Synergies of planning for forests and planning for Natura 2000: Evidences and prospects from northern Italy

Improvements in the management of Natura 2000 sites are essential to achieve the targets set out by the Habitats and Birds Directives of the European Union. A current focus is on the development of management plans, which are fundamental instruments in the implementation of conservation measures. This study explores the viability of using existing forest plans to assist in this purpose. As case study, we consider the regulatory framework of the Veneto Region, northern Italy. We collected quantitative and qualitative data on forest plans at the regional and at three sub-regional spatial scales: local, district, and biogeographical. Forest plans cover about 54% of the terrestrial area of Natura 2000 sites in Veneto, and 75% of Sites of Community Importance in the Alpine biogeographical region. At the local scale of analysis, metrics from forest plans represent a valuable historical record which can be used to interpret the current state and future trends, especially for forests with long management records. These data can be used to assess biodiversity indicators for the monitoring of Natura 2000 forest and non-forest habitats, in compliance with Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. Moreover, the heterogeneous stand conditions which are promoted by some forest management approaches can improve the conservation efforts for some habitats and species. The scale of local forest plans are typically the most appropriate for implementing habitat management strategies. From this study, we conclude that management authorities should take advantage of the wide spatial coverage and distribution of existing forest plans, especially in mountain areas inside and outside the Natura 2000 network, for the successful conservation of European Union habitats and species

The materiality of silence. The curious cases of Munari, Charlip and their picturebooks with no pictures

Picturebooks are by no means a homogeneous body of texts and they require different approaches to interpret their meaning-making mechanisms. A wide variety of challenges can be offered by contemporary picturebook research. One of these challenges refers to the investigation of a singular typology of picturebooks: picturebooks with no pictures. How do these picturebooks work? What kind of reading experience do they activate in young readers

Materijalnost knjiga predmeta Brune Munarija: Nella notte buia i I Prelibri

This paper reviews the primacy of materiality in Bruno Munari’s work based on the case study of two of his picturebooks. Bruno Munari was one of 20th-century Italy’s most eclectic figures. Over the course of his lengthy career as an artist and designer, Munari explored the field of materiality in children’s books with exceedingly favourable results. His picturebooks set a precedent in the field of children’s literature, and they are highly valued even today. Children are fascinated by the opportunity to organise the experience of reading more freely thanks to innovative graphic and typographic mechanisms that fully exploit the editorial potential of materials such as paper, construction paper, and cardboard, but also transparent or semi-transparent sheets of acetate film, wood, plastic, sponge, and so on. In this paper, I describe the exclusive relationship that Munari developed over the years with the book as an object in all its various components (text and paratext). To do so, I discuss two of Munari’s significant editorial projects, the picturebook entitled Nella notte buia [In the Dark of the Night] (1956) and I Prelibri [Prebooks] (1980). I analyse the ways in which the Milanese artist succeeded in exploiting all the communicative, aesthetic and educational potential of these books’ material dimension.Rad razmatra primat materijalnosti u djelima Brune Munarija na primjeru dviju njegovih slikovnica. Bruno Munari bio je jedan od najraznorodnijih talijanskih umjetnika 20. stoljeća. Tijekom duge karijere umjetnika i dizajnera, Munari je istraživao materijalnost dječjih knjiga s iznimno vrijednim rezultatima. Njegove su slikovnice postavile novu paradigmu u području dječje književnosti te su iznimno cijenjene sve do danas. Djeca oduševljeno prihvaćaju mogućnost slobodnoga strukturiranja procesa čitanja koje im nude inovativni grafički i tipografski mehanizmi, do kraja iskorištavajući urednički potencijal materijala kao što su obični papir, papir za modeliranje i karton, ali također i prozirne ili poluprozirne folije, drvo, plastika, spužva itd. U ovom se članku opisuje ekskluzivni Munarijev odnos s knjigom kao predmetom u svim njezinim različitim sastavnicama (uključujući tekst i paratekst), koji je razvio tijekom godina. U tu svrhu razmatraju se dva Munarijeva važna urednička projekta, tj. slikovnica Nella notte buia [U mračnoj noći] (1956) i I Prelibri [Predknjige] (1980). Analiziraju se načini na koje je milanski umjetnik uspio iskoristiti različite komunikativne, estetičke i obrazovne potencijale materijalne dimenzije navedenih publikacija

Forest habitat management and conservation priorities: a multi-scale and multi-taxon approach

Habitat degradation, fragmentation and destruction are major causes of biodiversity loss. Management of natural and semi-natural habitats and control of human disturbance are fundamental to preserving their distinct character and biodiversity. Multiple levels must be considered when setting conservation management actions because species responses and ecological processes vary at different spatial scales. Legal instruments are now in place, with the European Union being among the pioneers, to protect and maintain habitats, and to implement management measures. Therefore, research efforts are needed to understand how to manage habitats in the current complex and constantly changing environmental and social context. For example, management of invasive alien species, which are among the most important threats to biodiversity, is a challenge nowadays. Furthermore, forest habitats are among the most important in terms of covered land and hosted species and, therefore, need particular attention. Indeed, several management approaches can be applied towards the achievement of biodiversity conservation objectives. However, the knowledge on the effects of different conservation management options on biodiversity is limited and must be further investigated. The overall research follows a multi-disciplinary and integrated approach towards the conservation management of habitats particularly focusing on forest biodiversity. The thesis aims to (i) propose and test the application of integrated approaches in respect to conservation management of natural and semi-natural habitats focusing on forests, and (ii) to broaden the knowledge on the biodiversity effects of management abandonment. Six scientific papers, published and to be published, form the bulk of the thesis. In the first paper a novel approach that aims to prioritize habitat conservation is proposed and tested in the Italian Alpine and Continental biogeographical regions. In the second paper a method is proposed and applied to assess the effects of human activities on habitats and species using as case study a forest road plan within a protected area. In the third paper a novel perspective on the potentiality of forest management to control invasive alien species is given. In the fourth paper a multi-scale landscape analysis was performed to identify habitat pattern changes due to different management regimes and to understand possible biodiversity implications. In the fifth paper a comparison between low intensity managed and abandoned forests was made to understand the effects on three beetle taxa. Finally, in the sixth paper the vegetation communities developing after management abandonment into novel forest habitats were investigated. This thesis has highlighted that sound conservation management is fundamental to maintain the variety of habitats, both natural and semi-natural, occurring in Europe. On the one hand novel approaches, such as those presented in the thesis, are required to face the never-ending changes in the legal, economic, social and environmental conditions. On the other hand, deep knowledge on the effects of management and planning choices on habitats and species is essential for adapting to biodiversity’s intrinsic variability and complexity in order to achieve conservation goals

Do touch! How Bruno Munari's Picturebooks work

This essay is based on a historical corpus of Bruno Munari's picturebooks (from the Forties to the Eighties) in which content, shape, color, texture, material and graphic design transform his works into verbal, visual and tactile narratives, which are vital to children's reading pleasure and development. In an era when children were chided to "please don't touch", Munari groundbreakingly designed picturebooks in which touch became a key sense for reading and understanding. The purpose of this article is to examine methodically and in detail how Munari's picturebooks work and to identify the narrative mechanisms that are able to offer children tactility and a fulfilling reading experience. After a short introduction and an overview of the key role books and education play in Munari's oeuvre, a detailed analysis will look more deeply into the three narrative mechanisms designed by Munari for his picturebooks. The body of this analysis is divided into three parts, each dedicated to explaining one of the three narrative mechanisms that transforms the book page into a stage of everyday life, an active agent and a challenge of limits. The main findings of this investigation will reveal that Munari's picturebooks open up imaginary worlds in everyday settings that draw the reader into the action and push them to be challenged by limits rather than bow to them, even those books published to be understood and handled by toddlers

Empowering vulnerable women by participatory design workshops

This contribution addresses the issue of homeless women’s empowerment through design workshops and according to the capability approach. The paper presents small, ordinary stories of women that experience being designers. Besides the professional label, being a designer means to approach reality from the transformative perspective of pursuing a positive change. It also translates in claiming the space for the expression of a personal vision of the world, within a cooperative environment. It enables to experiment innovative strategies to solve problems and to pursue self-determination in practical activities

Design-led repair & reuse: An approach for an equitable, bottom-up, innovation-driven circular economy

The circular economy is a social, technological and economic paradigm that aims to build a production and consumption model focused on waste reduction and maximization of discarded matter recovery. Discussion of the circular economy often treats it as a technocratic and profit-driven phenomenon that can be developed by capital investment in a particular industrial sector without necessarily taking into account the needs of the surrounding geographic area. The promotion of the circular economy often emphasises recycling and other practices that may not fully use the recovered material but are highly automatable, thus creating only a limited number of jobs. At the same time, there is another model of the circular economy, in which small and medium-sized organizations engage in transformative and low-technology activities such as reuse and repair, benefiting local development and creating job opportunities. This model is often explicitly driven by a social development mandate. Still, it risks falling short of its goals because of a lack of expertise and a less systematic approach. This paper aims to introduce the Design-led Repair & Reuse (DLRR) framework for mitigating the short-comings of this second model, using an approach that is both sustainable and accessible to organizations with limited resources. Inspired by the principles of “Design-driven innovation”, “social & solidarity economy”, and “appropriate technology”, DLRR aims to generate a higher quality of processes and products from circular, low entropy and low capital-intensity production activities, resulting in a more solid, identifiable and conscious positioning in the reuse market. It complements the socially inclusive ethos of these third sector small and medium-sized organizations while contributing to the debate on integrating alternative perspectives into the mainstream circular economy discourse.The first part of this paper discusses the theoretical principles that have inspired the DLRR framework. The second part presents research that tests the consistency of these founding principles based on a case study of a sample of organizations in Italy that are active in circular waste transformation processes

Home, lived-in spaces and childhood in European picturebooks from 1945 to the present day

The concepts of home and espace vécu play a large role in children’s literature. The home is not just an objective and architectural space, but also an intimate space with sensory, symbolic, cultural, social and political dimensions. The concept of espace vécu refers to a relationship between what "exists" and what "is perceived". Children build their own identity in the context of their families, developing relationships not only with people, but also with places and things. The aim of this special issue is to identify and analyse the evolution of the representation of these spaces in European picturebooks published in the period 1945-2010. An historical and comparative international survey on picturebooks has been carried out by researchers of children's literature, comparative education and geography from various European countries (Italy – coordinator, Croatia, France, Germany, Norway, Portugal), emphasising as the interdisciplinary study of domestic spaces represented in picturebooks is a particularly promising investigative field for reading, within an original perspective framework, social and cultural changes also occurring in the history of childhood

Designing with the neighborhood: an experience of participatory design and social communication

In urban regeneration processes, inclusive and active participation dynamics of the inhabitants become fundamental to design a real transformation process both on an architectural and social level. The citizens and their involvement become both essential elements for achieving shared solutions, especially in those areas where the social and economic issues are added to urban degradation. “I numeri di Via Ghedini e Via Gallina” is an example of interdisciplinary project, aiming at an architectural upgrading of some of the public housing located in the city of Torino (Turin). Among the project activities planned, the working group ended up developing the graphic identity of the street numbers, currently missing or not so readable. The design action focused on giving a concrete form to the information design system that deeply represents the identity of the neighbourhood. An action which sets up the process of returning of the common areas to the inhabitants and emphasizes the gradual return to everyday life in the neighbourhood, after restoration works. The interaction between the numerous institutional and not institutional actors involved in the project, transformed this part of city in a true interdisciplinary laboratory capable of promoting new social and territorial balance