Suchergebnisse

The book contains the results of a research on the outcomes of a communication campaign of the risks related to exposure to chemicals. The initiative, aimed at students of 3rd, 4th and 5th high school classes of the City of Rome, explored the initial level of skills and knowledge on the chemical hazard, and then assessed the increase as a result of an information campaign conducted by experts of Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), in order to spread knowledge on the subject and form a group of aware young citizens.

This action research has been conducted by the Department of Communication and Social Research of the «Sapienza» University of Rome in collaboration with the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of an information campaign on radioactivity and its risks, implemented by ISPRA, and directed towards students between 14 and 19 years of age in four cities of the Lazio region. The research was conducted using a quasi experimental design with pretest, post-test and non equivalent control group and did not follow a behaviorist concept of experiment, which would have proceeded on the basis of a simple stimulus-response pattern. Instead, the experimental variable, considered as the main stimulus, was taken into account together with contextual and dispositional characteristics, which can in theory intervene in the cause-effect relation but cannot be "manipulated" by the researcher.

The introduction of Low Emission Zones, urban areas subject to road traffic restrictions in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values set by the European Directive on ambient air quality (2008/50/EC), is a common and well-established action in the administrative government of cities. The impacts on air quality improvement are widely analysed, whereas the effects and benefits concerning the noise have not been addressed in a comprehensive manner. As a consequence, the definition, the criteria for the analysis and the management methods of a Noise Low Emission Zone are not clearly expressed and shared yet. The LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management - LIFE15 ENV/IT/000586) addresses these issues. The first objective of the project, co-funded by the European Commission, is to introduce an easy-replicable method for the identification and the management of the Noise Low Emission Zone, an urban area subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benefits regarding noise issues will be analyzed and tested in the pilot area of the city of Monza, located in Northern Italy. Background conditions, structure, objectives of the project and actions' progress will be discussed in this article.