 CTTS reveals that 67\% of the stars are variable. The variability, quantified through pooled sigma, is visible both in magnitude amplitudes and changes over time. Time series analysis applied on the more variable stars finds the presence of quasi periodicity, with periods longer than two weeks, interpreted either as eclipsing material in the disc happening on a non-regular basis, or as a consequence of star-disc interaction via magnetic field lines. The variability of YSOs is confirmed also in infrared, even if with lower amplitude. No strong correlations are found between optical and infrared variability, which implies a different cause or a time shift in the two events. By using a toy model to explore their origin, I find that infrared variations are likely to stem from emissions in the inner disc. The evolution of discs in terms of dust growth is confirmed in most discs by the analysis of the slope of the spectral energy distribution (SED), after correcting for wind emission and optical depth effects. However, the comparison with a radiative transfer model highlights that a number of disc parameters, in particular disc masses and temperature, dust size distribution and composition, can also affect the slope of the SED.