Rural development in the area of Pollino: integrated design of an “atypical” chain

The introduction of the Integrated Projects of Food Chain requires the development of models capable of interpreting the dynamics of vertical and horizontal coordination between agents and the definition of the issues that most affect the ability of professionals to provide value added to goods and products to acquire in exchange a competitive advantage. With reference to setting up Local Production System of the Pollino - Lagonegrese, characterized by the development of an "atypical" food chain, for which the main factor of integration and competitive advantage lies in the strong link between companies and territory and in the social and economic value of the protected area agriculture, this research has developed a new model for food chain that combines theories of productivity with those of social welfare and environmental economics: multifunctionality and biodiversity related to the needs of income and efficiency of companies in various stages of the food chain classic.Food Chain, Protected areas, Rural Development, Integrated Project of Food Chain, Local Production System Pollino-Lagonegrese, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Desertification indicators for the European Mediterranean region: state of the art and possible methodological approaches [= Indicatori di desertificazione per il Mediterraneo europeo: stato dell'arte e proposte di metodo]

The Italian Environment Protection Agency (ANPA), and the Desertification Research Centre at the University of Sassary have worked jointly to provide decision-makers with an in-depth analysis of the state of the art and methodologies applicable to the evaluation of the desertification phenomenon. ANPA has promoted this important research activity, within the wider and more dynamic framework of actions it conducts in the Italian National Committee, providing its support to the definition and start up of the National Plan to Combat Desertification and Drought. The complexity of the phenomena and their causes leads to the individuation of a plurality of “actors” who might take the responsibility to carry out actions aimed at combating Desertification and Drought. Indicators represent a crucial link in the chain that, from knowledge, leads to taking decisions and promoting responsible behaviours: starting from an evaluation of the various, physical, biologic, socio-economic processes that contribute to land degradation and desertification, the goal is to individuate indicators that might prove useful in territorial planning and public information activities, and that might be a suitable answer to the request for direct knowledge of the status and evolution of the phenomenon, as well as the opportunity to take actions aimed at mitigating and, above all, preventing the occurrence of the phenomenon

Combining multi-source data to map vineyards in a specialized district of Basilicata (Southern Italy)

In agriculture, the geography of specific crops can successfully support productivity monitoring and farming practices management. Vineyards particularly have a key role in modeling and protecting Mediterranean landscapes, representing a fundamental asset in the economies of inner areas. In this paper, we mapped the 2017 coverage of vineyards of the Vulture-Melfese, a specialized agricultural district of Basilicata (Southern Italy) renowned for hosting the Aglianico grapevine variety. To achieve this objective, we combined information extracted from free-accessible multisource data by leveraging the traditional photo-interpretation technique. Then, we characterized the mapped vineyards based on simple geo-environmental variables (size, elevation, climate). This detailed inventory can help public bodies and land managers to shape more specific local agricultural policies to strengthen the profitability of the agricultural sector, preserve agrobiodiversity and face climate change effects

Incentivizing ICT in healthcare: A comparative analysis of incentive schemes in Italian Regions

Background: The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in healthcare has been presented as a potential solution to the current challenges that healthcare systems have to face. The introduction of ICTs may need initial investments and, moreover, may produce changes in the routine practice of the healthcare system. Financial incentives are expected to be an effective managerial tool to communicate a strategic vision and a mandate, to improve the adherence to the strategy and to promote a consistent individual behaviour. In this perspective, financial incentives are assumed to accelerate the ICTs adoption and use in healthcare. The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how Italian Regional healthcare systems use the Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs) reward scheme to stimuli the implementation of ICT in healthcare. Materials and methods: A content analysis was conducted on the Italian Regional acts on healthcare CEOs incentive schemes, that were approved in the period 2010–2012 and with a legal validity that ranged from 1 to 4 years (until 2014). The acts cover around 60% of the Italian Regions. ICT goals were identified, categorized, and compared using descriptive statistics. Results: This study identified two areas on which financial incentives related to ICTs were mainly focused: (i) ICT infrastructure and architecture; (ii) flows and processing of economic and financial data. The use of technology to better store and process medical data (i.e. EHR-like systems) were only marginally present. Use of e-Health and mHealth solutions for providing healthcare services, valorization of ‘health big data’ in a community care perspective, more advanced applications of technology for monitoring or preventing diseases were not incentivized for CEOs in Italy. Conclusion: The use of ICTs in healthcare appears to be of general interest in Italy: a great number of Italian Regions introduced specific goals into CEOs financial schemes. Efforts in this field seem to be not linked to the objectives of better care at sustainable cost, while it appears important to ensure a better and wider presence of enabling environments and to implement ICT-based control systems. Keywords: ICT, Financial incentives, Incentive scheme, Healthcare CEO, Italy, Region

SPATIALIZING OPEN DATA FOR THE ASSESSMENT AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF TERRITORIAL AND SOCIAL COHESION

An integrated place-based approach for the improvement of territorial and social cohesion is the new instance for planning disciplines, coming from EU New Cohesion Policies. This paper considers the territorial impact assessment of regional development policies as a precondition in order to develop balanced and effective operative programs at national and regional levels. The contribution of 'open data' appears to be mature in order to support this application and in this paper we present a spatial analysis technique for the evaluation of EU funds effects at territorial level, starting from open data by Open Cohesion. The application is focused on internal areas of Basilicata Region: Agri river Valley. A complex contest, where environmental and agricultural traditional vocations conflict with a recent development of oil extraction industries. Conclusions concern further applications and perspectives to improve and support regional development planning considering the exploitation of open data sources and spatial analysis

The city of Matera and the Sassi: smart places with a Dantean attraction

In Matera, in the course of millennia, there have been favorable and stable conditions that allowed the development of a specific architectural language, juxtaposition of materials, interpenetration of spaces and conformation of volumes, thus creating a unique urban phenomenon. The distribution of similar building artifacts in symbiotic unity with the connective texture of limestone, led to a spontaneous figurative harmonious balance between man and nature that characterizes the building, the techniques distribution and morphological solutions and that is based on a wise use of resources. Certainly, since several years, the Sassi does not longer reserve the experience of a “descent into hell” for those who take narrow streets and steep stairways. The conditions of misery and lack of hygiene described in 1945 by Carlo Levi in his novel “Christ Stopped at Eboli” and, then, the long abandonment and decay of the rupestrian settlement following the displacement of its population, in fact, seem to belong to a very remote time. So, by the end of the forties, critical reading and semantic analysis of the urban complex and environmental structure made up of Sassi and the “murgico” highland was configured as a real construction site of experiments, investigations and research and has involved different disciplines. The work of geo-graphy in the Sassi, that means writing on the ground, in fact, takes on a deep meaning and a great importance given by the complexity of the built environment development in the three dimensions, that determines a unique image of a biunivocal relationship between natural landscape and human settlement. This complexity reveals itself in a high density of buildings, and then in a clear prevalence of the full on the vacuum, configuring a compact urban space as negative of the built, defined by the complex system of connective elements such as streets, stairways and squares. It is due to this complexity of urban and domestic spaces, tangled one into the other, that the open space of the Sassi assumed a significant role in the development of settlement models. In fact, the urban space of the Sassi is often configured as an extension of the residence in the so called “urban rooms”, with an essential form and enclosed by more housing units, that defines a special type of collective space. It is just for the socializing and community vocation of these places which is possible to prefigure future uses similar to the most modern examples of Social Housing and generally to the Smart settlement models. The city of Matera, in fact, is going to take action on its neighbourhoods, including “Rione Sassi”, with the project named “Clara” (Cloud platform for Landslide Risk Assessment), who achieved the second place in the final ranking of the call “Smart Cities and Communities and Social Innovation”, issued by the Ministry of Education, University and Research and funded with € 20 million. In addition, the city will also benefit from the project of the Basilicata Region “Smart Basilicata” funded by the same announcement, which will allow a systematic approach to the region as a “city-region”, including the Val d'Agri, Matera and the metropolitan area of Potenza, in order to make it an “intelligent community” through the use of technologies of Information and Communication and participatory planning as part of the most recent paradigm of the Internet of things. There is also a significant experimentation taking place in the Palace “Rione Sassi” of Matera with the first “unMonastery” in the world, co-living and co-working space and place of technological and social innovation, which will accommodate not monks, but hackers, artists, designers and developers throughout Europe. The project, supported by the network of activists Edgeryders and the European Commission, aims to identify sustainable, cultural and smart alternatives, to make the city more beautiful, livable and attractive. It will also support the candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2019 of Matera (entered in the short-list of the six finalists cities), one of the most complex example of redevelopment of urban community and first southern site entered in the UNESCO list

Participatory Approach to Planning Urban Resilience to Climate Change: Brescia, Genoa, and Matera—Three Case Studies from Italy Compared

Urban resilience must consider the ability of cities to cope with the effects of climate change. Community awareness raising and sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDs) are often mentioned in the literature as effective adaptation actions while the success of these solutions is highly context-dependent and improved planning procedures are urgently needed. In this framework, the URCA! project represents a good practice aiming to strengthen the resilience of urban areas by promoting the implementation of SUDs in territorial planning. The main objective of the present research deals with the role of participation in promoting the use of SUDs and their uptake in town planning and land management involving local communities, students, experts, local authorities, and enterprises. To this end, the research adopts a participatory approach to SUDs urban planning for three case studies in Italy selected under the criterion of maximum variation (Brescia, Genoa, and Matera). For the three case studies, participatory approaches are at different stages of development thus requiring appropriate ways of interacting and resulting in different impacts on decisions. Preliminary results, drivers, and barriers in the application of the participatory approach are discussed and compared in order to bring innovation into planning practices, stimulating a revision of typical governance mechanisms

The nero lucano pig breed: Recovery and variability

The Nero Lucano (NL) pig is a black coat colored breed characterized by a remarkable ability to adapt to the difficult territory and climatic conditions of Basilicata region in Southern Italy. In the second half of the twentieth century, technological innovation, agricultural evolution, new breeding methods and the demand for increasingly lean meat brought the breed almost to extinction. Only in 2001, thanks to local institutions such as: the Basilicata Region, the University of Basilicata, the Regional Breeders Association and the Medio Basento mountain community, the NL pig returned to populate the area with the consequent possibility to appreciate again its specific cured meat products. We analyzed the pedigrees recorded by the breeders and the Illumina Porcine SNP60 BeadChip genotypes in order to obtain the genetic structure of the NL pig. Results evidenced that this population is characterized by long mean generation intervals (up to 3.5 yr), low effective population size (down to 7.2) and high mean inbreeding coefficients (FMOL = 0.53, FROH = 0.39). This picture highlights the low level of genetic variability and the critical issues to be faced for the complete recovery of this population