1,720,976 research outputs found
Revitalizing the Wounded Territory: The “Geo-Hiking’s” Potential
No full textThe postmodern society has an urgent need to develop effective strategies in favor of land management and risk prevention: priority objectives that are among the components of resilience. A fundamental tool to achieve these goals is the shared knowledge of the environment where we live. Modern GIS effectively facilitates the whole society in this sense, thanks to its many functions. Moreover, it is perfectly compatible with the Landscape Ecology approach, which considers all the components that characterize the complexity of nature in an integrated way. Knowledge sharing is based on communication: new approaches privilege unconventional modes of communication based on people's emotional and experiential involvement. In this sense, sports in the natural environment become communicative vectors of the environment. Therefore, some case studies in the Marche region, recently hit by the earthquake, are examined. The project has taken care of the realization of a geo-hiking itinerary that connects various geosites of great landscape importance to offer society scientifically valid information about the territory during the tourist fruition of the same to raise awareness of the enhancement of the territory and risk prevention
Communication-Based Prevention Strategies: A Draft Model Proposal
No full textIs it possible to prevent something through communication? Or at least to
raise people’s awareness through communication? The chapter presents and
discusses a draft model for the prevention strategies in relation to the risk of
natural disasters through an analysis of the Italian campaign “I don’t take
risks”. The draft model consists of: a) the four stages of the change of
communication-based prevention strategy process: 1) perception and
relevance: how to sense a theme or a significant problem, 2) knowledge: how
to deepen the characteristics of the issue or problem that I consider relevant,
3) incorporation: how do I incorporate the theme into the imaginary, and 4)
change: how behaviors and attitudes can change; b) the four principles of
daily work for the prevention of communication: 1) monitor the media, 2)
read the public space, 3) deal with the operators of information, and 4)
analyze the media landscape of the theme; c) the five dimensions for the
communication-based prevention strategy: 1) popularity of the messages, 2)
use of narratives, 3) ritual in communication actions, 4) colonize the
imaginary: imaginary appropriation of the market communication, and 5)
media education: building knowledge and awareness among citizens; and d)
the four phases of the impact assessment of prevention: 1) communication
objectives, 2) community analysis, 3) measurement of involvement and
participation, and 4) impact assessment
Earthquakes and Society: the 2016 Central Italy Reverse Seismic Sequence
No full text2016 August 24: an intense earthquake hits central Italy. The area is more extended than ever in the recent Italian history, involving four Italian
Regions: Lazio, Abruzzo, Marche and Umbria. The seismic sequence is intense and prolonged, continuing also in 2017. The present work aims at representing a cognitive and interpretative contribution to the surface evidences produced during the seismic crisis of central Italy, particularly referring to the numerous effects on the environment, both primary (superficial faulting) and secondary, related to shaking. Moreover, the vastness of the involved area suggests the need of approaching the reconstruction by following new criteria, set on the integration of technicalscientific knowledge, socio-economic requirements and - above all - prevention
The 2016 Earthquake in Central Italy. The Alphabet of Reconstruction
No full textThe proposed paper tries to take stock of the post sisma situation, three years after the central Italy earthquake, highlighting procedural problems and suggesting desirable improvements to the legislation governing reconstruction. The objective is to provide a complete scheme of the complex institutional process related to the problem of the post seismic reconstruction, by combining differents kind of informations: scientific, technical, regulatory and institutional.
The following pages aim at illustrating, through a sort of alphabet (where, however, some letters are missing, since the reconstruction path is not completed) the activity of the commissioner, the legislative and financial system and the route, with the relative rules to reach the objectives, necessary to give society the due guarantees. Such a great operation needs collaboration, sharing, intelligence, foresight and the will of everyone. And above all, it needs trust
Humankind and Risk: a difficult history
No full textTalking about catastrophes in the Anthropocene Era means tackling a complex and often misunderstood topic, difficult to understand for the general public. On the other hand, a greater and more widespread attention should be given to this theme, especially in relation to natural hazards and risk. The influence of the catastrophe theory does not seem to have sufficiently permeated the interpretive field of the natural sciences, more focused on the traditional systematic approach, antithetical to the systemic and holistic one that characterizes the methodological assumptions of contemporary research on complex systems. This chapter aims to analyze the salient characteristics of the relationship between society and disasters, highlighting those elements that condition social perception of risk as well as risk management. It is important, in our opinion, to focus on the clarity of communication and, above all, on the ability in arousing public interest, to make society aware of the urgent need to change the individual/community/social behavior in a sustainable way, with the aim to prevent natural risks and mitigating their effects
Earthquake Risk perception, communication and mitigation strategies across Europe.
No full textRisk and disasters are social constructs deriving from an unsustainable human-environment interaction. Earthquake hazard doesn’t create damages and destruction; it is our vulnerability and exposure to such processes that creates the conditions of risk. There is nothing natural about an earthquake disaster, yet the common perception is that humans are victims of nature’s extreme events. Moreover, the ability of a society to respond to earthquakes does not depend primarily on the emergency conditions created by the impact, but rather on the pre-disaster settings and circumstances.
From the agricultural revolution onwards, humans have tried to free themselves from the control of nature by modeling the territory for their
benefit. This, on the one hand, has enabled the social development we enjoy today, yet, on the other, the interaction with natural processes we do not fully understand has created problems of exposure and vulnerability. The consequences went beyond the creation of risk conditions and caused profound changes in environmental cycles contributing to the current geographies of the Anthropocene.
Recent earthquakes, including those in Italy, have unequivocally shown the dominant role of societal vulnerability in creating those disasters. The Mediterranean region, unceasingly affected by strong earthquakes and almost all type of known natural hazards, is very representative of these complex and multi-scale dynamics.
From an examination of the dramatic events that have recently occurred in the central region of Italy, there emerges the need to provide the general public with correct and clear information on the complex scenario characterising this as well as another- country. Experience teaches us that tackling the subject of the prevention of risk and protection from danger (the avoidance of exposure) is very difficult. What is needed is a communicative strategy that informs the public of the characteristics of a territory (understood as a natural and cultural environment) and the relative operative dynamics,
just as one should understand the anatomy and physiology of one’s own body in order to manage and protect it in the best possible way.
Indeed, a disaster is above all a social event (Alexander, 1991; Ligi, 2009; Pelanda, 1981), in which people are actively involved in the process leading to the occurrence of the catastrophe. It is not by chance that the social sciences engaged in the study of disasters in Europe have experienced an important consolidation in recent years; in Italy, especially since the earthquake of L'Aquila onwards, the national scientific production has substantially aligned to the international growth trend. Such vivacity, as Davide Olori (2017) states, does not correspond to a theoretical reconstruction of the proposals, which on the contrary have widened the distances between the different
positions, pursuing - mostly - an applied approach. This volume, instead, is intended to be the first attempt of a proposal that aims to bring together different approaches and viewpoints of scholars from different disciplines on the subjects of reduction, mitigation and communication of earthquake risk: physical and social scientists, physicists, engineers and humanists who participated in the S41 session of the 36th Assembly of the European Seismological Commission which took place in Valletta, Malta from 2 to 7 September 2018, coordinated by Elena Dell’Agnese, Francesco De Pascale, Piero Farabollini, Francesca Romana Lugeri, Fausto Marincioni, and Francesco Muto. This session encouraged abstracts discussing the multiple dimensions of earthquake risk reduction, including, but not limiting to, the following research lines: risk communication and social perception; prevention and population preparedness; community-based approach; adaptive capacity; representation of earthquakes in popular culture; new technologies for investigations of hazards and risk; vulnerability reduction;
disaster governance. As a result, this volume, has collected several contributions presented during this session to which other interesting
proposals of scholars presented after the publication of the Call for Book chapters of the series have been added. Hence, this book is an output of a rigorous review of those proposals and contributions. The volume is divided into three sections:
1) Mitigation Strategies of Seismic Risk Communication;
2) Communication and Prevention Strategies of Seismic Risk.
3) Resilience and Post-Disaster Recovery.
In the first section, “Mitigation Strategies of Seismic Risk Communication”, Cüneyt Tüzün, Ahmet Anıl Dindar, Aybige Akıncı (2019) explain one of the most comprehensive and challenging disaster mitigation strategy being applied in Turkey based on the real experience since the 1999 earthquakes. Mikhail Rodkin and Vladilen Pisarenko (2019) deal with a review of a series of previous publications by authors about the methods of statistical analysis of seismic regime and related damages. The work of Alper Uzun and Burak Oglakci (2019) covers the prevention and risk management studies to be done before an earthquake occurs, focusing on awareness level and risk governance. Chiara Braucher and Mattia Giandomenici (2019) would propose the proactive and participative approach to the Environment Construction at large, including the “direct intervention from settled communities - still persistent but in serious decrease all around the world - as an important strategy for risk mitigation, an alternative to the profit-based narrations of political decisions”. In the second section “Communication and
Prevention Strategies of Seismic Risk”, Volterrani’s chapter (2019) presents and discusses a draft model for the prevention of communication in relation to risk of disasters and other types of crisis, starting from the experience of the Italian campaign “I do not risk”, and, finally, to risk of radicalization of second young migrant generation. Andrea Cerase’s work (2019) considered the media coverage of scientific issues during the Emilia 2012 and Amatrice 2016 seismic crisis by the four most circulating Italian national newspapers within the 31 days following the first earthquake shock, through a comparative analysis. The contribution of Piero Farabollini (2019) aims to illustrate, through a sort of alphabet the activity of the commissioner, the legislative and financial system and the route - with the relative rules to reach the objectives - necessary to give society the due guarantees. The study of Fausto Marincioni, Eleonora Gioia, Mirco Zoppi and Elena Vittadini (2019) investigates, through a questionnaire, food management in the case of the earthquakes of 24 August 2016 in Central Italy, assessing survivors’ ability
to access food (food security) and the field kitchens practices to ensure hygiene and avoid food-borne disease outbreak (food safety).
In the third section “Resilience and Post-Disaster Recovery”, Maurizio Indirli’s work (2019) presents an excursus through the ages and a brief (not exhaustive, of course) state-of-the-art regarding “resilience”, pointing out some open questions of the current debate among researchers of different disciplines, working in the fields of hazard mitigation, sustainability, risk assessment, heritage preservation, and so on.
Piero Farabollini, Francesca Romana Lugeri and other authors (2019) deal with the case study of the 2016 central Italy, describing the reverse seismic sequence and the geological effects. The work of Silvia Mugnano, Fabio Carnelli and Sara Zizzari (2019) aims
to discuss what needs to be tackled by response and recovery disaster management policies when second homes are involved, by considering also the expectations and intentions of the affected owners with regards to tourists needs included in the redevelopment plans.
Finally, the chapter of Teresa Carone, Giulio Burattini and Fausto Marincioni (2019) aims to clarify the influence of territorial bonds on social
resilience of small mountainous communities in the aftermath of the August 24, 2016 central Italy earthquake
Food management in disasters: the case study of the earthquakes of 24 august 2016 in Central Italy
No full textAccess to safe food in the aftermath of a disaster is pivotal to ensure the survival and well-being of victims and rescuers. This study investigates food management in the case of the earthquakes of 24 August 2016 in Central Italy, assessing survivors’ ability to access food (food security) and the field kitchens practices to ensure hygiene and avoid food-borne disease outbreak (food safety). The study was carried out administering questionnaires one month after the events, to field kitchens users (population hit by the earthquake and volunteer workers) and operatives. Five field kitchens located in the municipalities of Accumoli and Amatrice, in the Lazio Region, and in the municipality of Arquata del Tronto in the Marche Region, were examined. Results suggest that the food quantity, quality and the waiting time at the dining area were overall satisfactory. Almost all interviewed population and volunteer workers declared easy access to proper and abundant meals. Field kitchens operatives claimed both access to fresh ingredients, in quantities far exceeding the needs of the served communities, and availability of the necessary resources (technical and human) to guarantee controlled and safe conditions during preparation and distribution of food. The results of this study are synthesized in a model describing the various aspects that need to be address in order to properly manage food services during a disaster
Narratives of Urban Resilience and Sustainability in Southern Italy: The Case Studies of Matera (Basilicata) and Filadelfia (Calabria)
No full textThis paper focuses on the concept of urban resilience and on some thematic declinations of the term, by comparing two case studies in Southern Italy: Matera (Basilicata) and Filadelfia (Calabria). The historical, social, and cultural processes manifesting in these cities can be viewed as symbols of sustainability and urban resilience. The latter is defined as the ability of a city’s systems, businesses, institutions, communities, and individuals to survive, adapt, and grow, regardless of the chronic stress and acute shocks they experience. In these two specific cases, different experiences, and similarities are narrated focusing attention on the contrasting paths to urban resilience and sustainability after such shocks. The hypothesis considered in this paper concerns the concept of urban resilience linked to socio-cultural structures. For example, Matera, transformed from the definition of a “national shame” to the European Capital of Culture in 2019, due to synergy between policymakers, stakeholders, and citizens. In comparison, Filadelfia, destroyed by an earthquake in 1783, was rebuilt on a solid, bottom-up approach, serving as an example of an innovative and resilient urban scheme
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