The article proposes a semiotic reflection on the 'conditions of enunciation' of graffiti in order to understand the essential features of the relation between this expressive form and the concept of power. Daniel 5, the Biblical passage that narrates the episode of Belshazzar's feast, is adopted as a point of departure for the construction of a textual series, which explores a philological tradition as well. Jewish interpretations, Christian exegeses, Christian iconography, and intertextual transpositions, all related to this biblical passage, are analyzed so as to determine the ways in which different socio-cultural contexts, in different periods, interpret and express the relation between political power, its injustice, and the role of 'God's writing on the wall' in redressing it.
In the always surprising capital of Palermo, a hidden garden of opuntia indica relics has been discovered again after decades of oblivion, due to the work and the unceased promotion made by a huge group of citizens, students, teachers and volunteers. In this 9 hectares area owned by the regional government of Sicily since a long time ago (1963), the remains of a dense opuntia plantation characterizes a green forgotten area, casually survived to the building growth of Palermo. Along three decades (1963‐1993) after being a military underground stowage plant for fuel in WWII, the Fondo Uditore is still a full opuntia place, where the sweet fruits and the green and prickly "leaves" where sold respectively to feed people and animals. After the capture of Mafia Superboss Toto' Riina in 1993 in a closer place, many of the Opuntias plants were cut to check deeply the area, were the mafia's boss was supposed to live and spend his "criminal business time". On the master plan of the City of Palermo the area was set since 1998 as Regional HeadQuarters offices, imagining a "full built" destiny, without any park inside. The area remains closed, though, 18 years more. Due to a huge University studies campaign criticizing the Master Plan's choices, supported by a large interest and work of the local community, the Urban Park is designed in 2011 in a Low Cost philosophy, that makes possible funding with few thousands euros the work by Sicily Region (area's owner). A denied place now has a new healthy mission: hosting the new urban park, an intervention firmly oriented on agriculture landscape (as it was in its history), strongly claimed by the people who lives in surroundings. supported by land owner's, appreciated (but not legalized) by the City Council. Parco Uditore now, celebrating three years since 2012 opening, although is a park full of typical plants withlow costs for maintenance, moreover is a Social Landscape Laboratory where the local community performs its free time with hundreds of events and activities, running the park with the volunteer's association. A resilient scenario for urban regeneration.
Palermo, Siciliy, 15 October 2012. A piece of rural landscape has been given back to the city: hundreds of people flood between Indian figs (opuntia indica),hackberries (celtis australis) and pepper trees (schinus molle), discovering an hidden place, closed to public since a very long time, what is survived from a hard and strong urban development, just because it is a public property. At the beginning of 19th century the place is a huge cultivation of Indian figs, the city is far away. The land comes in public hands as a military zone in the 30's, just before the II WW: a fuel underneath tank is built, connected to the harbour with a pipeline. After the war the land remains a public place, but in reality the 9 hectares land is hired by a family who maintains cultivation of figs (selling figs leaves to feed cattles and sheeps). From the '60 the 9 hectares landpiece is what remains untouched by the growing high density surrounding city. The family runs the land up to 1992 when is leasing is broken by the Regional Government (the land owner) because a suspect connection with the mafia superboss Toto' Riina, supposed to use this land to hide himself from Police and weapons underground. Then from 1992 to 2012 the place is closed and quite abandoned. A big sandstone wall separates this countryside landscape from the growing city along almost 80 years. At the end of 2010 some citizens from the neighborhood start to put pressure on the regional governments to have a park where a survived rural landscape is. This will met some researchers works from the University of Palermo. Then a informal committee starts a process to avoid new previewed buildings in the area (offices for 3.500 peoples), asking a park instead. A public subscriptions starts, facebook pages are created, reaching soon more of 8.000 likes and signs. Design and studies for the park are provided by The University of Palermo for free (Faculties of Architecture and Agriculture). Coordination and works are offered by sponsoring industries and craftmans, but overall is very important the effort given by some volunteers, citizens who strongly believe in the renovation process. A kind of participated project. After one year since the committee creation, the regional government decides to help donating 100.000 Euros and the possibility to use the area. Works started in late 2011 to create a "Public ultra low cost landscape" (about 0,50 Eur/m2). Some red objects (a kind of tribute to the world famous Parc de La Villette in Paris) point out the green area, underlining artifacts along a virtual connection line. Today, one year and half after the opening, Parco Uditore is an hyperpark, a green rural area, witness of an ancient landscape but also a social place where communities meet each other, where kids and young people can play and rest, where communities' identity is really celebrated every day and more projects are growing weekly about environmental, ecological and landscape issues. From citizens to citizens, an urban low cost landscape still in progress
Il paesaggio della bicicletta nelle diverse realtà europee. Il progetto del paesaggio della bicicletta comprende diverse situazioni: ciclovie naturalistiche che solcano il territorio insinuandosi nei parchi, nei boschi e nei campi; alzaie o rive di fiumi e canali; tracciati urbani che ridisegnano la trama dei percorsi tradizionali e che resistono alla mobilità veicolare. In sede europea l'azione politica è concreta, mentre nel resto del mondo il tema della mobilità sostenibile è stata affrontata a diverse scale e declinato con la realizzazione di sistemi integrati urbani e di piste ciclabili.
La ricerca che presentiamo deriva da un rapporto virtuoso tra un ente locale di tradizioni illustri, il Comune di Scicli, in provincia di Ragusa, e una struttura di ricerca dell'Università di Palermo – il Centro Interdipartimentale di ricerca sui centri storici (C.I.R.CE.S.) che ha la finalità di fornire consulenza e supporto scientifico alle iniziative degli enti territoriali riguardanti politiche e piani di riqualificazione urbana e territoriale e recupero dei centri storici . Il comune di Scicli nel contesto territoriale Il territorio comunale è caratterizzato da un paesaggio di grande fascino in cui si alternano le fenditure scoscese delle "cave" e i costoni collinari che le disegnano. I fianchi delle colline a volte presentano configurazioni prevalentemente naturalistiche, costituite da bianchi paesaggi di roccia punteggiati dagli ingressi alle abitazioni in grotta e da macchie di vegetazione rupestre, a volte si presentano fittamente edificati con costruzioni a cascata aggrappate al suolo nelle forme più temerarie. Il comune di Scicli presenta una molteplicità di risorse territoriali (storiche, culturali, architettoniche, archeologiche, naturalistiche, artistiche) che compongono un "capitale territoriale" di inestimabile valore e grandi potenzialità, che però e necessario gestire con efficacia prevedendo nuovi ruoli e nuove funzioni produttive in grado di concorrere a un nuovo sviluppo economico della comunità. Il centro storico Il centro storico di Scicli, esteso circa 25 ha, è connotato da una grande concentrazione di straordinarie architetture monumentali per lo più ricostruite o edificate ex novo dopo il terremto del 1693. La struttura urbana, scolpita tra le "cave", è incuneata tra tre alture su cui sorgono resti di fortificazioni, santuari, chiese e complessi conventuali. Da nord verso sud le colline prendono il nome dalla chiesa e convento del Rosario, dalla chiesa di S. Matteo, dall'ex convento della Croce. La città storica è connotata da un paesaggio eccezionale in cui natura e artificio si sovrappongono, si mischiano e si integrano dando luogo a configurazioni straordinarie di grande impatto visivo. Anche "le cave", che hanno conservato il ruolo di grandi collettori idrici, hanno assunto un carattere monumentale con il rifacimento degli argini, nei tratti che attraversavano la città, rifiniti con una luminosa pietra da taglio. La copertura di alcuni tratti delle cave e la trasformazione in percorsi veicolari, comprensivi di parcheggi, come nel caso della cava di S. Bartolomeo ha banalizzato e impoverito il paesaggio urbano. La ricostruzione della storia urbana La nostra indagine ci ha portato a ipotizzare tre fasi principali di sviluppo e di trasformazione dell'insediamento: una fase che comprende i secoli XIV e XV; una fase che comprende i secoli XVI e XVII e una fase che comprende i secoli XVIII e XIX. Nell'ultima fase sono inclusi gli effetti del terremoto del 1693 e sono registrate le grandi trasformazioni avvenute nell'ottocento, ravvisabili anche con la sovrapposizione delle planimetrie catastali. Nel costruire tali ipotesi si è tenuto conto dell'entità della popolazione fornita dai riveli e delle vistose variazioni causate da eventi storici di grande impatto come le epidemie di peste e il terremoto del 1693.
Natural hazards and climate-related disasters disregard political borders, where additional barriers can complicate mitigation, response and recovery efforts within and between the sectors of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The ESPREssO Project (Enhancing Synergies for Disaster Prevention in the European Union) aims to improve management of transboundary disasters by encouraging closer synergies between the CCA and DRR communities. Using targeted stakeholder interviews, questionnaires, Think Tank discussions and purpose-built serious games, ESPREssO draws on both CCA and DRR stakeholder experiences and informed perspectives in order to identify current gaps. Set within a fictitious border zone, ESPREssO's RAMSETE II serious game challenges CCA and DRR stakeholders in making coordinated decisions before, during and after a simulated disaster, in protection of population and critical infrastructure. Results highlight the essential role of local governance mechanisms as the sharp end of the policy wedge, with current examples of proactivity that require to be championed and supported at national level in order to thrive. These good practice examples reflect the fact that transboundary settings, despite their challenges, act as fertile ground for mutual growth, offering opportunities for CCA and DRR communities to find innovative ways to cooperate and unite in developing synergies and strengthening their mutual efforts towards resilience. Stakeholders emphasise a need to invest more resources in informal cooperation and call on policy makers to recognise that each border zone raises its own unique set of complex challenges that requires flexibility and special consideration by transboundary authorities in management of disasters.
The ESPREssO Project set out to propose ways to inform more coherent national and European approaches on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). A critical step in this process is the identification of existing barriers to effective collaboration, finding new areas of common ground, and ways to enhance co-operation with regards to CCA and DRR policymaking in Europe. This is particularly important considering the potential relationships between CCA and DRR activities at the regional, national, European and global levels. Serious games have emerged as a valuable tool to communicate information and catalyse discussion in many policy arenas. The games have the power to inform, mainly by exposing strengths and weaknesses of a system but not necessarily create policy choices. This paper presents the development process and rationale behind creation of RAMSETE I, a serious game developed by and for the ESPREssO Project to elicit information from its stakeholders in aiming to inform synergies between CCA and DRR sectors. The results assess its application as a device to frame discussions during an international Think Tank workshop. The serious game focused on three particular aspects of CCA and DRR policy interactions: (1) separation of administrative responsibilities and the use of different terminology, (2) the ongoing competition for funding and political will as well as (3) difficulties regarding the top-down implementation of policies. The rules and design process are presented briefly, before going in-depth into the information gleaned during its application in the workshop.
In this research we explored how the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services are currently used in water management in Europe, in the application of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) developed for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Five case studies have been considered, located in the River Basin Districts of the Po river (Italy), Scotland (United Kingdom), Scheldt river (Belgium), Danube river (Romania), Sado and Mira rivers and Ribeiras do Algarve (Portugal). These cases represent different regional contexts of application of this EU water policy, with specific socio-economic drivers and environmental issues. Each case study has developed an operational framework to analyse ecosystem services in practice together with a group of local stakeholders. In each regional case, we examined how EU water policy and RBMPs are implemented, considered legal and planning instruments from the national to the local scale, and we analysed the use of ecosystem service terms and concepts in the relevant planning instruments. In parallel, we explored the view of local stakeholders and water managers on the topic, collecting their opinion on three major aspects: the usefulness of the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services for WFD river basin management plans, the risks and benefits of their use, and the knowledge needs to put the concepts into practice. The major drawback of the ecosystem service approach seems to be the challenge for practitioners of understanding new concepts and methodologies, while the major advantages are that it highlights all the hidden benefits of a water body in good health and promotes multi-functionality and sustainability in water management. The results of this study provide a picture across Europe of the current use of the concepts of ecosystem services in the RBMP and relevant insight on the opinion of local stakeholders and water managers.
In this research we explored how the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services are currently used in water management in Europe, in the application of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) developed for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Five case studies have been considered, located in the River Basin Districts of the Po river (Italy), Scotland (United Kingdom), Scheldt river (Belgium), Danube river (Romania), Sado and Mira rivers and Ribeiras do Algarve (Portugal). These cases represent different regional contexts of application of this EU water policy, with specific socio-economic drivers and environmental issues. Each case study has developed an operational framework to analyse ecosystem services in practice together with a group of local stakeholders. In each regional case, we examined how EU water policy and RBMPs are implemented, considered legal and planning instruments from the national to the local scale, and we analysed the use of ecosystem service terms and concepts in the relevant planning instruments. In parallel, we explored the view of local stakeholders and water managers on the topic, collecting their opinion on three major aspects: the usefulness of the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services for WFD river basin management plans, the risks and benefits of their use, and the knowledge needs to put the concepts into practice. The major drawback of the ecosystem service approach seems to be the challenge for practitioners of understanding new concepts and methodologies, while the major advantages are that it highlights all the hidden benefits of a water body in good health and promotes multi-functionality and sustainability in water management. The results of this study provide a picture across Europe of the current use of the concepts of ecosystem services in the RBMP and relevant insight on the opinion of local stakeholders and water managers.
The Roadmap for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research in Europe (ROAMER) identified child and adolescent mental illness as a priority area for research. CAPICE (Childhood and Adolescence Psychopathology: unravelling the complex etiology by a large Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Europe) is a European Union (EU) funded training network aimed at investigating the causes of individual differences in common childhood and adolescent psychopathology, especially depression, anxiety, and attention defici
Abstract The Roadmap for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research in Europe (ROAMER) identified child and adolescent mental illness as a priority area for research. CAPICE (Childhood and Adolescence Psychopathology: unravelling the complex etiology by a large Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Europe) is a European Union (EU) funded training network aimed at investigating the causes of individual differences in common childhood and adolescent psychopathology, especially depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. CAPICE brings together eight birth and childhood cohorts as well as other cohorts from the EArly Genetics and Life course Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortium, including twin cohorts, with unique longitudinal data on environmental exposures and mental health problems, and genetic data on participants. Here we describe the objectives, summarize the methodological approaches and initial results, and present the dissemination strategy of the CAPICE network. Besides identifying genetic and epigenetic variants associated with these phenotypes, analyses have been performed to shed light on the role of genetic factors and the interplay with the environment in influencing the persistence of symptoms across the lifespan. Data harmonization and building an advanced data catalogue are also part of the work plan. Findings will be disseminated to non-academic parties, in close collaboration with the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks-Europe (GAMIAN-Europe).
