Culture and economic crisis : cultural value in Italy from 2008 to the present day

This doctoral work is based on analysis of the discourse on cultural value in contemporary Italy, what are the 'grand narratives' that characterize this discourse and what is the relationship between them. In particular, great relevance is given to the concepts of “neoliberalism” and “commons”. The application of these two economical terms to the field of culture is particularly relevant in the Italian discourse: in 2011, Italy saw the rise of protest groups made of professionals from the arts sector who opposed practices influenced by the theories on the commons to the implementation of neoliberal-inspired policies. In fact, since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, the discontent of the Italian population with the implementation of austerity policies and the lack of political and economic stability caused an uprising involvement in political activism. The cultural sector, in particular, was facing a lack of state funding; in addition, many young professionals had been struggling to find a paid job, especially in the theatre sector. The dissatisfaction of the emergent creative class led to a series of demonstrations and campaigns that asked for the recognition of the rights of arts workers. Many abandoned buildings, especially former theatres, were occupied and became spaces dedicated to artistic and political experimentation. Two of these organisations are discussed in the case studies: Teatro Valle Occupato, in Rome, and Rebeldía, in Pisa. The idea of cultural value promoted by these organisations is analysed in relation to the one reflected by Italian cultural policy after 2008. This thesis shows not only how cultural value is shaped by economic factors such as austerity, but also how it represents a battleground where different ways of understanding politics and policy clash, mingle and sometimes overlap. Furthermore, it shows that activist forms of arts management can develop their own pathways to innovation, filling a vacuum left by cultural policy

The nature and value of cultural policy research for early career researchers.

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Noise monitoring in Monza (Italy) during COVID-19 pandemic by means of the smart network of sensors developed in the LIFE MONZA project

Abstract As a scientific consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several initiatives have taken place in order to monitor noise levels trends before and after the lock down phase in several Italian and European cities. In Monza (Italy), since June 2017, a new smart noise monitoring system consisting of 10 sensors developed in the frame of the LIFE MONZA project is continuously measuring acoustic data every second and transmitting them hourly to a dedicated server. The sensors are located both along a main street of the Libertà district characterised by high traffic flows and along secondary streets of the district; they are positioned on (preferably sensitive) buildings facades and on streetlamps. In the present paper results of a study concerning changes occurred in noise levels trends before and during the lock down phase for the smart sensors are presented, together with a comparison with noise levels collected by the same sensors in the equivalent months of the previous year. Some preliminary considerations regarding the reliability of the sensors themselves are also provided

LIFE+2010 QUADMAP Project: results obtained from the analysis of data collected during the application of the new methodology to the pilot quiet areas

Since the 90s, quiet areas have commonly been considered as places to be acoustically preserved or where acoustic interventions should be implemented to reduce noise levels. With the enforcement of the Environmental Noise Directive in 2002, a formal definition of a ‘quiet area in agglomeration’ and a ‘quiet area in open country’ was established. However, many Member States complained about the absence of guidelines regarding the identification and management of quiet areas. The LIFE QUiet Areas Definition and Management in Action Plans (QUADMAP) project started in 2011 to contribute to the Directive’s incomplete requirements for quiet areas. The project’s main result has been the introduction of a flexible methodology for the selection, analysis and management of quiet areas in agglomeration in which both acoustic and nonacoustic parameters are evaluated. The current paper illustrates the analyses carried out on the data collected during the application of the selection, analysis and management phases of the developed methodology in the different pilot cases selected during the Project. Mentioned analysis are aimed at verifying the benefits of the proposed complementary selection criteria (‘relative quiet urban areas’ identification criteria and ‘homogeneous urban areas’ subdivision criteria), at defining the measurement periods most representative of the areas and the acoustic and nonacoustic parameters to be considered as the most significant.The authors would like to thank all who sustained this research, specifically the European Commission for its financial contribution to the QUADMAP project into the LIFE+2010 Programme

Diamond degradation in hadron fields

The energy dependence of the concentration of primary displacements induced by protons and pions in diamond has been calculated in the energy range 50 MeV - 50 GeV, in the frame of the Lindhard theory. The concentrations of primary displacements induced by protons and pions have completely different energy dependencies: the proton degradation is very important at low energies, and is higher than the pion one in the whole energy range investigated, with the exception of the delta33 resonance region. Diamond has been found, theoretically, to be one order of magnitude more resistant to proton and pion irradiation in respect to silicon.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure