1,720,969 research outputs found
Seismic risk and safety perception: the April, 6th 2009 earthquake of l'Aquila, Italy
No full textOn Monday April 6, 2009, a Mw 6.3 earthquake hit the city of L’Aquila, Italy, leaving 308 deaths and 1500 injured. The extend damages on the built environment left 22,000 people homeless and temporarily displaced another 65,000. Field studies and surveys were carried out in the aftermath of such disaster to clarify local population’s perception of seismic risk, and the adopted mitigation strategies. Pre-impact communication and exchange of earthquake knowledge between the citizens and the governmental organizations, responsible for emergency management, were also analyzed.
It emerged that despite the long record of historical earthquakes that struck the region, and the swarm of foreshocks that hit the region since 4 months before the main quake of April 6, the residents of L’Aquila had a rather low seismic risk perception. Prior to the event, very few people acknowledge the possibility that a very strong earthquake could occur in L’Aquila, and even less planned for auto-protective behavior. Also, the traditional knowledge and earthquake myths appeared to have strongly influences people’s perception and response to the seismic event.
These findings were also corroborated by a broader survey, executed away from the earthquake region, highlighted an unjustified confidence in the seismic safety of Italy’s built environment (houses and infrastructures in general). In L’Aquila, such a low perception of earthquake risk, and mistaken belief of buildings’ structural resistance, appeared to have inhibited emergency planning at the individual, family and community level. Indeed this false sense of security also reduced dialogues among friends and within families about earthquake mitigation and preparedness strategies. Remarkably, school activities about earthquake risks, initiated during the foreshock period, appeared to have sensibly increase risk awareness among students, who in turn encourage family discussions about earthquake emergency planning and survival strategies.
School programs about earthquake risk, backed up by public education campaign, field exercises and drills organized by the local emergency management agencies, could help individuals and household integrating and updating the lingering outdated traditional earthquake knowledge. Vernacular narrative, museum expositions, or itinerant shows could promote education and outreach for seismic risk reduction, foster a culture of safety, and coalesce groups and create earthquake resilient communities
Environmental education and public opposition to the construction of large infrastructures: the TAV project in Val Susa.
No full textSince the beginning of the 1990s, when it was first publicly announced, the construction of the Lyon-Turin segment of the European high speed railroad network found a fierce opposition from the inhabitants of Val di Susa. The major point of dispute between the transportation au-thorities and the local residents were different interpretations of the scientific reports describing the environmental impacts and public health risks connected with the implementation of such infrastructure. Ineffective public education programs on such environmental issues, combined with an unsympathetic decision of the Italian government to start this project without a preventive consultation with the affected municipalities, raised the distrust of the local residents toward the national government, the national media, and the organizations linked to the planning and construction of the railroad. This study tries to clarify environmental risk perception, public education, and public debate between the national government, local advocacy groups and the inhabitants of Susa Valley. Two major phases of public reaction were identified: (1) an initial rebellious period (exemplified by the popular “No TAV” movement) of no real dialogue among the project’s major stakeholders, followed by (2) a yielding period of intense multilateral negotiations centered on the activities of the “Lyon-Turin Environmental Observatory.” The results of a qualitative cross analysis among a sample of local residents revealed that early dialogue among all the parties involved was critical in forming a personal viewpoint on risk, which, once consolidated, defied new information and perspectives. Using a common cultural platform that enabled bidirectional conversations, local advocacy groups were able to gain confidence among local residents. The cultural identification between the listener and the communicator made information sources credible beyond their actual accuracy and truthfulness
Resilienza costiera e sviluppo turistico : verso un approccio co-evolutivo
Full text linkIl contributo vuole presentare una parte di ricerca legata al progetto Interreg MED CO-Evolve al fine di
mostrare un approccio sperimentale utilizzato per la definizione di un processo di pianificazione che mira ad
aumentare il grado di resilienza costiera. In quest’ottica i processi di sviluppo turistico costiero sono stati
ulteriormente migliorati integrando gli strumenti di pianificazione esistenti in un più ampio contesto di
gestione costiera, rafforzando la valutazione dei progetti di sviluppo locale e perseguendo maggiori benefici
per il miglioramento delle condizioni delle comunità coinvolte.
Attraverso questo approccio co-evolutivo il progetto CO-EVOLVE incoraggia la costruzione di politiche e
iniziative per promuovere lo sviluppo di un turismo costiero e marittimo sostenibile e responsabile,
applicando i principi della gestione integrata delle zone costiere (ICZM) e della pianificazione dello spazio
marittimo (MSP) che tengono conto di tutte le principali sfide legate allo sviluppo del turismo costiero
Climate change effects on environment (marine, atmospheric and terrestrial) and human perception in an Italian Region (Marche) and the nearby northern Adriatic Sea.
Full text linkAn integrated analysis of recent climate change, including atmosphere, sea and land, as well as some of the impacts
on society, has been conducted on the Marche Region in central Italy and the northern portion of the Adriatic Sea.
The Marche Region is one of the 20 administrative divisions of Italy, located at a latitude approximately 43 North,
with a total surface area of 9,366 km2 and 1,565,000 residents. The northern Adriatic Sea is the northernmost
area of the Mediterranean Sea, and it has peculiar relevance for several aspects (environment, tourism, fisheries,
economy).
The collected environmental data included meteorological stations (daily maximum and minimum air temperature,
daily precipitation), oceanographic stations (sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient salts concentration,
chlorophyll) and river flows, over the last 50 years. The collected social data include 800 questionnaires
and interviews carried out on selected samples of residents, decision-makers and emergency managers. These
questionnaires and interviews aimed at highlighting the perception of climate change risks.
The trend analysis of air temperature and precipitation data detailed an overall temperature increase in all seasons
and rainfall decreases in Winter, Spring and Summer with Autumn increases, influencing river flow changes.
Marine data showed a relevant warming of the water column in the period after 1990 in comparison with the
previous period, particularly in the cold season. Surface salinity increased in Spring and Summer and strongly
decreased in Autumn and Winter (according with the precipitation and river flow changes). These last mentioned
changes, combined with anthropogenic effects, also influenced the marine ecosystems, with changes of nutrient
salts, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen. Changes in nutrient discharge from rivers influenced the average marine
chlorophyll concentration reduction and the consequent average reduction of warm season hypoxic conditions.
Indeed, all these changes influence several other aspects of the North Adriatic marine environment, such as coastal
erosion, ecosystems, biological productivity, mucilage phenomena, harmful algal blooms, etc.. These impacts in
the coastal areas are also evident inland. For example, the analysis of agro-meteorological extreme indices (aridity
index, potential water deficit) suggests negative impacts in terms of soil deterioration and agricultural productivity,
particularly evident in the area close to the coast. Finally, the analysis of social data revealed awareness among
local residents of these impacts and associated risks connected to climate change. Yet, this awareness does not
appear translated into long term adaptation plans.
Apparently, the inability to define shared collective strategies is the result of a feeble sense of individual and
institutional responsibility about climate matters, and ineffective information exchange among citizens, public
administrators and the scientific community
Enhancing resistance and resilience to disasters with microfinance: Parallels with ecological trophic systems
No full textLarge sums of money are spent by humanitarian programs for disaster recovery world- wide each year. Though bringing relief to millions of victims in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, these efforts have produced mixed results in terms of sustainable disaster mitigation. One of the shortfalls has been the failure to invest adequately to support disaster risk reduction activities. To better understand how to increase human resistance and resilience to natural disasters, this paper explores parallels between social and ecological theories of disturbance. The authors do not introduce new research, or offer new substantive critiques of these approaches, but try to build new connections between core concepts of ecosystems theory and disaster risk reduction theory. The central argument is that, similar to certain trophic pathways (e.g. microbial loop) that can enhance ecosystems’ resistance and resilience to disturbances, microfinance programs used to foster disaster risk reduction strategies may significantly enhance humans’ ability to cope with natural hazards and disasters
The Lyon-Turin High-Speed Rail: The Public Debate and Perception of Environmental Risk in Susa Valley, Italy
No full textWhen the construction of the Lyon-Turin segment
of the new European high-speed rail network was first
publicly announced at the beginning of the 1990s, it
immediately found fierce opposition from the inhabitants
of Susa Valley, Italy, one of the areas to be cut across by
such infrastructure. At issue were the project’s potential
environmental impact and its consequences on public
health. This study intends to clarify environmental risk
perception and public debate between the national government,
local advocacy groups, and the inhabitants of
Susa Valley. Two major phases of public reaction were
identified: (1) an initial rebellious period of no real dialog
among the project’s major stakeholders (exemplified by the
popular ‘‘No TAV’’ [No High Speed Train] movement),
followed by (2) a yielding period of intense multilateral
negotiations centered on the activities of the ‘‘Lyon-Turin
Environmental Observatory.’’ The results of a qualitative
cross analysis of the residents’ perception of the proposed
high-speed rail revealed that public acceptance of risk in
Susa Valley was influenced by the characteristics of hazards
perceived by the residents and by the communicative
approach used by the project’s various stakeholders. It also
emerged that early dialog among all the parties involved
was critical in forming a personal viewpoint on risk, which,
once consolidated, defied new information and perspectives.
Likely, a greater and earlier care taken by the other stakeholders to inform and consult the local population
about the railway would have greatly eased the public
debate
Il microcredito come strumento di riqualificazione dei sistemi socio-ecologici.
No full textL’analisi dei sistemi ecologici può essere utile anche per la comprensione dei meccanismi di funzionamento dei sistemi socio-economici. Abbiamo messo a confronto struttura e funzioni del circuito microbico (microbial loop) con la struttura ed il funzionamento di alcuni circuiti economici locali, facendo in particolare riferimento al meccanismo del microcredito. Il processo di “riqualificazione” energetica della materia organica detritale, operata da detritivori e decompositori, è confrontabile con il meccanismo di riqualificazione economico-sociale che gli istituti micro finanziari operano sul tessuto sociale, concedendo piccoli prestiti a soggetti passivi incapaci di entrare nei circuiti economici del macromercato. Come il circuito microbico trasforma il carbonio organico detritale (non vivente) in biomassa microbica e quindi in “nuova energia” per i livelli trofici superiori, il microcredito rappresenta un meccanismo di ridistribuzione della risorsa economica (ripartizione delle risorse limitanti) per incrementare il potenziale economico di individui o piccoli gruppi di individui socialmente ed economicamente sotto-utilizzati, accrescendo in questo modo la loro efficienza e quella dell’intero sistema. Utilizzando come descrittori della struttura e stabilità degli ecosistemi la connettanza, la ridondanza e la diversità funzionale si sono identificate ulteriori potenzialità “sistemiche” del microcredito. Il microcredito, aumentando il numero di vie per gli scambi monetari tra individui (paragonabili agli scambi energetici fra i nodi di una rete trofica) e diversificando l’economia locale, mantenendo al contempo un’ elevata sostituibilità di beni e servizi, aumenta la stabilità della realtà socio-economica locale riducendone al contempo la vulnerabilità agli eventi estremi. L’analisi comparativa delle funzioni sistemiche di microcredito e circuito microbico evidenzia l’applicabilità del microcredito non solo come strumento chiave della mitigazione degli effetti dei disastri ex-post ma anche come strumento importante per la stabilizzazione preventiva dei sistemi economici potenzialmente soggetti a disastri naturali
Resistenza e resilienza ai disastri: parallelismi fra sistemi ecologici e socio-economici.
Full text linkDefinition of a Risk Assessment Model within a European Interoperable Database Platform (EID) for Cultural Heritage
Full text linkNowadays, the topics related both to the safeguard and the valorization of cultural heritage and cultural assets are getting more attention in the political agenda. Innovative approaches to implement both the risk analysis and the resilience assessment are ever more required. This paper illustrates an original approach, concerning the development of a risk assessment model for cultural assets, with reference to fire, earthquake and flood. The proposed model includes specific evaluation tools, that are based on parameters and indicators related to the factors of hazard and vulnerability for the three considered types of risk. The multi-dimensional set of indicators is used to get synthetics indices, through a multicriteria approach. Furthermore, this evaluation is supported by specific questionnaires to include in the assessment model the opinion of different experts and stakeholders to introduce the indicators weights. The results of this model are represented by specific evaluation tools which can be implemented in the risk assessment of cultural assets in different specific situations
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