The Spatial and Governance Dilemma of Small and Medium-Sized Italian Ports (SMPs): Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as a Potential Response

The Italian coast has about 700 ports, which are different in typology, dimension, role, and ownership. Historically, this has led to the significant fragmentation of governance and space and a lack of cooperation that ports and cities still experience today. Among all ports, small and medium-sized ports (SMPs), such as marinas, small touristic harbors, and moorings, are the most affected. Unlike the main ports, where spatial and strategic regulation planning fall under the port authority’s responsibilities, SMPs are a combination of public and private management and are, therefore, excluded from national and regional planning and larger strategies. Improving SMPs’ cooperation at the regional level can drive more effective sustainable management among related activities (tourism and the fishing sector) and reduce pressures on the land–sea interaction (LSI). In filling the gaps, this article challenges the existing legal framework, planning tools, approaches, and initiatives and may pave the way to establishing a better-integrated national governance for SMPs. In conclusion, this paper identifies two main opportunities that can support the steady establishment of governance and the systematic harmonized development of these SMPs. The first one is offered by maritime spatial planning (MSP) as a strategic and legal tool whereby SMPs are recognized and, if financially supported, could find incentives and measures for their development. The second one is through European projects, programs, and initiatives such as Framesport as drivers in establishing a common ground among public and private interests and as a cooperation engine at a local scale

Let’s Do It for Real: Making the Ecosystem Service Concept Operational in Regional Planning for Climate Change Adaptation

The application of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to planning processes and decision-making can lead to more effective climate change adaptation. Despite the increased attention given to the ES concept, its degree of integration and use in spatial planning processes are still below the expectations of those who are promoting this concept. Barriers hindering its operationalisation cover a span of aspects ranging from theoretical to procedural and methodological issues. Overall, there is a general lack of guidance on how and at what point ES knowledge should be integrated into planning processes. This study aims to promote the inclusion of ES knowledge into spatial planning practices and decision-making processes to enhance climate change adaptation. A replicable GIS-based methodology is proposed. First, the potential supply of ESs that can support climate change adaptation (ESCCAs) is defined, mapped, and quantified. Then, a need for an ESCCA supply is identified, and territorial capacities to respond to the expected climate change impacts on natural and socio-economic sectors are assessed. The methodology is applied to the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region (Italy) as an illustrative case study. The results reveal that areas with similar geomorphological characteristics tend to respond similarly. Forest ecosystems, inland wetlands and specifically salt marshes can potentially supply a greater variety of ESCCAs. In the case study area, about 62% of the supplied ESCCAs can contribute to reducing the impacts in more than 50% of the impacted sectors. The territory of the study site generally shows good preparedness for expected impacts in most of the analysed sectors; less prepared areas are characterised by agricultural ecosystems. This reading approach based on land cover analyses can thus assist in developing policies to enhance different territorial capacities, ultimately leading to better and more sustainable decision-making

Shear strength of an anchor post-installed into a hardened concrete member

Literature has recently provided the analytical model that predicts the shear strength of the anchor embedded into masonry. It is apparent that this model does not apply to the anchor embedded into concrete, as the ultimate contact pressures are different. A gap in the literature was hence filled, but there existed a remaining gap. In order to fill that last gap, further research was done. This paper is herein an account of that work. The paper deals with the anchor post-installed by drilling into an already compact concrete structure, used to transmit applied loads from an attachment to the concrete, subjected to a force acting at the end that emerges from the concrete and orthogonal to the anchor (shear force with no axial force), with large clearance from the edges, either alone or with large clearance from other anchors. Being post-installed, the embedded part of the anchor is a straight shaft with no hook at the embedded end, and with no nuts, washers, or plates attached to the shaft. The paper presents an analytical model absent in literature prior to this study that predicts the maximum shear force the anchor can carry, thus called “shear strength” of the anchor. The assumptions of the analytical model were established from the results of a non-linear numerical model specifically constructed by the author. The predictive capacity of the analytical model and accuracy of its results were assessed and verified by experimental tests of real anchorages specifically designed and performed by the author. This paper also presents the numerical model and the comparisons of the analytical predictions to those experimental results, as well as com parisons to experimental results borrowed from literature and code provisions

Land-Sea-Interactions in MSP and ICZM: A regional perspective from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea

Land-sea interactions are relevant for marine spatial planning. Natural processes at the land-sea interface shape the terrestrial and the marine environment, influencing coastal and maritime activities in the area. Coastal and sea uses also hold numerous land-sea interactions, calling for infrastructures and services both on the land and the sea side. The concept of land-sea interactions has been elaborated and applied already in several studies. Notwithstanding this, application of land-sea interaction analysis within Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal (Zone) Management (ICM/ICZM) is far to be operationalized and still challenges the planning processes, with different countries approaching it differently, at different level of analysis. In this paper the Guidelines for LSI in MSP proposed by UNEP/MAP PAP/RAC to provide practical support to land-sea interaction analysis within MSP are applied in four case studies: Bulgaria, Italy, Malta and Montenegro, within formal and informal marine spatial planning processes. The Guidelines have proved to be flexible, scalable and suitable to tiered approaches. They were adapted to the specificities of different planning, geographic, governance contexts, responding to the state and the needs of MSP development in the different countries, including non-EU ones

Occupants' interaction with building services: Development of a camera-based method for detailed monitoring of windows, shadings, and lights

Several energy gains or losses in buildings are influenced by occupant interactions with building services, such as lighting or HVAC systems, thermostat settings, and window and shading operations. Occupant behavior is usually triggered by discomfort, nevertheless actions taken to restore comfort can have an impact on final energy demand. Thus, an accurate energy assessment for both new and retrofit building design must properly account for occupant behavior, based on reliable models developed from real case studies and detailed monitoring. This work presents a new approach for continuous and non-intrusive monitoring of window opening angle, shading position, and lighting operation to determine the net air exchange area for ventilation. A camera-based device and a post-processing algorithm are developed, and a monitoring campaign over 6 month is carried out to showcase the monitoring system. The device consists of a camera setup connected to a microprocessor, and a dedicated script which enables the device to track window opening, shading movement and lighting operation through target and object identification. Results of the prototyping case study show that the proposed system can effectively detect window opening angles and shutter positions, dealing with multiple windows and shutters simultaneously and allowing the deployment of the benefits of continuous monitoring. The explored application is the direct use of the collected data for the calculation of natural ventilation rates from the net exchange area (EN 16798-7) over long term datasets. As future development, the monitoring system will be used to develop accurate behavioral models based on the experimental data to analyze and suggest the occupant’s response to discomfortable conditions in order to improve indoor air quality and save energy

The Felicitating Factor. Cinzia Ruggeri’s Clothing Project

This paper sets out to shed light on the process that guided Cinzia Ruggeri in the elaboration of a unique clothing project that was eccentric to the 1980s Italian and international fashion scene, a process that allowed this stilista to activate collaborations with exponents of the world of art, design, literature, and music without disavowing the specificities of the fashion design practice. Cinzia Ruggeri was an atypical player inside the fashion system, presenting her creations at the Milanese prêt-à-porter fashion shows of the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, stating her autonomy from seasonal trends and her sincere interest for change. Far from considering fashion a reflection of social and cultural changes, Ruggeri understood the power of fashion in affecting and bringing about these changes. Fashion, so inextricably linked to the desire for novelty, and clothing design so intimately connected to the body, allowed her to address the gestures, behaviours and therefore the experience of reality in transformation. Over the years she experimented with shapes and materials, creating objects that could be intellectually and physically enjoyed, pervaded by a signature trait – the “felicitating factor” – stemming from her direct and shared experience in creating her fashion project

Designing and implementing a multi-scalar approach to Maritime Spatial Planning: The case study of Italy

The Italian coastal and marine space includes areas with remarkable differences in terms of oceanographic characteristics, maritime uses, natural habitats, species distribution, landscape and cultural heritage. In Italy, coastal and marine management competencies are shared among national, regional, and for some aspects even local authorities. This geographic heterogeneity and governance complexity required the adoption of a multiscalar approach to Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP). Such an approach aims at implementing decision-making and spatial planning at multiple and nested scales. In the case of Italy, the multi-scalar approach included the definition of national guidelines and the development of three maritime spatial (MS) plans, one for each maritime area (Adriatic, Ionian and Central Mediterranean, and Tyrrhenian and Western Mediterranean), including subareas and nested planning units. The development of the MS plans involved competent Ministries, the coastal Regions and several researchers. Based on the description of the adopted six-phase methodology and the exemplification of results of the Italian MSP process, this paper discusses the most relevant features and common challenges of multi-scalar MSP (i.e. co-planning, vertical and horizontal integration, multi-level governance, scalability, flexibility, integration of data and knowledge with different resolution, multi-scalar stakeholder engagement). Finally, the paper reflects on some novel aspects of the adopted multi-scalar approach and identifies actions to grant efficacy to this approach during the next phases of the Italian MSP proces

Design in the Metamorphosis of Matter

The contribution refers to the research topic of materials experience by framing a methodology related to the way materials are catalogued and interpreted in design.The study specifically concerns the design for the sustainable management of production residues in the tanning supply chain and is aimed at their semantic valorisation as material resources. Starting from the interpretation of by-products as the material legacy of a know-how, the valorisation takes place through the application of a specific method based on the definition of expressive-sensorial parameters. The project prefigures the prototype of a cataloguing system in the shape of a multi-level map. As a matrix of design possibilities belonging to a territorial culture, the tool intercepts values such as identity and recognisability of a know-how processes, whose by-products become evidence of it and represent the “material” of the project that acquires physical form in the tangible surface of the artefacts